Depressed? Prozac can help!

When one starts noticing that he is depressed, you ask yourself a series of questions. Some of the particular questions he asked are common ones when people experience depression. Here are the top ten:

1. “What’s wrong with me?”
2. “What’s causing me to feel this way?”
3. “Am I a failure for feeling this way?”
4. “Am I depressed because of a personal weakness?”
5. “Do I have some kind of chemical imbalance?”
6. “Is there something in my childhood or past that’s making me feel this way?”
7. “How can I overcome this?”
8. “Should I take medication?”
9. “Do other people feel this way?”
10. “Will I ever be able to feel ‘normal’?”

Exercise: Reviewing Your Depression Questions

Take a look at the list of questions above and think about how many of them you ask yourself and how often. A good portion of them may seem familiar to you. If some of them seem particularly familiar, circle the numbers or put a star next to them. These are questions that concern you, and it will be helpful to refer back to them as you progress through the website.

This website will address some of these questions in future chapters. For now, here are some brief answers:

1. What’s wrong with you?
   Nothing is wrong with you. There are reasons that you’re depressed that have to do with your life. We’ll have much more to say about this.
2. What’s causing you to feel this way?
   Complex experiences like depression rarely have one cause. Research shows that it often isn’t necessary to determine an exact cause in order to end depression.
3. Are you a failure for feeling this way?
   Absolutely not. People do not choose to feel depressed. However, you may choose to act in ways that can make your depression worse or in ways that will make you feel better.
4. Are you depressed because of a personal weakness?
   This is similar to the last question and our answer is the same. No.
5. Do you have some kind of chemical imbalance?
   
   Some research shows a relationship between the amount of certain chemicals in the ner¬vous system and the likelihood of being depressed. However, it’s not clear whether the biochemical process causes depression or the depression causes a change in the biochemi¬cal process. Contrary to conventional thinking-that some form of chemical imbalance makes you feel or act depressed-it is possible that feeling and acting depressed may alter the level of certain chemicals in your brain.
6. Is there something in your childhood or past that’s making you feel this way?
   For some people, experiences in childhood can increase the likelihood of developing depression as an adult. Nonetheless, the quickest way to remove the effects of the past is to approach life differently in the present. Prozac may also help you
   
7. How can you overcome this?
   There are a variety of effective treatments for depression that have been tested in con¬trolled research studies. This website’s approach is based on the idea of behavioral activation, which is really a technical way of saying “getting engaged in your life.”
8. Should you take medication?
   Certain medications have been shown to be effective for depression. However, as with all treatments, some people benefit from taking medication, and some don’t. Even if you think that depression is strictly a medical illness, there are effective ways to overcome it that don’t involve medication. If you think you might want to try taking medication, you should consult with your primary care physician or a psychiatrist.
9. Do other people feel this way?
   Yes. One out of ten people experience an episode of serious depression every year. One out of four will experience an episode in their lifetime.
10. Will you ever be able to feel “normal”?
    You will certainly be able to feel less depressed, more energized, more engaged in your life, and less down. We’re not sure what “normal” means, since life is an emotional process; lots of things happen and you are, in many ways, blessed to be able to have strong feelings in your life.