Posted by Geezer on July 16, 2002, at 21:24:32
In reply to Re: Oh ya!, posted by Gabbi on July 16, 2002, at 20:31:03
> I completely agree... that "issues" stuff is a bad day, maybe a bad week. Its true that continued trauma can eventually alter brain chemistry enough too create "organic" major depression. But depression to me is frightening because there is no "tangible problem" if there was an "issue" I could work on it. As it is One morning I'll wake up in another dimension of terror, hopelessness and fear, and be told to "relax"
>
> I'm sorry to mention his name again but much of the reason I appreciated Andrew Solomons book so much was that he came as close as anyone I've ever heard to be able to describe depression to people who have never suffered it.
> Being a sufferer himself, and a "success" before his first breakdown he managed to have many people listen. Its unfortunate that to get through to people you have to be "successful" in societal terms, but it did get people who think its laziness or weekness or lack of will to listen. He still admits that though he is "managing now" he can't say that he will never take his own life if the suffering outweighs the joy.Thanks Gabbi,
There are issues and then there are ISSUES. Lets take an example: On December 30, 1943 my father was a first leut. in a B-24 bomber flying missions against Hitlers war machine. On that date he was shot down by enemy fighters and made it safely to the ground by parachute. Until June of 1944 he was active with the French Maque (French resistance fighters), arrested by the Gestapo in June and was brutally treated by his interagoters. It was his good luck to have enough of his Air Force uniform left to avoid being classified a spy and facing almost certain death in a Natzi death camp (you didn't have to be Jewish). When he came home he had what we now call Post Tramatic Stress Syndrom - not major depression. I was 15 months old when he came home. Now THAT IS AN ISSUE but has nothing to do with my Bipolar II. That I got by way of genetics from my mother.
I do pretty well on Depakote, Lamictal, and just added Prozac (again). We have come a long way from the hair shirts and fire hoses of the old asylums....but we have a long,long way to go and we are not going to get there with some tdoc blubbering about issues, relationships, etc.
I am hopeful about gentic research and post mortum studies on suicide patients with REAL DEPRESSION.....heaven knows we need EMPIRICAL STUDIES.
Thanks for your post,
Geezer
poster:Geezer
thread:91928
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020709/msgs/112586.html