The following are excerpts from some of the letters we receive each year.  We thought you might find them helpful.

"We have a family history of depression and if you know what that is like its hard - not only for you but for your family members who live with you.  Sometimes they have to suffer with you.  Someone I know has battled it in the past and is now doing better thanks to the right kind of treatment available.  Now I myself am battling it. I have been for four long years. Its better now, it just depends.  Im getting the right kind of help, of course.  What I mean by it depends is that some days you can be fired up an; others can be harder.  Waking up in the morning, oh another day like an obstacle course in your mind, its just there.  Even darkness, that's all that's  there no light, no glimmer of hope.  Life's really not worth committing suicide, even though sometimes it seems like it, it's really not.  In a world filled with darkness and dullness, there is always faith hope and most of all love."
KC in OH.

"Early in a newsletter, a writer described her difficulties as a child. They matched my 50 to 65 years ago.  That was before the medication that I am now on and which works for me.  While in some the depression starts when they were in their twenties, others have survived 15 years of unrecognized depression by that time.  Do any of NAFDI's other readers have childhood memories they could share?"
 HL in MA

"I was touched by your letter.  It was such an unexpected kindness.  I just scribbled a note on a card in a moment of frustration.  I was able to utilize the information you sent.  Oddly enough, the day you wrote the letter I started a new job and now have insurance!

"My diagnoses are complex.  I have several problems.  Despite these difficulties I have worked my entire adult life.  Several years ago I developed a repetitive stress problem in my hands preventing me from pursuing my chosen career.  I am now returning to the work force with disabilities and as an older person.  You can imagine, given my mental health problems, this has been a very difficult time.  I hope that my efforts, in light of my illness and its management, offer some hope to others suffering from mental illness.  A person is so much more than the disease - mental illness is what you have not who you are."
MK in WA

"I do not always deal with my mate's depression well.  We have only been together a few years.   I feel like I stil have a lot to learn.  When someone you love is depressed feelings of guilt are raging inside of them.   When she tries to alienate me or push me away, I have learned not to take it too personally. My mate describes her depression to me like this: ‘ its like the four-year old child has taken over my body.  The best thing you can do for me is help me take care of myself until the adult you love has grown back..'  I have found the adult I love always comes back, although sometimes a little worse for wear."
LC in KY

We are always in need of encouraging stories to share with others.
Send to:
NAFDI - RS
P.O. Box 2257
New York, NY 10116 USA