As a young girl, I always felt this looming sense of sadness. I remember feeling tired and sullen a good deal of the time when I was in school. These feelings didn't get much better when I was at home either. Like Eeyore, the glum little donkey from the Hundred Acre Wood, I was known as a sad-sack to friends and family. Unaware of what depression was or how to detect it, I descended into a Major Depressive Episode by the time I was in college. Hopeless and
suicidal, I nearly took my life at age 19. Luckily, I found a psychologist who helped release me from the grip of
depression. Not only did
psychotherapy save my life, it inspired me to become a student of its practice.
It was good that I studied many years as a psychologist and learned about mental illness in all its forms, because the second time I had a Major Depressive Episode in my 30's, I was better prepared.
Now in full remission, I use my personal experiences with depression to inform my clinical work. This dual approach gives me a unique perspective because not only do I know what it's like to diagnose and treat depression - I know what it's like to live with depression too.
Editorial Note: Dr. Deborah Serani is the author of Living with Depression" by The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group.
