# On alcohol, drinking, and depression



## saucywench (Dec 18, 2005)

This time of year seems to bring an emphasis on drinking and "making merry." My best friend nearly died (OK, technically, she did die--three times--in the MediVac copter on the way to the hospital) about three months ago because she was driving drunk and hit a tree. Luckily it was a single-vehicle accident and no other (innocent) people were involved. As we live quite a distance apart, I was unaware of how deeply alcoholism had taken hold of her. I knew from phone conversations, though, how her behavior had begun to change--frequenting bars had become part of her lifestyle, and she was "taking up" with men of a caliber that I wouldn't ordinarily associate with her. The last contact I had had with her was when she left a voicemail message on my phone a few days prior to her wreck. She was loud and her words were slurred.

I am fortunate in that I don't carry the gene that seems to prompt alcoholism. By contrast, when I experienced my biggest depressive episode of a few years back, my instinct was to withdraw from society. I spent a great deal of time alone and, some four years later, am still reluctant to get out and about and socialize with other people. The advantage of my method over hers is that my (voluntarily) forced solitude provided the time necessary to evaluate my life and my behavior. It's not that I was doing anything "bad," per se, but I really took stock of certain behaviors that had become habit and realized that they were vastly different from who I felt to be at my core. I vowed to be more truthful to who I felt that person was. That entailed realizing my worth as a human being--the positive qualities I lent to myself, and others. For anyone who has ever suffered from low self-esteem, you know how daunting this task can be. Although I had overcome many self-esteem issues prior to this episode and presented myself, for the most part, as a positive person to the outside world, there were still issues to be addressed before I could arrive at a place where I was truly comfortable in my own skin.

I guess the point of all that rambling is to say that, when you use alcohol as a crutch to make your way through life because you are uncomfortable with yourself, you will never allow yourself time to face your demons. And drinking excessively will only mask those problems temporarily. Once you sober up, your problems will still be there, waiting to be addressed. Looking back, it was a blessing that I was fired (for the first and I hope only time in my life) and thus unemployed for an entire year, as that gave me time that most people don't have--time to work through things.

I spent two weeks with my best friend after she was released from rehab. Although she was no longer drinking, she still exhibited many of the behaviors--a dry drunk, if you will. I was so dismayed by her personality changes that I left without saying goodbye, and have since estranged myself from her--thus effectively ending a friendship of 30 years. I realized that there was nothing I could do as her friend to help her--that she was still in denial. And I had come too far in my own development to allow myself to be dragged down by her, to be co-dependent to her clouded way of thinking.

Alcoholism affects not only the alcoholic--it affects everyone they come into contact with, especially their loved ones. It is a devastating disease. I had also spent 10 years involved with a man who was an alcoholic and substance abuser, so I know firsthand what havoc it can wreak. He was extremely bright, witty, incredibly handsome, and creative in both art and music, and it is such a travesty that he wasted his life--all because of the pain that comes from being human. People, the pain in our lives will always be there until we take steps to address it. Drinking and/or drugging will not take away that pain permanently--it will only hinder any efforts we make to work through it, and will cause all of the people we love to suffer needlessly.

I Googled "glorifying drunkenness" and it brought up many links. After sorting through the mostly religious ones, I came across this. I hope it is of use to someone. The file was too large for me to post in its entirety here.
http://www.werecover.org/7_Myths_Alcohol_Marketing.htm




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## saucywench (Dec 18, 2005)

[FONT=Arial, Verdana]*Deadly Persuasion: *[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Verdana]*7 Myths Alcohol Advertisers Want You to Believe*[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Verdana]By Jean Kilbourne[/FONT]


