Thanks so much, Jelly. I have to say, the decision to share my visit to crazy-town was a hard one. Finally, I decided, "what the heck?" I've struggled with the issue of shifting brain chemicals alone for over 20 years now. I'm tired of trying to hide it....and it's not like I did that great a job. "Moody" was a word I heard a lot. I decided to tell it like it was here, mainly because I came here for help. How can I get help without being honest?
Something wonderful happened. No one called me crazy. No one judged me. On the contrary, all my friends here accepted me, comforted me, and supported me. I lost the embarrassment associated with the depression. I then started talking about it, learning about it, and figured out that I need to learn to live with it.
I'm so happy to learn that my decision to share my experience was a comfort to you. You are not alone. You and I are in a unique group, though - we've both made the decision to actively manage the disorder while accepting and celebrating the qualities we gain from it that help us be better people. For too many years I just blindly took medicine, without doing anything else.
I feel so empowered, and in control. I have such high hopes for my future. I hope that my experiences and lessons prove to be valuable to many, many others. You seem to be so very similar. Your story helped me considerably. I cannot thank you enough for being so vulnerable and brave back when you were all by yourself!
So, now that we've firmly established ourselves as the "crazy ladies on DB" what shall we do next? Give conflicting advice to someone? LOL We're OK, Jelly. Super-sensitive to others feelings, compassionate, empathetic...applied correctly, we're a real gift to the world.
