I found that sertraline (Zoloft) has been quite helpful for me, ymmv. But it’s gotten me to where the depression my brain used to rationalize as “your deserved guilt and shame are the cause” is now more like “yeah, that just happens sometimes, no reason.”
When I’ve talked to my kids about meds, the explanation that makes the most sense to me is that depression has you down in a hole that you can’t climb out of. The right meds can be a ladder down in that hole. Now you have a way out, but you still have to do the climbing.
I’m definitely not saying “You shouldn’t feel depressed.” Not that you should, of course, but you feel what you feel. Whether there’s a “reason” or not, it ultimately comes down to neurochemistry, and your inherited and/or learned-in-childhood neurochemistry isn’t your fault.
I found that sertraline (Zoloft) has been quite helpful for me, ymmv. But it’s gotten me to where the depression my brain used to rationalize as “your deserved guilt and shame are the cause” is now more like “yeah, that just happens sometimes, no reason.”
When I’ve talked to my kids about meds, the explanation that makes the most sense to me is that depression has you down in a hole that you can’t climb out of. The right meds can be a ladder down in that hole. Now you have a way out, but you still have to do the climbing.
I’m definitely not saying “You shouldn’t feel depressed.” Not that you should, of course, but you feel what you feel. Whether there’s a “reason” or not, it ultimately comes down to neurochemistry, and your inherited and/or learned-in-childhood neurochemistry isn’t your fault.
Very well put, your kids are lucky to have a person like you.