​[FONT=Arial, Verdana]*"Absolut Magic" proclaims a print ad for a popular vodka. "Paradise found," headlines another. "Fairy tales can come true" says a third. *All these ads illustrate the major premise of alcohol advertising's mythology: Alcohol is magic, a magic carpet that can take you away. It can make you successful, sophisticated, sexy. Without it, your life would be dull, mediocre and ordinary. 
Everyone wants to believe in happy endings. But as most of us know, the reality of alcohol for many people in our society is more like a horror story than a fairy tale. The liquid in the glass is definitely not a magic potion. 
We are surrounded by the message that alcohol is fun, sexy, desirable and harmless. We get this message many times a day. We get it from the ads and, far more insidiously, we get it from the media, which depend upon alcohol advertising for a large share of their profits. Thanks to this connection, alcohol use tends to be glorified throughout the media and alcohol-related problems are routinely dismissed. 
Alcohol is related to parties, good times, celebrations and fun, but it is also related to murder, suicide, unemployment and child abuse. These connections are never made in the ads. Of course, one would not expect them to be. The advertisers are selling their product and it is their job to erase any negative aspects as well as to enhance the positive ones. However, when the product is the nation's number one drug, there are consequences that go far beyond product sales. 
Most people know that alcohol can cause problems. But how many realize that 10 percent of all deaths in the United States - including half of all homicides and at least one quarter of all suicides - are related to alcohol? The economic cost to the nation exceeds $100 billion a year. At least 13,000,000 Americans, about one out of 10, are alcoholic - the personal cost to them and their families is incalculable. 
The tab for alcohol use doesn't end there. More than $2 billion a year - a sizable chunk of the over $90 billion the industry takes in annually - goes to prime the advertising and promotion pump and keep drinkers' money flowing freely. Problem drinkers and young people are the primary targets of these advertisers. 
Of course, industry spokespeople disagree with this claim. Over and over again, their public statements assert that they are not trying to create new or heavier drinkers. Instead, they say they only want people who already drink to switch to another brand and to drink it in moderation. However, the most basic analysis of alcohol advertising reveals an emphasis on both recruiting new, young users and pushing heavy consumption of their products. 
Indeed, advertising that encouraged only moderate drinking would be an economic failure. This becomes clear when you know that only 10 percent of the drinking-age population consumes over half of all alcoholic beverages sold. According to Robert Hammond, director of the Alcohol Research Information Service, if all 105 million drinkers of legal age consumed the official maximum "moderate" amount of alcohol - .99 ounces per day, the equivalent of about two drinks - the industry would suffer "a whopping 40 percent decrease in the sale of beer, wine and distilled spirits." 
*Young Prospects* 
These figures make it clear that if alcoholics were to recover - i.e., stop drinking - the alcoholic beverage industry's gross revenue would be cut in half. I can't believe that industry executives want that to happen. On the contrary, my 15-year study of alcohol advertising makes me certain that advertisers deliberately target the heavy drinker and devise ads designed to appeal to him or her. As with any product, the heavy user is the best customer. However, when the product is a drug, the heavy user is often an addict. 
Not all problem drinkers are alcoholics. Youthful drinking is frequently characterized by binges and episodes of drunkenness, making young people a lucrative market for alcohol producers. According to the 1989 National Institute on Drug Abuse survey of high school seniors, 33 percent of students reported that they had consumed five or more drinks on one occasion within the previous two weeks. This group is vulnerable to ad campaigns that present heavy drinking as fun and normal. 
Media sell target audiences to the alcohol industry on a cost-per-drinker basis. "Cosmopolitan readers drank 21,794,000 glasses of beer in the last week Isn't it time you gave Cosmopolitan a shot?" proclaims an ad aimed at the alcohol industry. 

(continued in next post)
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## saucywench (Dec 18, 2005)

The primary purpose of the mass media is to deliver audiences to advertisers. It's worthwhile taking a closer look at how some of the common myths alcohol advertisers have created do this. 

