I am relatively new here also.

Over the past several years I've visited several msg boards on depression and chronic pain. I've never participated in any because they all made me feel more hopeless than I already did.

I am happy to say that I find Psych Central very different. All I had to do was spend some time reading a variety of posts over the course of a week to figure out that:

1.) this was a supportive environment, no flaming for a change;

2.) while a lot of responses to posts were simply supportive, MANY offered practical advice based on their own experiences;

3.) very often the posters responded by acting on the advice, rather than giving further justification for staying where they were;

4.) humor was frequently used as a coping mechanism, no matter how bad a situation was - this is one of the most 'preferable' coping methods (i.e., compared to denial or avoidance).

As for me personally, I DES*PER*ATE*LY want to get 'better'. I was on a new med (for me) starting 9/6/07, and for the first time in close to 2 years, I was able to get out of bed and do things around the house without it feeling like an almost impossible effort.

I was practically joyful when I found myself cutting onions for a meal and realized it felt NORMAL and not like a huge effort! It felt like finally, finally, finally! I had the piece of the puzzle my brain needed.

But...three days ago, I had to stop taking it because of cardiac side effects from the new med, and shortness of breath from another drug I was put on to control the ridiculously high weight gain from the 'new' med (6 lbs in 12 days while eating 1200 calories a day, no exaggeration).

Yesterday I felt the walls of depression slowly closing in again. I still fought back by doing 30 consecutive minutes of aerobic exercise (still hate it, but am viewing it as a med, which I wouldn't consider skipping), since I keep reading that this has the most consistent positive results for depression, even beyond any med.

AND I also ordered a supplement I read about from one of the members that I found while browsing through one of the forums.

Over and over, I've read posts with responses that provide the poster with specific information about the responder's own struggles which have been similar to the poster's. That in itself provides relief to the poster, since they can realize that they are no longer alone, and that others have survived similar situations.

More importantly, responders frequently detail *how* they recovered. This provides some hope to the poster, as well as practical steps the poster might try to help themselves.

I have yet to find any threads which contain posts and responses which I'd consider whining, self-serving rationalizations for people staying in their particular misery.

I hope this helps.

Mary