BOOMERS, DEPRESSION, AND "HAPPY PILLS"

As an adult, I’ve had a number of bouts of depression: a few quite severe. The worst was when I was dealing with a major illness and family issues all at the same time. Though I never would do it, I did have frequent thoughts of driving my car into a freeway underpass at a high rate of speed. Fortunately, my medical doctor recognized my depression, prescribed antidepressants and encouraged me to go for counseling.

     I saw a psychiatrist for a few months and she pronounced me quite sane. She explained that many people have chemical deficiencies in their brain that lead to depression, PARTICULARLY when there are outside forces in play, such as my illness. After a couple of years on the medications I decided I wanted off them but I was afraid I’d become depressed again. The psychiatrist reinforced that from now on I would be more aware of the signs and wouldn’t let my depression get so out of control before I sought help.

     She was right. I was fine off the medication for ten years, then my father died. I was having a difficult time at work as well, and I became depressed again. I found myself bursting into tears in my medical doctor’s office where I’d gone for treatment of bronchitis. I confessed to her that I was depressed and she prescribed my happy pill...Prozac. Just a tiny little dose was all I needed. I took it for another year or so then weaned myself off until 2012, the year from hell arrived.

     I won’t go over all that happened again, but when I found I was sinking into that black hole of depression, I started taking my happy pill: Prozac 10 mg. a day. I don’t feel it. It doesn’t affect me in any way other than to keep my mood up enough that I’m able to handle everything that comes my way.

     Now I’ve decided I’m not going to stop taking it again. What’s the point? I’ll turn 65 in March. I figure I’ll live another 20-25 years if I’m careful and lucky. Why not do whatever it takes to be peaceful during these years? As boomers, we all know this is the time when we take stock of our lives. Yes, we’ve accomplished a lot and have passed a lot of milestones. Most of us have very nice lives. But along with that comes the reflection of roads we didn’t take, people that are no longer in our lives, and choices we made and now perhaps regret. There are so many things we may want to get done and never will. I don’t want to waste any time in regret for what has passed. I only want to look forward. My little happy pill helps me do that. I highly recommend it to anyone suffering from depression. If you needed to take a heart pill, you would. If you needed medication for diabetes you would take it. What’s the difference? It isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of hope for the future.