I have suffered from depression since 1995, but have not been seriously treated until the beginning of 2005.  It took losing a career in medicine and three hospital admissions before I decided to get serious about getting better.  My mental health is no longer fragile but I have to be sure to monitor my mood carefully.  I wish I got paid for this part-time job! 

Life has truly improved, especially since meeting my wife.  I always say she's better then Prozac because she has brought stability to my life.  She isn't afraid to call me out on my sometimes ridiculous behavior but is still supportive when I need to be taken care of.  Still, as someone who has no experience with mental disease, she struggles with understanding what goes on in my head most of the time.  She is still as good as they come.

I think that I have and continue to struggle with how to think of my illness.  Are my problems cognitive distortions or the result of a physiological dysfunction?  Am I normal functioning person with typical life events that I just over react to, or am I a person with a chronic illness that has and will forever be a part of my life experiences? 

I hope that I can learn from other's experiences and I will offer my own in return.