*Drinking is a risk-free activity.*
Ads featuring copy like "The Joy of Six" imply that it is all right to consume large quantities of alcohol. Light beer ("great taste") has been developed and heavily promoted not for the dieter but for the heavy drinker. It is "less filling," and therefore one can drink more. 
Ads like these tell the alcoholic and those around him or her that is all right, indeed splendid, to be obsessed by alcohol, to consume large amounts of it on a daily basis and to have it be a part of all one's activities. At the same time, all signs of trouble and any hint of addiction are erased. 
Every instance of use seems spontaneous, unique. The daily drinking takes place on yachts at sunset, not at kitchen tables in the morning. Bottles are magically unopened even when drinks have been poured. All signs of trouble and any hint of addiction are conspicuously avoided. There is no unpleasant drunkenness, only high spirits. Certainly alcohol-related problems such as alcohol-impaired driving, broken marriages, abused children, lost jobs, illness and premature death - are never even hinted at.*
[*]You can't survive without drinking. *
"It separates the exceptional from the merely ordinary," is how a Piper champagne ad puts it. By displaying a vibrant, imbibing couple against a black and white non-drinking background crowd, the advertiser contrasts the supposedly alive and colorful world of the drinker with dull reality. The alcohol has resurrected the couple, restored them to life. 
In general, such advertising is expert at making the celebration of drinking itself - not a holiday, festivity or family event - a reason for imbibing ("Pour a Party," "Holidays were made for Michelob.") 
At the heart of the alcoholic's dilemma and denial is this belief, this certainty, that alcohol is essential for life, that without it he or she will literally die - or at best be condemned to a gray and two-dimensional wasteland, a half-life. These ads, and many others like them, present that nightmare as true, thus affirming and even glorifying one of the symptoms of the illness.
*Problem drinking behaviors are normal.*
A shot of a sunset-lit bridge, captioned "At the end of the day, even a bridge seems to be heading home for Red," is actually advertising not just Scotch, but daily drinking. Often symptoms of alcohol, such as the need for a daily drink, are portrayed as not only normal, but desirable. A Smirnoff ad captioned "Hurry Sundown" features a vampirish lady immobilized in a coffin-like setting awaiting the revivifying effects of a vodka gimlet. 
Slogans presenting drinking as "your own special island," and "your mountain hideaway" capitalize on the feelings of alienation and loneliness most alcoholics experience. Such ads seem to encourage solitary drinking, often one of the classic indicators of trouble with alcohol. They also distort the tragic reality that problem drinking increases - rather than alleviates - those feelings of isolation. 
Alcohol lies at the center of these ads, just as it is at the center of the alcoholic's life. 

