Work can be good for you

Depression and the conditions related to it are a subject close to my heart, as, gentle reader, you have probably guessed. I dislike the phrase "suffering with depression" because in my experience with the condition I have found that a lot of people with depression, whilst they undoubtedly suffer the effects of the condition, acyually cope pretty well with care and support, and perhaps more importantly, many don't feel that they suffer, they just acept their condition and find work-around strategies to deal with the tough times. There are all sorts of ways of dealing with depression, from chemical therapy to correct brain chemistry imbalances, through talking therapies, and alternative medicines to physical therapies, and I have tried pretty much all of them, but there is one thing that works, for me, better than anything else.

Even in my darkest days, and some of them are pretty dark, if I can find something to do that makes me feel productive and useful, that is the lifeline that can keep me going. I found myself in a position four years ago, doing reasonably well in a good career, starting to think about significant progression into management when I had to give it all up to look after my terminally ill father. I did this willingly, and looked to the state to help support me through this difficult time, but was quite badly let down both in terms of financial and practical support. As my father passed and I was ready to re-enter the labour market the banking sector collapsed and as my career was based on selling into that market, I found myself redundant. That was a pretty dark time, particularly as once again I was ineligble for unemployment benefit so I went from a six figure income to zero. It was tough. I went through a very bad patch through two years of unemployment.

What has made the difference has been finding something to do. I joined a company through a jobseekers programme just over a year ago and the difference it made has been tremendous. I'm in a slightly odd position that I am still not getting paid yet, but hopefully that will change as the company moves forward, but just for now the mere fact that I am busy and feel productive means that I am coping with the issues of a potential house repossession, pending court action for debt, bankruptcy and general negative situations that a year ago would almost certainly have been very bad indeed for me. It used to be the case that depression was treated in essence by a dismissive statement suggestion that one should just get over it, and whilst this is perhaps a little harsh, as with so many things there may just be a grain of truth in it.......