> While your list is full of good things, they will only help the symptoms
> of chronic depression, not the cause. Even doing all of these things will
> not always help.

I think the problem is the unrecognized difference between a person who
is depressed and a person with depression.  A person with depression
will battle it forever, and may lose.  A person who is depressed may be
able to get off of that antidepressant in a few months or years.

I have this theory that for a person with mild, non-chronic depression,
the chemical imbalance encourages negative thoughts, which encourage
the imbalance, etc.  Drugs can break that cycle and get you back to
where you ought to be.  Don't know if it's the case, but twice in my life
I've been on antidepressants for a few months, and in both cases, I was
able to wean off of them.  I'm a bad experiment, though, because in
both instances, I simultaneously underwent huge lifestyle changes
(high school to college and unhappily married to happily divorced).

Mike H.
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist