My second post
I just joined tonight. My first post was in a thread on religion. This thread on depression caught my eye, because I clicked to see who is on line, and what they are reading, and I noticed several members reading this thread.
I read through several posts, but not every post in this thread.
I am age 56. When I was in my late 30's, I felt troubled, and a physician/counsellor gave me two books to read. One was "From Sad To Glad" which discusses depression and anti-depressants for the lay person.
The other book was "If you meet the Buddha on the Road Kill Him" by Sheldon Kopp, a psychotherapist, who relates ten or so different cases that he has treated in his career.
Of course, if you have the medical coverage, and can afford it, you should always get a physical, and rule out various organic causes.
My step daughter was depressed at age 15, made a suicidal gesture, and dropped out of school.
She turned her life around, got her G.E.D. diploma, graduated college, and is a very successful accountant. It was not easy for her.
I am just sort of rambling here. Hope some of this is helpful.
My first marriage lasted 13 years, but ended in divorce (the step daughter was in the second marriage).
My first wife and I were so depressed at one point that we discussed suicide. That was 16 years ago. My life changed so much, and I had so many experiences that I never dreamed I would have. I often think how I would have missed out on all that, had I gone through with the suicide.
I think I shall post this now. And perhaps return and add to it with the "edit" feature.
Well... here I am back, via the "edit feature". That is how I tend to post at these forums, incrementally. So if you see me online, and you are reading a post, then reload occasionally, to see what I have added.
I just now dug out my copy of "From Sad to Glad" by Nathan S. Kline, MD
I see from a google search that the book is still in print.
Here is an interesting bio page on the late Dr. Kline
http://www.rfmh.org/nki/welcome/TheMan/
I guess another book that helped me in life was "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl.
I recently learned that Viktor Frankl was originally going to entitle his book "From Concentration Camp to Existentialism", when someone suggested a better title, and he went along with the idea.
My father, now a healthy 88, was required to read "Red Badge of Courage" in highschool in the 1930's. I had to read that book in the 1960's. My stepson had to read the book in his highschool in the 1990's, BUT, he also had to read Viktor Frankl's book. My point is that the book will probably become a standard, like "Red Badge of Courage" and "Pride and Prejudice".
