Virtually all mental health literature now says depression can be managed, if not cured, by medication combined with therapy. As someone who took 10 years to recover from chronic, low-grade depression, I have found that view shortsighted. One blessing of our era is the pharmacological revolution, allowing medications to pinpoint brain chemistry, including the serotonin re-uptake process. But with this blessing comes a narrow view of healing.
Medication can help manage symptoms and provide new energy.
Therapy can offer a safe place for talking, grieving, healing, and developing hidden sides of one s personality. But we need more if what we re looking for is long-term transformation and behavior change. Depression can be like an old shoe, a familiar place to go during times of stress, life transitions, a particular time of the year, a family dynamic triggered in parenting, empty weekends, Sunday nights facing a new week. The support of a community can help people recovering from depression to avoid falling back into old behavior patterns. Several communities helped me recover, including my UU fellowship and the local men s center.