For Sharon, depression is not an illness; it’s a lifetime companion and long-fought struggle. She doesn’t recall not being depressed and doesn’t remember ever feeling true happiness.
Jane G. is attractive, creative, intelligent, and suffers from depression. “My initial bout with depression followed the birth of my first child when I was 22,” she says. It was the first of many struggles Jane would experience throughout her life.
Change and challenge
After managing her first round of depression without any medication, Jane had two more babies over the next three years and found herself in the depths of depression once again. Her emotional and mental health was in steady decline, and as she neared age 30, her condition became serious. “I was dealing with a number of changes in my life and I had a complete breakdown,” Jane says. After 12 years of marriage, she was divorcing.
Within a year of ending the failed marriage, she quickly married again. A risky pregnancy followed. Then, she moved from Nevada to another state. “I just had no zest for life and no interest in making friends,” Jane says. “I was feeling very withdrawn, and could only work sporadically. I was also dealing with severe anorexia as well.” She sought professional help. Her doctor prescribed medication, and it did help her cope with
her challenges—for a while.
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For Sharon, depression is not an illness; it’s a lifetime companion and long-fought struggle. She doesn’t recall not being depressed and doesn’t remember ever feeling true happiness.
We all have a distinct memory of Robin Williams. In his long-spanning career, he touched lives, young and old. Had he died of cancer, a heart attack or Parkinson’s disease with which he had recently been diagnosed, it would still have been tragic.