Magic Pills?

Over the summer a young man I was working with fell into a depression. He'd always struggled with it, but this summer it seemed to overtake him. He stopped hanging out with friends. He stopped hanging out with me. He stopped going to church (he blamed God for a lot of his problems). He was overwhelmed with the slightest task. His appetite disappeared. He couldn't sleep or he slept all day. He had plenty of reason to be depressed. I won't go into the why.

The last time I saw him was in his doctor's waiting room. He was going to start anti-depressants. It had taken a lot of convincing and arm twisting to get him to the point where he was ready take this step. That was probably close to a month ago. I had heard there had been major changes in his life since then, but I finally saw it for myself yesterday.

He looked lighter and happy. The bags under his eyes were gone. As I asked him about these changes; he confirmed the turn around. I asked him what had changed. Without hesitation he said the anti-depressants. He said that now he still has bad days and wonders if he needs to increase his meds, but the next day when he wakes up he realizes it was just a bad day. I asked him how far these changes had come, was he still mad at God? He smiled and said, "No, I'm trying to get closer to him again."

Anti-depressants aren't the solution for everyone but for many they can be an important tool in fighting depression, alongside exercise, counseling, eating right, and a good night's sleep.