Mild depression - how it affected me and how I got help

By: Simon Volk

I write this article in hope that it can help some one else in a similar situation. Within the past six months I was diagnosed with mild depression. It is nothing to be ashamed of, just a fact of our fast paced, stressed out lives.

I was in a situation where my life had gotten out of balance. I was caught up in trying to make everyone happy, except me. I had a high stress job with a whacked out, unappeasable boss. For some reason I couldn't bring myself to leave even though the prospects of a low stress higher paying job was a given. I continued to try to make the job work and then would come home and unload on my wife and kids. This further fueled the fire by the added stress of martial issues and constant fights with the kids. I had a side business, so when I wasn't fighting with the family I was trying to please those customers as well. I was basically all work and no play.

The final straw was my wife's decision to get a third dog, a Newfoundland. If you are unfamiliar with this breed it is a 150lb dog when full grown. I am not a dog person to begin with, but I have endured our other two small dogs in order to maintain peace with my wife and family. I am sure this was some kind of cry for attention from my wife, but can't really say. Imagine an 80 lb "puppy" bouncing around the house and not completely house trained. Not a good situation.

Sensing things were going from bad to worse I decided to get some help and made an appointment with a psychiatrist. Seeing how happy this simple decision made my wife told me it was the right thing to do. After two sessions with the doctor, she recommended that it was nothing major, but that my imbalance in life may be contributing to a chemical imbalance in my brain. Best I can interrupt it was my brain was trying to cope with what I was doing and it was having trouble keeping up.

So the psychiatrist recommended I see my regular doctor to inquire about a prescription for an anti-depressant. She recommended Wellbutrin since other patients she had worked with had like the results of this medication. It was two fold - it helped with the depression and had very low sexual side effects. My regular doctor had no problem with this recommendation and even had samples that he gave me to try. I started on 150 mg and progressed to 300 mg a day.

Here is the strange part, I didn't feel ANY different. I took the medication and to be honest was disappointed. Not sure what I thought would happen, but something more than nothing seemed appropriate to expect. So after a couple weeks taking it I was scheduled to see the psychiatrist again for an update. I told my wife before I went about my disappointment in the medication and she looked very puzzled. She proceeded to explain how I had a complete turn around on my attitude and was even pleasant to be around. So after talking to the doctors I decided to go ahead and get a prescription (since I was still taking samples).

Here is when it hit home how bad it had been. Initially my health insurance provider declined the prescription. Turns out depression medication required a special request form and approval. Because I had missed this step it was going to cost close to $200/month for the medication. My wife didn't even blinked and said get it. She didn't care what the cost was or even if she had to take second job to pay for it. It really drove home how big a difference the medication made and how bad it had been to be around me.

So, I would strongly recommend seeking professional help if you are having similar problems. They can help you determine your situation and possible solutions. You have very little to lose, a co-payment maybe, and everything to gain. Good luck and good health.