I was that way for a long time and never realized it. Towards the end the hospital figured it out and told me I was seasonal. Because of the time that had passed and not much to do with improvement they offered ECT. For me, it helped. There were quite a few years I stayed out of the hospital. I was there a little over a year ago, but man, I was slammed with a lot of stuff all at once from every direction, topped off with emotional abuse from my husband...perfect cocktail for anyone.