With the current thread going on in the forums, I thought that now would be a good time to start a blog.

You see, depression gets a pretty bad rap, from most quarters, mainly due to lack of understanding. My blog is not going to be an attempt to make people understand, but just to give an insight into the whys and wherefors.....But in my case only!

So, where does it start?

For me, this year, two keys incidents have come together to create, what my Doctor calls, "Reactive Depression". This is a form of depression that doesn't just "come on", but is caused by events in your life. Since the turn of the year, my Father has died (suddenly, with only a few hours notice) and my 7 1/2 year relationship with my partner has come to an end. Our 6 year old boy is caught up in this too.

So, for me, this has been an incredibly hard few months.

I had hoped, initially, to struggle through the death of my Father on my own. To be strong and keep a "stiff upper lip". You know the thing....It's what us British men do so well! However, when my partner decided that we had no future, completely out of the blue, it all became a little too much, and the stiff upper lip began to quiver!

Firstly, I got myself an appointment with a councellor. It was her that first put me onto the idea of depression. Although I had suffered it before (some 9 years ago), I had not thought it would come back. Written tests were done, and the diagnosis confirmed.

So, why write a blog about it?

Well, I've been on this site for almost a year, and every single day I log in to look at the forums. With all the help that flies around from people on here, it got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, someone might read about a depressive's life, and see that it is not all bad! It may, or may not convince someone who's feeling low to go to the Doctor and seek professional help.

I will be updating as I go through the coming months....The moving out....The finding how it is to live alone again....The weekends and weeks that I have my son.

Finally, if anything in my blog resonates with you, please feel free to drop me a line. I am no expert, but I can try to give help whenever asked.

Mango