Counseling and Anti Depressants

So many doctors today are prescribing medication to address all manners of mental and emotional afflictions - from depression, to eating disorders, to obsessions and phobias - yet, only a handful are as eager to suggest that their patients enter into some form of counseling.

I am writing from experience. I have been prescribed a variety of pretty pills to help me to deal with chronic depression. Thankfully, I have been among that small percentage who have benefitted from ongoing counseling over the years.

My first encounter with counseling was two years after my son was born. I had been doing my level best to be a good mommy, getting up early every day and getting us out of the house. We would usually head over to our community play group for the morning. Then we would spend the afternoon in the park or go for long walks seeing the sites of downtown Toronto. However, even though I kept active, I found my spirits to be down in the dumps.

Finally, I called a women's counseling center and embarked on a three year stint with an amazing therapist whom I will always remember fondly. It's really amazing how talking to someone who gently directs your thinking can work wonders, when coupled with the right anti-depressants.

By the end of those three years, I was a changed woman! Gone were the dark days of depression, feeling lethargic and powerless. I got a job as a Creative Manager for a local advertising agency and for once in my life felt like I was in control!

Things were really good for several years. Although I had suffered some post partum depression after the birth of my son, after having my daughter, five years later, I seemed to be fine.

We ended up moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba when our daughter was about eight months old. The spirit of adventure and our plans to start an advertising agency of our own kept me motivated and moving.

Then suddenly, my mood started slipping again. It turned out that the anti-depressants that I had come to view as my best friend at times, stopped working. I had great difficulty finding a regular family doctor, and ended up bounced around from one walk-in clinic to another. Finally, when I was at my breaking point I found a very good doctor. Again, I was among the fortunate. This doctor quickly helped to remedy my situation balancing out my mood with the right medication and strongly urged me to enter in to counseling once again.

In the beginning I went every week, however, as things started to improve and I started to get back to feeling more normal, we were able to ease off to have sessions on an as-needed basis.

Having experienced the great assistance that anti-depressants coupled with professional counseling can provide, I am a very strong advocate for exploring options, not exclusive to medication, when treating mental and emotional disorders.