Earlier this year I started a thread on this the general forum;...

Earlier this year I started a thread on this the general forum; "Dealing with Depression". In it I posted about how I had been struggling to deal with what is now a not uncommon mental illness - depression.

The general response from those on HC was amazing and it has prompted me to post an update in an effort to offer hope to others that may be suffering from depression or any of the other mental illness that affect so many now.

For thirteen odd years I was being treated for depression by way of prescription, this was after various consultations with very good GP's and and an extremely good phychologist all of whom I have a great deal of confidence in so I'm not blaming anyone for missing what now appears to be SO abvious. HINDSIGHT ;)

I was recently diagnosed after being seen by a consulting psychiatrist, as suffering not from depression rather from a form of bipolar disorder. I say "form" because while there are two common types of bipolar disorder (type I & type II) there are however a variety of sub forms if you like.

The bipolar I suffer from includes very rapid cycling of my mood which can change in less than an hour. I can go from an elevated or hypermanic mood to a depressed mood and back very rapidly.

Now for some I imagine being confronted with a diagnosis such as bipolar could be devastating, for me however it was a watershed event. It has given me and more importantly my family, a direction or a way forward with certainty.

I'm not embarressed by my mental illness, on the contrary I actually find it easy to talk about and hope in the future to use by knowledge to assist others.

I'm not seeking sympathy either, I simply wanted to use this forum to highlight the importance of not only a currect and proper diagnosis but realising who your best allies and supporters are - family, doctors and other health professionals.

I am now in the process of discontinuing my anti-depressant medication (very horrible discontinuance side effects) and I am on a new mood stablising medication which so far has excellent ith little or no side effects other than slight weight gain.

I would also like to highlight a book that I want to highly recommend to anyone suffering from depression. The book is entitled;

"The Mindful Way Through Depression" by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal & Jon Kabat-Zinn.

The book is essentially about depression and how a practice known as mindfulness can be used to assist in the management of your illness. The book includes a CD with particular mindfulness exercises on it. IT IS BRILLIANT!

In closing I want to urge any of you who are struggling with your mental health and cannot understand why things don't quite seem right or you are constantly feeling down and don't know why, to seek professional help. AND

If you're still unsure after consulting with your GP, please ask for a referral to a well respected Psychiatrist as I did, it has changed my life and my families too!

Take care & thanks for reading

WC8