Posted by maybelle on April 12, 1999, at 1:51:49
In reply to Re: Any Success Stories?, posted by jan on April 10, 1999, at 21:37:21
I feel so lucky to be where I am today. God put some wonderful doctors into my life when I realized I could no longer cope alone with my panic attacks, which had an underlying depression. With their help (talking + medication) I have considered myself successfully treated for the last eight years. I now have the relative luxury of complaining about side effects like fatigue and dry mouth, instead of shaking, crying, and fearing I would kill myself. Knowing that my depression will likely need to be treated for the rest of my life has become a kind of relief; it makes it clear that it is not there because I was "screwed up" or personally responsible in some way. I am able to withstand critics who think it's all "in my head," or insist that I should get off all medication. Moreover, I am able to insist to them that this is as dire and as permanent a condition as heart disease or diabetes...and ask the critics when they last told a diabetic to pull themselves up by their boot straps or quit taking medication.
poster:maybelle
thread:4549
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990401/msgs/4726.html