iFred, International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression

Major depression causes immense suffering in those afflicted. Following the initial onset, thorough assessment and aggressive intervention should rapidly occur to reduce the risk of progression into a chronic, severe, treatment-resistant condition. Sadly, stigma and lack of awareness prevent many people from getting the help they need. I greatly applaud the vitally important work by Kathryn Goethe and colleagues. By elevating the understanding that depression is serious but not shameful, that many noteworthy persons held in high esteem have suffered from depression, and that compassionate, effective care is available, this organization shines an affirming empowering light into the darkness of depression to help eradicate stigma and bring hope.

twenty one years ago, after many mis-diagnosed mental health issues, i was finally correctly diagnosed as a person with "Borderline Personality Disorder"...when i spent a few years after that in and out of several psych hospitals due to self-mutilation (after thirty sucessful years of keeping the self-harming hidden from EVERYONE), my very supportave, but confused, sisters that i live with told my dad, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, their friends, etc that i was o.k.. and that i was only in the hospital each time so they could "ADJUST" medications i was on.....i was already ashamed of being on this planet after getting caught cutting, but to lie to my family just because they "didn't know what to say', made me feel even more like the biggest FRIEK on the planet....luckily, i found a psychologist who ran TOWARD people with Borderline, instead of all the other psychologists who RAN AWAY from my "LABEL" as fast as they could...i have been with this same psychologist for 21 years (two or three days a week) and she has been a gift from GOD to me AND my two sisters that i share a house with.....while other's RAN FROM my final diagnosis, even losing my best friend who left me, in a way i was RELIEVED to FINALLY have an explanation for my bizare brain thoughts, and that i was NOT alone. other people on this planet were as bizare thinkers and actors as i was!!! for the first time in my life, i was NOT ALONE!!!! through therapy, i have gotten something i never had before, A LIFE....
people at church or other places and new friends always tease me (lovingly) about being WEIRD and UNIQUE. sometimes it is cute or funny. but some other times, and with certain people it is VERY HURTFUL...i believe GOD made me this way so that i can be a good listener and be able to show great EMPATHY to all kinds of friends AND total strangers who somehow "sense" that i am SAFE to share their secrets and pains with...my disorder has made me seem very accessable to people who want to say "outloud" their own painful lives and memories to a non-judgemental person. and they sense that i am that person...so, all of my trials and tribulations through my life were for a purpose, GOD'S purpose to be there for others.....the steriotyping gets in the way of a lot of opportunities i miss out on quite often because of people "ignorant" to the real truth about mental illness, and that makes me very angry and sad. but with people like you, and me, together, maybe one day in the near future, people will learn and accept that mental difficulties are NOT contagious, nor is it worse than leperacy....baby steps, i guess..... thankyou for caring and listening...

I slowly slid into the black hole of depression without knowing how or when it began. Once I realised that I was ill, I was already a fair way down. I felt hopeless, worthless and overcome with despair. My natural emotions seemed lost to me, I felt just emptiness and guilt. I isolated myself more and more as the depression deepened. After almost three long, dark and lonely years and many different medications and seven stays in hospital, I received 12 sessions of ECT treatment in 2002. Following these treatments, very carefully and kindly administered, I saw a ray of hope and sunlight. I slowly and gradually was able to move out of the darkness and towards the sunlight. I sometimes slipped backwards into a greyness, but not into the total blackness of before. Steadily I worked towards my recovery and I am now well and back teaching part time. I have a contented and very normal life.

I love the sight of a field of happy, vibrant sunflowers! They all move together as one as the sun passes over them, urging each to grow bright! As someone who has been surprised by how powerful depression can be, I want to share my thoughts with all of the people who think they can "out-think" depression. I am a person who loves control and when major clinical depression flattened me the first time, I assumed I could treat myself. Nothing could be further from the truth. The shroud of my depression was only removed by treatment. I was able to return to the light of life, love, hope, possibility, and laughter in a matter of weeks. I have learned that when I start to feel symptoms return, I seek out help immediately. There are so many stigmas that stop us; but the biggest myth of all is you can do it alone. You can't. Don't let your own stigmas prevent you from the first step - to seek LIGHT.