"The trick for marketers is to project the right message in
their advertisements to motivate those often motionless
consumers to march down to the store or bar and
exchange their money for a sip of liquor."
_Advertising Age_ ​
*Alcohol is a magic potion that can transform you.*
Alcohol advertising often spuriously links alcohol with precisely those attributes and qualities - happiness, wealth, prestige, sophistication, success, maturity, athletic ability, virility and sexual satisfaction - that the misuse of alcohol destroys. 
For example, alcohol is linked with romance and sexual fulfillment, yet it is common knowledge that drunkenness often leads to sexual dysfunction. Less well known is the fact that people with drinking problems are seven times more likely to be separated or divorced. 
Such ads often target young people, women and people of color, since members of these groups often feel powerless and are eager to identify with "successful" groups in our society. These ads sometimes connect "prestige" beverages with the aura of the rich and powerful or the goals of women's liberation. 
Ads and products aimed at young people deserve special mention in these days when many preteens start drinking in junior high school. Cartoon and animal characters such as Spuds MacKenzie, Anheuser-Busch's canine mascot, are not as innocent as they appear. In one Christmas campaign, Spuds appeared in a Santa Claus suit, promoting 12-packs of Bud Light beer. In the summer of 1990 he was cavorting with ninjas, drawing on the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, a big hit with younger children. 
Ads that portray drinking as a passport to adulthood, coupled with transitional products such as high-proof milkshakes and chocolate sodas, can be very successful lures for young drinkers.
*Sports and alcohol go together.*
Alcohol consumption actually decreases athletic performance. However, numerous ads, like a Pabst Blue Ribbon poster showing a speeding bicyclist with a bottle of beer on her basket, wrongly imply that sports and alcohol are safely complementary activities. Others feature sponsorship of a wide range of sporting events or endorsements by sports stars.
*If these products were truly dangerous, the media would tell us.*
Most media are reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them by spending $2 billion annually on advertising and promotion. Media coverage of the "war on drugs" seldom mentions the two major killers, alcohol and nicotine. From the coverage, one would assume that cocaine was the United States' most dangerous drug. However, while cocaine, heroin and other illegal drugs are linked with about 20,000 deaths a year, alcohol contributes to at least 100,000 and cigarettes more than 390,000 - or more than 1,000 a day. 
Although many media feature occasional stories about alcoholism, they usually treat it as a personal problem and focus on individual treatment solutions. Reports that probe alcohol's role in violence and other chronic problems are rare, while the role advertising plays in encouraging its use is almost never discussed.
*Alcoholic beverage companies promote moderation in drinking.*
The current Budweiser "moderation" campaign says, "Know when to say when," as opposed to "Know when to say no." In the guise of a moderation message, this slogan actually suggests to young people that drinking beer is one way to demonstrate their control. It also perpetuates the myth that alcoholics are simply people who "don't know when to say when," irresponsibly engaging in willful misconduct, rather than people who are suffering from a disease that afflicts at least one in 10 drinkers. 
Most of these programs are designed to encourage young people not to drive drunk. Although this is a laudable goal, it is interesting to note that few of the alcohol industry programs discourage or even question drunkenness per se. The tragic result is that many young people feel it is perfectly all right to get drunk, as long as they do not get behind the wheel of a car. 
In any case, we might be better off without programs designed by the alcohol industry to promote ideas about "responsible" drinking that in fact subtly promote myths and damaging attitudes. For example, one program by Miller beer defines moderate drinking as up to four drinks a day. Copy for a Budweiser program called "The Buddy System" defines drunkenness as having "too much of a good time." Doesn't this imply that being sober is having a bad time, that being drunk and having a good time go together? Even the industry's "moderation" messages imply the advantages of heavy drinking. 
One of the chief symptoms of the disease of alcoholism is the denial that there is a problem. In general, as a society we tend to deny the illness and to support the alibi system of the alcoholic. Advertising encourages this denial. 
It may be impossible to prove conclusively that alcohol advertising affects consumption, but it clearly affects attitudes about drinking. The ads contribute to an environment of social acceptance of high-risk drinking and denial of related problems. In addition, media dependence on alcohol advertising discourages full and open discussion of the many problems associated with alcohol. 
Above all, we must become fully engaged in the struggle to solve alcohol-related problems. We must stop supporting the denial that is at the heart of the illness that alcohol advertising both perpetuates and depends upon both in the individual and in society as a whole.
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## Webmaster (Dec 18, 2005)

I couldn't agree more. I also lost a best friend of many years that way. Like many people, he became a functional alcoholic who no longer had anything incommon with the warm, interesting, caring person he had been before alcohol became more important to him than anything else. People generally associate alcoholism with drunk driving, embarrassing behavior and such. But for most alcoholics and the people in their lives, it is actually the slow erosion and eventual destruction of personality that's the biggest tragedy.

Unfortunately, drinking, like smoking, is a legal vice that generates a lot of tax revenue and cannot easily be legislated. So we have to rely on people's common sense and the often elusive ability to enjoy something in harmless moderation. Overall it's a situation where we're encouraged to drink alcohol via commercial and societal pressure on the one side, yet face draconian punishment when its consumption results in tragedy.


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## 1300 Class (Dec 19, 2005)

Drink in moderation. An old friend used to drink to get drunk, which was rather silly. It was sort of sad, but he moved on. I drink, but I never get pissed, because its just totally self defeating. On the other end of the scale, they tried prohibition in the 1920's and it didn't really work.


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## cobalt_butterfly (Oct 11, 2011)

While i admit that i didn't know so many drinkers were alcholic i do think that the correct dosage varies drastically from person to person.
A regular at work takes 1/2bottle of whiskey every day, he walks a 3 mile trip to get it because his family disaprove, much younger folk than he are on a dozen pills a day to function but he isn't.
The only painkiller (i've trired) that i'm not hypersensative to is alchool. Drunk and i retain an awarness of my surroundings that most painkillers don't allow me. I rarley drink socially and i don't like to do it to often. The days i* need *a drink are the ones when i've had enough (physical) hurting. I'll add that its normaly one drink and then sleep. The morning after i'm always energetic and cheerful. For emotional upset i take chamomile tea and chocolate.
It does not work that way for any one else i know, but my freinds all think coffee is safe substance If i have one they think i've had speed.


