Depression..My Story.

Depression. What causes someone to experience such sadness, helplessness, and unhappiness for periods at a time? Is there a genetic predisposition or does the environment play a role? And what are the treatments for such a mood disorder? So many questions can be asked about this disorder, but one who's experienced it can answer these questions and more.
I was excited to read more about this mood disorder because I can personally relate to this section. I don't want to make this sound like a sob story because it clearly isn't; it was a time in my life that I was not able to avoid and thankfully I was able to get the proper treatment and carry on with my life. This was all an experience in which I learned a lot about myself and I can gladly share my story of defeating this mood disorder.
As mentioned in the text, causes of depression vary from patient to patient. My cause was experiencing a traumatic event which led to the confusion of my sexuality. At the time of the event I had a boyfriend who stood by my side and defended me no matter what. It wasn't until after the event when I started to question myself about my sexuality. I had no idea what was going on with me and why I was having unusual thoughts and doubts about my personal life. I eventually became very depressed and remember thinking to myself that I was never going to be happy again or "normal" as I would call it. I was very sad and cried most days and had little energy to do anything. Weeks later I began to see a psychotherapist in hopes of getting my life back on track. It was my first year in college so I had no dependable friends or family around to lean on. I had spoken to my mom about what I was going through and asked her if she had ever been depressed. She admitted that she has been and that my grandmother also has a history of depression. That is when I knew there had to be a predisposition to this disorder I was experiencing. However, studies show that the environmental factors are bigger precursors to depression rather than genetics itself, which was also proven in my case as well.

Here is a short video in which Dr. Daniel Pine explains the difference between the genetic and the environmental factors that play a role in depression. He also explains, just as the text does, that there is not one gene that can take the blame for this mood disorder but research is being done on finding more ways to cure it.

My therapy lasted a short eight weeks, but during those weeks the psychotherapist performed different cognitive-behavioral techniques to help me conquer my disorder including rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT). I am glad to say that I was not put on any antidepressants because I first wanted to try my best to see if I can overcome this depression I was going through. I must agree with the text that psychotherapy is the safest and longer lasting treatment than drugs and almost three years after this experience I am glad to say that my thoughts, emotions, and behaviors have changed to make me the person I am today.

I was interested in the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a treatment for depression and was shocked to find that ECT indeed helped to alleviate depressed emotions. I found a video about a woman named Julie who was severely depressed and also had multiple suicide attempts and how no treatment or drugs worked for her, but ECT saved her life.