Depression and Suicide...Be Aware...

During my freshman year of high school, I had to jump the highest hurdle of my life...my father's suicide. I was in total denial at first. You hear about things like that but they never really seem to happen in real life. Well, the reality is that they do. My body was in shock. I didn't eat or sleep that remaining week, but mentally it hadn't seemed to set in. I finally became aware at my dad's funeral. A woman came in and couldn't look at him for too long. Just about a week before, he had talked her out of committing suicide. As this all sunk in I began to think that well, if I had talked to him about it, then it wouldn't have happened. I wasn't able to see the signs of his depression. If someone you love commits suicide, DON"T blame yourself. It's not your fault. But, just as a preventative measure, it's a good idea to find out what depression is and how you can help. Although most people think they know what depression is, their ideas are extremely far off the truth. Many think that it is a passing thing or a phase. It isn't, waiting only makes it deadlier. Many people think if you're mentally strong enough you can pull yourself out of it. Well, it's just not that simple...many cases of depression are chemical and not based on traumatic situations.

As a result of my father's suicide, I became severely depressed and suicidal myself. I was lucky to have wonderful support from my friends(my family was in denial). I have researched depression and anti-depressants like crazy ever since I was professionaly diagnosed. Now I know about it and now I encourage you to do the same. Your life could depend on it.

Here are links to suicide and depression information sites :

Depression.com

Depression Resources List

Depression Support Groups Online

Dr. Ivan's Depression Central-I know this site may sound quackish, but it really is a great resource. It has information about all forms of depressions, screening, support groups and more.

http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html

This next site has a depression message board and info about children and depression:

http://www.ns.net/users/adhd/depress.htm

I really encourage you to check out this next site. It is called-A Wing of Madness. It has info about why YOU alone can't "cure" a depressed person, child info, depression chat, info about women and depression, characteristics of a depressed person(it's not as easy to spot as you think), has links to lots of articles, and a depression book center. This is a very impressive site.

http://members.aol.com/depress/index.htm

Visit Queendom.com. This is the site that forced me to realize that I had a really bad case of depression. They have several depression screening tests and lots of links. And lots of other tests about other psychological disorders. Even though what I am about to say might sound unbelievable, it is true. I was going to a therapist around the time I was taking these tests. My therapist did not notice my depression(see it's not so easy to detect). This site DID, and now that I've gone to get treatment(an anti-depressant,Zoloft), I feel normal and happy and alive.

http://www.queendom.com

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