Denial would have gained nothing but continued pain. My story will not be identical to anyone else's, so this is not the definitive essay on depression. We are all unique, and depression manifests itself in strange and unpredictable ways. This is my own personal story. But if you see some of yourself or an associate or loved one in some of these passages, please know that there is help.
Depression is controllable.
Bakke is a founding partner of Bakke Norman S.C., New Richmond, Wisconsin. This article first was published in the Wisconsin Lawyer of December 2000, Vol. 73, No. 12, and is reprinted here with permission. Author's note William Stryon, author of Sophie's Choice and Pulitzer prize-winning The Confessions of Nat Turner, was a depression sufferer.