[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I am a depressive, or have been for much of my life.

Depression , for me, follows anxiety.

Anxiety come when one has an issue or problem that you cannot resolve.

Depression is what happens when the anxiety exhausts you and you feel beaten by ... well everything/anything.

For many years I was given various medications , none of which really helped, but some simply deadens one emotions, which is zombifying normally active and creative people.

What really helped me was a series of counselling sessions - called Cognitive Behaviour Training or therapy - I regard training as a better term, because it doesn't solve your issues but train you to read and analyse your reactions and patterns.

It has helped me to manage or avoid quite a lot of situations, by observing my thought patterns.

I heard someone discussing anxiety and depression on the radio today, suggesting that they aren't illnesses, but instinctive self preserving reactions to various dangerous stimuli.

When I find myself confused or frustrated by someone else's actions, I often analyse them as if they were a simple hunter-gatherer - which I believe is our level of evolution.

He suggested that anxiety was a positive reaction to danger/threat .. fight/flight etc, and depression follows in instances when neither fight nor flight will resolve the situation .. effectively, going inwards and admitting defeat. In "the wild" as it were, you either get so hungry that you regain determination or strategies to take action, or ... die. Maybe that's why the Neanderthals died out ... bad neighbours!

We still need to respect depression as a condition and the best treatment, in my mind, is to help the person suffering, understand it.