[Idealist]

I had a very interesting discussion with my PC yesterday about depression. You see, I've been losing weight for the past several months at the rate of about seven pounds per month, and he believes that the loss is due to depression.

I told my doc that I hadn't felt depressed lately...that in fact, I'd felt better the past few months than I had in years. I've been laughing, moving, getting out of the house, and working hard at controlling the "stinkin'-thinkin'". But then he explained to me that sometimes, by focusing too much on controlling the depression instead of channeling it out, all you really accomplish is to make it more devious.

You might start having more headaches. You may become more sensitive to allergies, or start catching more colds because your immune system is suppressed. Or you might begin inexplicably losing weight to a dangerous degree, like me.

A printout he gave me read like this:

Depression has numerous causes, only some of which are psychological. In many cases there may be no associated psychological problems. The depressed patient often complains of fatigue, anxiety, and sleep disorders. The patient may also have headaches, stomach cramps, diarrhea, or other pains. The patient may or may not feel saddened.

So basically, as he explained it, even if you manage to control the depression in your mind well enough to function normally, it can change directions and begin to affect the body, even though you don't even feel depressed at all.

Any thoughts on that, anybody???