[McheleM]

It's so hard to talk about this disease, and it is a disease the same as diabetes and cancer are diseases.

I have suffered from depression as long as I can remember, and it got worse when I found out about my cancer. It almost took my marriage, as well as my life. I had several suicide attempts over the past 3 years, and I know that my extended family only speaks of it in whispers, as if its something I did wrong, like being unfaithful to my spouse, when in reality, its nothing I can control. My mother in law thinks I should just "snap out of it" and get over whatever it is that makes me depressed, and of course this makes me feel worse. If it were something I could control, I would. It's not as simple as surgery for cancer, as it can not be removed, only treated, and often the treatments quit working. (I've been through several antidepressants because they stop being effective)

I truly wish more people would talk about it and its toll on their lives. How it affects them, their families, their jobs. And that more people would understand that it's not some horrible thing to be made fun of and whispered about. It's real, it's crippling, and it can be deadly.