It Takes One to Know One...
An Introduction to Crimson

Often times the best experts can be the sufferers themselves. So, here we have an account about causes and treatments written from the perspective of a present sufferer. Sometimes, it really does take one to know one....

My name is Crimson and I suffer from major depression. It's brilliantly complemented by a bipolar disorder too. I've been recently diagnosed, two years ago to be exact, but more than likely, I have had it all my life. It just wasn't so apparent until now. Presently, I'm in the 2nd month of the 7th episode within two years.

While I am a private practice psychiatrist, I thought that I would keep the clinical discussion to a minimum because there wouldn't be much that hasn't already been said. So, the goal here is to incorporate info from the eyes of the beholder and let the best experts, sufferers themselves, write the feature content from their perspective.


What is depression?

One out of four women and one out of eight men will suffer from it at some point during their lifetime. The clinical term is Major Depression or Unipolar Depression. It's classified as a mood disorder, and it may only occur once in a person's life, yet, it can occur multiple times. Episodes can last as long as 9-16 months.

What causes depression?

Depression is triggered. It's the bullet in the gun, shot from the mind via a chemical imbalance in the brain. Normally, the first depressive episode is triggered by some stressful event like a divorce, loss of a job or loved one. After the initial exposure, it appears that a person is more susceptible to recurrences. There are also triggers that result from physiological and medical causes, but the result is the same.

As far as what really causes depression, it's a matter of opinion. We all have our own internal yardstick for measuring what affects us. Some people may loose a job or loved one and be devastated by it. Others lose their job and they're not at all surprised.

For me, maybe it was moving to California; maybe it was from the certain way the rain fell down one day, or a song I heard by Nine Inch Nails. I cannot really say for certain what it was, but I know when it happens as all other sufferers do. One day things just look different. Even your own reflection is slightly askew. And if there are people that live with you, God help them because there isn/t much they can really do for you. As for tending to daily tasks, it's like trying to start a Saab at the steering column ... nothing gets going...


Can depression sufferers recover?

Certainly, but you're not really cured. The treatments, which normally involve some combination of therapy and/or medications, will help to ease the pain.

The medications can make the condition tolerable so that you can function on some level. But, they do have to be taken consistently and many sufferers tend to faze them out. The primary reason is, usually, because of the side effects. Once we stop them, though, we're targets again for that gun to fire that bullet at anytime.

You wouldn't be alone in admitting that you use the medications intermittently. I, too, have gone on and off them, for various reasons.


Can people recover without meds?

Sure, and those that have will often say that they simply got tired of being depressed. While that may seem to minimize the efforts of the rest of us, we can all understand how that could work. With the way the mind/psyche can work, there is truth to the cliché 'you get out what you put in.' Having said this, it doesn't work for everybody, because there are definitely biological factors.

In other words, what gets you out of it can be as individual as what gets you into it. For instance, I was driving around one day and I'm sure there was somewhere I was supposed to be, but I couldn't recall where. While driving, I was distracted by a motorcycle cop who was tucked off to the side of the road along a side street. His intention was too, obviously, snare speeders.

So, I passed him and pulled over just after a bend in the road. I parked there for about an hour and I flashed oncoming traffic. For those of you who don't know: this is a ritual not practiced in Southern California for some reason. But, it's done in the Northeast regions of the US as a way of signaling fellow motorists that there's a 'speed-trap' ahead (we know to watch our speed). People caught on here that day, though; as I could see, their brake lights come on in my rearview mirror.

In any event, I got such a charge from doing this that the rest of the week my mood was even-keeled. And, for the rest of that day, I had a smile on my face that a plastic surgeon couldn't have removed. So, you begin to learn what is apt to trigger you as well as what might bring you out of it -- whatever that may be. ..soak it up for all that it's worth. I know that this is not conventional psychological practice, however, there are things that you just cannot learn in school. It really does take one to know one.


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