Better Living Through Chemistry (Part 3)

I appreciate all of your concerns. I decided to give my 16-year-old daughter an anti-depressant after much thought about the benefits and possible consequences.

Depression has a genetic component, a hormonal component, an environmental component, and who knows what other kind of component.

My 90-year-old mother had her first depressive episode in 1929 when she was 15. She suffered from depression for her whole life and didn't get consistent relief until she started taking an anti-depressant in 1988 at age 74. It wasn't easy growing up in a house with a depressed mother. She was hospitalized 5 times. Her paternal grandmother also had depressive episodes when she couldn't get out of bed for weeks.

I suffered from dysthymia for the first 36 years of my life. It was probably caused by genes, the death of my 4-year-old older sister when I was only 2, and the stress of living with a depressed mother. I resisted trying a drug because I was scared of them. I tried Prozac in 1996 and it triggered severe panic attacks. In 1997, I had two major depressive episodes. Even though I was afraid because of my experience with Prozac, I started taking Zoloft and have felt markedly better ever since. Antidepressants work differently than anti-psychotics. Antidepressants keep people out of mental hospitals. Antidepressants improve the quality of people's lives.

It has taken me many years to accept that depression is a medical condition that runs in my family, that it's not my fault, and that drugs do work. There are insulin shots for diabetics, there is medication for hypertension, and there is medication for depression. Some day the genes will be isolated but, for now, finding the right drug is trial-and-error -- just like finding the right antibiotic for a sinus infection.

Like Mike Wallace and Dick Cavett, I plan to take an anti-depressant for the rest of my life -- for my sake and for my family's sake. I don't care what the long term effects of taking it might be because I know that the short term effects of having depression are unbearable.

As I look back, I realize that my older daughter has been depressed since she was 12. Maybe the hormones triggered the genetic component -- who knows. All I know is that I am thankful that I can do something for her so that she won't suffer for most of her life like my great-grandmother, my mother, and I did.

My daughter is a straight A student, is in two select choirs at school, is in Latin club and anime club, is auditioning for the school musical as a singer and a dancer, and is working on her Girl Scout gold award. I don't think she needs any more activities to boost her self-esteem.

My younger daughter (age 14) is not depressed and I'm hoping that she never will be because depression ruins the life of the sufferer and is devastating to their families.

We all have to weigh the pros and cons before taking any medication and then decide what's best for our families.