Article April 15, 2002 Issue

step by step OUT OF DEPRESSION

By Cynthia Tyler

I grew up in a family where my mother and grandfather suffered from manic depression. For many years, I saw my mother go to a psychiatrist and take prescription drugs to help her with this problem. She told me she was never given any hope that there would be a real healing; the doctors were just trying to manage and control her disease to some degree. But she never had even that level of relief.

When I was in my mid-teens, my father suddenly passed away and my mom became immobilized. In addition to trying to cope with the loss of my father, I became her caretaker. And I was having my own mental health problems—struggling with extreme ups and downs. I had grown up being told this illness was "in the genes" and that there was nothing that could be done about it. This cast a shadow of despair over everything I did.

Having seen how little help the traditional methods had given my mom and my grandfather, I looked for help elsewhere—through alternative and holistic approaches. I was not just dabbling in these things; I was conducting a very deep study. But there was no lasting healing to be found.