On Depression

My mother-in-law struggled late in life with depression. My sister-in-law and her husband insisted that we put her on pharmaceuticals, whereas my wife and I resisted the idea at the time. We may have made a mistake though; my mother-in-law never took any of these medications and she died ahead of her time. As time went by she became more gloomy and may in the end have simply decided to slip out of this life as she became increasingly frustrated and annoyed with her many aches and pains.

The other day someone posted the question "what beats depression" in the Spiritual Networks Community, and my answer was that the only spirituality can be a remedy. The period of darkness is a message we send to ourselves that we simply can't continue on the same road as before. This "dis-ease" is a rude wake-up call to make a change. But one needs to have the strength to reset the sails, and I certainly use medication to progress on my journey, it is called coffee!!! We all have to find our idiosyncratic ways to make it through this dark tunnel of finding renewed purpose. For some "happy pills" like Prozac might be the crutch to keep going. No questions asked how you get there, but in the end it is about our adjustment to life's demands that truly matters, medication can only be a band-aid.

My late mother-in law simply needed some encouragements. She could have gone to Radcliffe in her student years had it not been for her mother who said no. She could have worked as a psychologist had her husband been more supportive, and she could have written and published poetry had she had more will-power to continue with her writing. Her daughters certainly encouraged her to do so, as did her husband in his own ways. Who knows what could have been, and who may have made a mistake at what point in time. It is all water down the bridge now. What truly matters is that you and I can make a change today.

GOD doesn't want us to suffer; SHE wants us to change course instead. Discover the WAY and and hold on to HER and your depression is nothing but a faint memory.