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## CleverBomb (Oct 13, 2011)

Holy cow. 
5 years, 10 months between #5 and #6.

I'm impressed.

-Rusty


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## imfree (Oct 13, 2011)

One of the last things my friend, Mike, ever told me was that whenever he thought of the happy times in his life, I was right there in the middle of them. I never partied or drank with him, but our paths crossed a couple places in our radio/electronics careers and we had a few electronic adventures between the two of us. Mike gave me a lot of help and encouragement at the beginning of my 11 years at the two-way radio shop, even giving me the nickname "The Edge" as I learned to repair those hand-held two-ways! Signs were evident, but I had previously worked 5 years at the state in an office, adjacent to his without realizing that he was an alcoholic. I guess a functional alcoholic is someone who you are accustomed to seeing intoxicated, who can function to a passable extent. He missed quite a bit of time at work, so he could have been falling into depression and binge-drinking at the same time. Mike passed in September of 1998 and I still miss him, as he was a happy, good natured guy.


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## CastingPearls (Oct 21, 2011)

Joshua Leon said:


> alcohol is the biggest cause of depression


No. Alcohol may be a depressant but it doesn't necessarily cause depression per se. It's one of many things that can trigger or make it worse though. Often, pain a person feels, whether physical or emotional, is so difficult that they self-medicate. People self-medicate with many things besides alcohol. Drugs, gambling, sex, shopping, smoking in some instances--all inappropriate coping devices people use to help ease pain, but in moderation or once in a while, like alcohol, aren't necessarily harmful. 

I found this on Google after entering 'causes of depression' in the search bar:

Triggers cause depression-- Definition: Depression Triggers - "Anything that happens physically or emotionally, such as an injury or bad learning experience, that can cause an imbalance within the normal brain function."

Here are a few examples:

# A death of a family member or close friend.
# An assault, car accident or painful physical event.
# A painful mental, or emotional event.
# Marriage breakup, or love lost suddenly.
# Constant physical, mental, or emotional pain that goes on for a length of time.
# Developing a disease or illness that will not get better.
# Major Financial setback.
# Something "embarrassing" happens.
# Failing an important exam a school.
# A best friend moves out of town.
# Consistently bad eating habits (carbonation, white flour & sugar)
# Substance abuse.
# A Rape, or sexual attack, by a known or unknown person.
# Consistent lack of exercise which can cause weight gain.
# Weight gain.

In short, any of these things can cause depression. Alcohol will only worsen it but to say that alcohol is the biggest cause of depression is misleading and overly simplistic. 

*Sorry to go slightly off-topic but this is an important issue (and distinction) to me.


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## moore2me (Oct 23, 2011)

CastingPearls said:


> No. Alcohol may be a depressant but it doesn't necessarily cause depression per se. It's one of many things that can trigger or make it worse though. Often, pain a person feels, whether physical or emotional, is so difficult that they self-medicate. People self-medicate with many things besides alcohol. Drugs, gambling, sex, shopping, smoking in some instances--all inappropriate coping devices people use to help ease pain, but in moderation or once in a while, like alcohol, aren't necessarily harmful.
> 
> I found this on Google after entering 'causes of depression' in the search bar:
> 
> ...



I would also like to add that these causes of depression can be magnified by "adding up" on a person. *Sometimes a heavy burden of depression might be caused by five or six of these factors acting at once on a person.* In times like that, it is often necessary to seek outside help - whether a medical professional, a religious source, or a self help group (or all of them).

*Another issue is that some of these events may cause depressions that lasts for months, a few years, or many years.* Some horrific events people never recover from unfortunately. An example of this might be mental anguish caused by serving in wartime. We are seeing these now in some servicemen and women coming back from the conflict in the Middle East. My family experienced it with my uncle who returned from the Korean War.


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## KHayes666 (Oct 23, 2011)

CleverBomb said:


> Holy cow.
> 5 years, 10 months between #5 and #6.
> 
> I'm impressed.
> ...



