Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Health

On Women Blog - U.S. News & World Report

Even Heather Locklear Gets Depression

June 26, 2008 10:10 AM ET | Deborah Kotz | Permanent Link | Print

Reader Comments

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Hi all! Very good website. Thank you owner! This site the best!

Going through depression at this very moment for the firts time in my life. I'm 38 married with 3 beautiful children and couldn't get out of bed one day to go to work. I stayed there for 4 days sleeping, then it turned into anxiety attacks and finally I am up and moving - hopefully forward in a positive direction. I was started on an antidepressant that I suffered every side effect possible. Just started taking a new med last night and praying this is the one that works. We are all suffering due to this illness. I have 2 doctors and a counselor helping me to tackle this nightmare one day at a time. My once clear thoughts are now foggy and forgetful. I can tackle only one task at a time because my thoughts become too much to handle. I pray daily out loud to God to get our family through this. Our "perfect" world that we became a part of in this society has now become our biggest enemy. And now I have to fight this battle for my marriage and children. Pray for restoration.

Help

I am currently trying to find a place to send my wife for treatment. Any suggestions?

HELP.

Nicky

I'm just a few months younger than Heather and beginning to go through the "change." The hormone swings going on at this stage are crazy and in themselves can cause depression. Add to that life's major stressors (she's recently divorced, I became a widow) and you have a recipe for clinical depression. In perimenopause you're not just looking ahead anymore, you become retrospective. She also has to deal with loss of fame and being in the public eye, a bridge most of us don't need to cross. With all of that, I would be surprised if she didn't have some element of depression.

She's smart to get help and go public with this--hopefully when she recovers she can become a celebrity spokeswoman for depression and help others in the same situation

Depression can strike anyone at anytime. Nothing led up to my depressions. I wish I could put a specific incident to "blame" on my "weakness". I am finally in a wonderful Doctor's care and am finding my way back. How brave of Heather to come out with her secret. I kept my depression hidden from friends and family , because of the stigma associated with the illness. Heather, thank you for your honesty and I wish you all the best, God bless you.

Twice the Hormone Change, twice the depression

HORMONES.

1.Women go through more hormone changes than men.

2.Over her lifetime a woman will need to survive nine different HORMONE attacks:

as a girl child, a menstrating girl, a human baby maker, a birth giver, a nursing mother, a child cultivator for 18 plus years, an empty nest woman, an empty desert of a womb woman and finally an old woman who will be undervalued by society.

3. Perimenopause is the final HORMONE attack on women lasting 10- 20 years.

4. HORMONE levels during perimenopause change a woman's energy, sleep pattern, eating habits, self image and increase her risk of daily chronic DEPRESSION.

5. Society ignorant of Perimenopause. Doctors are ill trained to guide women through this final HORMONE ATTACK.

Men (eg Media, Market, Corporate America) manage the FINAL HORMONE ATTACK on women with the head in the sand method of "Don't tell just go away and cry".

get a clue

someone who has managed to achieve the role of Sr. Editor should have the sense not to address the subject of depression with "what does she have to be depressed about?" This illness can affect people for numerous reasons, not all of them situational. Even though you seem to admit this in the article, it still betrays your bias against and/or ignorance of, this subject.

getting older!!!!

HORMONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Depression

To: onwomen

Subject: Depression

My name is Barbara Poole Reynolds, I suffer from depression. I have had depression probably all my life; but I found out when I was pregnant with my third child how bad it was. I did not want a third child, but my husband thought it would be "great" to have another child. I did not know at the time he was having an affair, not his first, so he could care less about the children. I started therapy and also learned that I was "the good child" in an alcoholic family. My therapist finally after hearing about my mother, husband and my children that she wanted to know what about me. I did not go back to her for six months because I became overwhelmed trying to figure out, what about me?

Finally I started therapy again and we started working on Barbara, what a nightmare, there was no Barbara, just a good daughter, suppose to be a good wife and mother. I have been in therapy now for over thirty years, I am on disability for it, due to an over stressful job and the death of my son. I am still depressed, been on several medications and the one I am on now seems to be working for now. I have never wanted to die or kill myself, I would just not want to be around people or talk. Once being a social butterfly this was a sign for family and friends that I was going through it and needed to get back on my medications.

There is a lot more to my story, but I could not write that much for now, but depression is very much real and it hurts so many people. Most people don't understand that this is an illness and not something to be ignored.

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About On Women

Deborah Kotz, senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, covers everything women care about when it comes to their health. She's often tapping out "Oprah-esque" confessions about how the latest news relates to her personally—whether it's on breast cancer, contraception or easing work-family stress. She'd love to hear your confessions too at onwomen@usnews.com. Also, you can follow Deborah on Twitter at twitter.com/debkotz2.

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