Deborah Gray, Patient Expert

Deborah Gray wrote about depression as a Patient Expert for HealthCentral. She lived with undiagnosed clinical depression, both major episodes and dysthymia, from childhood through young adulthood. She was finally diagnosed at age 27, and since that time, her depression has been successfully managed with medication and psychotherapy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Light Therapy

February is a time when Seasonal Affective Disorder or (SAD) is most prevalent. There have been a lot of questions about the effectiveness and logisitcs of light therapy to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder. Here are some answers.

Deborah Gray

Resistance to Antidepressant Treatment

It may come as a surprise to anyone who’s read my writing to hear that I was reluctant to start antidepressant treatment for my depression. While I would not call myself "pro" medication, my life has been changed by antidepressants, and I ...

Deborah Gray

Taking a Vacation with Your ADHD Child (and Staying Sane)

Although children with ADHD may seem to be inherently anti-structure, they actually function best in a structured, familiar setting. But vacations and travel are all about getting away from the familiar - new places, new schedules, new people. As the ...

Deborah Gray

Recognizing Dysthymia in Children: When Depression is Chronic at an Early Age

When I was finally diagnosed with depression at age 27, after twenty years of suffering from one type of depressive disorder or another, it was because I was going through a major depression at that particular time. It was only the third major depres...

Deborah Gray

Bullying and Ostracizing Tied to Depression and Anxiety in Special Needs Children

**Children with special needs have always been a favorite target for bullying and teasing. It’s easy to see why - they’re different. Except for the occasional rebel, most children don’t want to be stand out from the crowd. Being different is generall...

Deborah Gray

Graduation Depression: Preparing for Change

For high school and college seniors, this is an exciting time. So close to the finish line All that hard work is about to pay off with a diploma and a bright, shiny new future. Woo-hoo! It’s Miller Time. Okay, so what about when Miller Time’s over? T...

Deborah Gray

Looking at Mike Wallace's Contribution to Our Understanding of Depression

“I didn’t know what was the matter with me. All I knew was that I was feeling lower than a snake’s belly…I remember we used to go to restaurants, and I’d say ‘Everybody’s pointing at me, the cheat, the fraud, the fake.’ You really believe these thing...

Deborah Gray

Help Make Your ADHD Child Resistant to Teasing

All children are the target of teasing and name-calling at one point or another. Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) tend to encounter more of this than most children, due in part to their problem with interpreting social cu...

Deborah Gray

Light Therapy for "Indoor" Seasonal Affective Disorder

I alluded in a previous blog to my feeling that my antidepressants weren’t working as well as they had been in the past. I was not severely depressed, but I lacked motivation to get things done around the house or do crafts. I noticed that I was not ...

Deborah Gray

Depression and Nutritional Health

Last fall I started to feel that my antidepressant medication (Wellbutrin) wasn’t working. I had noticed that I hadn’t really been getting anything done around the house for a while, but things started to get worse. I started actually having depresse...

Deborah Gray