- Friends & Family
- Mental Health
Submitted by: Susanne Johnson
I always had mood swings, was often sad in my life and didn’t know how to handle situations, and had no energy to do things. I reached out for help and was diagnosed with depression. My father was a psychiatrist and I asked him for help. I learned from my father that depression is a chemical imbalance, it’s a disease. It is nothing I have to feel ashamed of. People have diabetes or high cholesterol. They get the help they need, so can I.
Today I have a good job, I have a family, I function and I have a good life. I take my pill for the depression every night and therefore I don’t have too much trouble anymore in my life. Sometimes it comes and goes, but not as major and disturbing as it used to be.
If you suffer from depression, you often face stigma and negativity from outside. Many times people told me, “You are always so depressed!” Today I can say, “Yes, I have a chemical imbalance and I try to take care of it as well as possible.” I don’t wish to have it, but it’s there and I have to deal with it as it is and take the medication that helps.
It is okay to be depressed, it’s also okay to be bipolar or anything else. You can function if you do something about it. I know I have had a problem since I was in my twenties. Back when I was sleeping all the time and had no energy, I knew that there was something going on with me. It took me a while to see what I really needed. I was already in my forties when I discovered how my current medication can make a huge difference in my life. For so long, I didn’t know what caused the problems in my life, my depression at times did come and go.
Sometimes a sadness is circumstantial, like the loss of a boyfriend or something, and sometimes it’s a real depression and a chemical imbalance. First, I needed to find out what was wrong, then I was able to get help to change it. A lot of people come to me and ask me about it, because I’m open and talk about my depression and help those who need it.
Currently, I work at a medical billing company and have a very stressful job at times. Since I took care of the root of my depression and helped this chemical imbalance, I’m able to function and perform in my life and in my career. People need to know that they are not alone in this. There are a lot more having trouble with depression than you can imagine. Please seek a good diagnosis and the help you deserve to live a normal life as I do today.