This is one of those threads that I don't mind being revived. Its a good lesson to learn really.


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## Surlysomething (Oct 24, 2011)

CleverBomb said:


> Holy cow.
> 5 years, 10 months between #5 and #6.
> 
> I'm impressed.
> ...


 

Mind boggling, eh?


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## mchew61 (Nov 16, 2011)

Take into consideration this in your individual life. Whether you will have ever been depressed or not, there have been times in your life once you simply have been too busy to be depressed. You simply didn't have time to be depressed or have time to know that you simply were or should be depressed.


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## CastingPearls (Nov 16, 2011)

mchew61 said:


> Take into consideration this in your individual life. Whether you will have ever been depressed or not, there have been times in your life once you simply have been too busy to be depressed. You simply didn't have time to be depressed or have time to know that you simply were or should be depressed.


Baloney. Many People use being busy as a way to not deal with their depression. Just because a person doesn't identify it or bury their head in the sand, doesn't mean they don't have it.


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## moore2me (Nov 18, 2011)

First quote originally Posted by mchew61

Take into consideration this in your individual life. Whether you will have ever been depressed or not, there have been times in your life once you simply have been too busy to be depressed. You simply didn't have time to be depressed or have time to know that you simply were or should be depressed.




CastingPearls said:


> Baloney. Many People use being busy as a way to not deal with their depression. Just because a person doesn't identify it or bury their head in the sand, doesn't mean they don't have it.



(I noticed that mchew61 is on a time out after making one post. I assume it is the one in the first paragraph.)

Anyhoo, I was going to comment that some people repress bad events in their lives - sort of bury them in the back of their brain. They do not deal with the problem adequately when it happens and this can cause long term damage and suffering. An event that should have been grieved over or hashed out in a person's emotions and current life will likely keep coming back to tease and haunt the affected victim later in life.

A person that witnesses a horrific event, or undergoes personal trauma, or has some personal toll from life can ignore the bad thing(s) and keep working or functioning like normal. However, most of us will have to deal with the hurt and trauma sooner or later. The longer it is buried in our minds, the longer we will suffer from it and it can continue to damage our life. 

This is why we need to talk about our problems (if even to God or someone who watches over us) or work with a counselor, victim's help group, or some other method of healing and working thru the bad. (If not talk, write about it. ) We also need suggestions for making things better or to help lead our thoughts in the right direction. AA or groups work too. And don't forget my personal favorites - antidepressants. "Better living thru chemistry" is my motto. Alcohol should never to be used to self-medicate long term depression. It's like trying to put a fire out by throwing gasoline on the blaze.

One last note - some forms of depression are caused by an organic disease in the brain or some type of head trauma. Good examples might be epilepsy, MS, stroke, brain tumor, or damage from an auto accident. Counseling may not be as effective a cure in these cases as medical treatment by removing the tumor, controlling the epilepsy, or clot busting drugs in strokes. 

However, the patient may profit from physical therapy or occupational therapy to help them cope with the changes in their life. Making a person more competent to deal with the bad stuff will help their self esteem and help control depression. Good hospital and rehab facilities do wonders in helping these folks and limiting depression.


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## Miss Vickie (Nov 19, 2011)

mchew61 said:


> Take into consideration this in your individual life. Whether you will have ever been depressed or not, there have been times in your life once you simply have been too busy to be depressed. You simply didn't have time to be depressed or have time to know that you simply were or should be depressed.



Wow, I wish someone had told me that. 

I work full time -- 12 hour shifts which usually stretch to 13+ hours on my feet, caring for my patients. I'm also in school full time in a family nurse practitioner program and to earn my Masters degree in nursing. This means not only a lot of writing and work but also requires I work 24 hours per week at a clinical site seeing patients. I run a business with my husband. I have an autoimmune disease, a headache disorder, and an adult child who was until recently living at home.

And yet I still find time to be sufficiently depressed to require therapy and medication.

Go figure.

I guess I just need to be more busy. Perhaps I should start another part time business? Or take on another job?


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