For her…
For her boyfriend…
For Odin…
For me (and all the other people this will effect in some way or another).

It is going to be particularly hard for her boyfriend, a depression sufferer himself, this will be hanging around his neck for a long time to come… I know, I’ve been there.

Then the body get used to drugs. After a long period of use the body eventually adjusts for the presence of what ever it may be.

I will keep your ex in my prayers. Even though you are a mage. But depression can hit anyone no matter who you are. I have been trying to pull myself out of one, though mine is more circumstance related. And you can have a low level depression and then wham all of a sudden it hits you like a mack truck. A major depressive episode.

Cheers and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

This makes a lot of sense, as my ex-wife was already depressed, it just hit like a truck after our son was born.

This topic has really come alive for me tonight after a phone call from her current boyfriend asking what to do, as she had just overdosed after an argument.

It’s just so unpredictable… I was only talking to her a few hours back, she was very excited about a new rental property they had just received the lease on.. things were moving forward. Hopefully she will recover alright, but it will be a long path back again for her.

Bloody rotten mongrel of a black dog.

Ohh and I agree whole heartedly on the diagnosis and the medication. I remember getting a preliminary positive diagnosis for diabetes once (I know not quite on the depression angle).. this threw me into a black despair for a week.. I expect it to come at some point, just wasn’t ready then… only to get the all clear a week later. Diagnosis needs to be correct 1st time (wherever possible), because it’s something that people carry for a long time.

As for ADHD meds… or their overuse. Once again, it’s about the right tool for the job and I think that people often give up on kids too easily, especially with the hectic and troublesome lives some of us live, it’s very easy to find a solution in a bottle.

and finally (this comes to mind after speaking to a mate the other night that is dealing with depression and on meds), just because the Doc has given you meds, doesn’t mean they are the right ones for you… there is a bit of trial and error… so if someone is prescribed meds and they don’t seem to be working, or are having adverse effects… go straight back, there are a lot of choices, it’s about finding the right fit for each person. (I got lucky, my ex-wife went through several sorts and doses until she found one that worked for her… for a while anyway)

There is soo much that we don’t know that we need to know to effectively treat others.

One thing that I wanted to point out is that clinically there is no such thing as post postpartum depression. Clinically it is a major depressive episode with a post postpartum onset signifier. All a signifier is is a time period in which a major depressive episode is more likely to occur. The majority of studies that have been published indicate that it is not a separate disorder, but that it is a period of time where depression is more than likely to occur.

What is interesting that is backed up by multiple studies is that a major depressive episode is more likely to occur during the postpartum period than all other signifier periods. Which in psychology is interesting because of our tie to the scientific method. There is significant statistical difference between the postpartum signifier occurrence and all other signifier periods. There are still more studies being done but they seem to indicate the massive biological changes that a woman goes through as the major cause. There have also been studies looking at the postpartum occurrence happening in men as well.

Two last things:

One we were taught in our classes that diagnoses must only come when you are absolutely certain. Most people do not distinguish between disorders and instead tend to lump them all together under the title insane or crazy. They told us that a 5 minute decision to label somebody will give them that label for the rest of their life.

Second in regards to medications. The occurrence rate of AD/HD and ADD is approximately 3-4% of the child and teen populations. In the US approximately 60-67% of that population has been diagnosed and is on medication for those disorders. I have heard of cases where teachers have refused to let a child back unless they were on drugs for it. You can see a child that does not need the drugs and get on them turn into a zombie on them, while ones that need them turn normal.

Speaking for myself on the meds, it’s funny that after years of happily consuming prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, alcohol etc, all for a momentary mood lift (followed by the inevitable extended low mood), that I wasn’t champing at the bit to take a drug that would help make me happy… long term happy.

They don’t fix the problem, no more than antibiotics or disprin do for physical ailments, they just help us, help our body and mind fight the “intruder”, the illness. They give us respite where none is otherwise possible.

I wonder how many other people, that like me, we opposed to anti-depressants, take other meds as a matter of course for even the most minor of ailments.

Taking antidepressants doesn’t make you any less of a person, it just makes you stronger.

Think of them as artillery cover fire while your internal infantry gets down fighting the black dog in the trenches.

Good luck fighting the black dog!