Depression Expert Christopher Lukas shares Depression management news and commentary at MyDepressionConnection.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121 http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121 http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/36203/living-depressed Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:45:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas A few weeks ago I talked about what it's like to live with a depressed person. I want to add to those thoughts. The occasion for adding to them is a question posed by someone on this web site who wanted to know how to tell others that she wasn't being difficult on purpose; that her behavior is the result of an illness, not unlike many illnesses a person can get, only this one happens to be mental - causing behavioral anomalies, not... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/36203/living-depressed http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/35968/support-group Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:47:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas The other night, around 6 p.m., I went to a depression and bipolar support group. Despite having had dysthymia for many years, I had never attended this kind of group.For one thing, I believed that psychotherapy and medication was all I needed to keep on an even keel. For another, I am one of those people who feels I don't want to share "my story" with a lot of strangers, and I'm not sure I want a lot of strangers sharing their story with me... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/35968/support-group http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34434/medicine Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:14:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas   It is not uncommon for people to tell me that using antidepressants is against their better judgment. "I'm not that depressed." "They don't do any good." "I'll lose my sex drive!" "I don't want to become dependent." "I've tried one; it didn't work." "I've read that they're really harmful. I take herbal medicine instead." Let me take each of these arguments one at a time: 1. "I'm not that depressed." Anti-depressant medicines are... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34434/medicine http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/35729/living-depressed Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:44:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas   It's time again to talk about an unpleasant subject. Unpleasant for me, and probably unpleasant for those of you who are depressed and have a spouse or lover or companion or partner who is not depressed. I was married for 46 years. My wife died only a few months ago. For many of those years, I had dysthymia, and thought that my problems were the most important in the world. I couldn't understand that I was causing some grief in the... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/35729/living-depressed http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34026/ve-depression Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:49:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas Over the years, I've learned a few things about depression that would have surprised me when I first started having symptoms. More importantly, I've learned a few things about myself. If I'm angry at someone, but afraid to state my anger, I can get depressed. It used to take days or weeks before I figured out the cause. If someone's angry at me, I can get depressed. If I'm not depressed, but the stock market goes down, I get depressed. And it... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34026/ve-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34029/happy Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:52:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas Recently, I got a wonderful review from a journal called Publisher's Weekly. The book in question is BLUE GENES, a memoir that comes out this Fall.   I read the review (bookstores read the journal to decide what to buy for their clientele) and said, "That's marvelous, but who are they talking about? Not me, surely."In other words, I downplayed the review. Why?   Well, I didn't want to get my hopes up that the book might sell well... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34029/happy http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34025/brother Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:48:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas When my brother killed himself eleven years ago, there was great consternation among his friends, his colleagues, and his family. How could such a skilled, well-known and respected journalist, with two Pulitzer Prizes, be so unhappy as to commit suicide?   My wife said, "I knew it would happen some day."   I asked her how she knew.   She said he had always been a deeply depressed person. He had no real support system beyond... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34025/brother http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34020/bit-hurts Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:46:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas The diagnosis at the bottom of my bill said, dysthymia.. My psychiatrist had told me that he was going to send that diagnosis to the insurance company. "What is it?" I asked. It was many, many years ago. I was in my 30s and re-starting therapy after moving across the country. My mood was not good. I felt inadequate to the task of finding work. I felt that people didn't like me. I felt that I wasn't going to succeed in life. All of this ran... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/34020/bit-hurts http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/32242/depressed Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:44:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas Okay, this seems like a stupid question.   After all, there's nothing you can do when you get depressed, except take your meds, if you're on them; say your cognitive-behavioral mantras, if you're with that kind of a therapist; go to your therapist and cry.   Well, actually, there are other things I do to try to get straight.   Luckily, because I'm dysthymic (see last week's essay), not a severely depressed person, I... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/32242/depressed http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/32240/teen-depression Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:41:00 -0000 Christopher Lukas The other day my daughter asked me what I was going to write next. I told her that I had no idea, that I'd actually written everything I had to say about depression.   Horse-pucky, she said, using a wonderful family euphemism.  You have lots more to say about depression.   Okay, I asked, What?   Well, she said, What about all those years when you didn't know you were depressed. You didn't know the... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/121/32240/teen-depression