Polly, Thanks you so much for sharing your story. How did it feel to get it all out? Why not start a journal and use this to pinpoint areas you want to work on and use it to look back on your progress. We are happy that you are progressing day by day and our program can indeed reinforce this. Our members are amazing and know what you are going through, they can be of great support to you. The Depression Center offers personalized, interactive tools that have helped thousands of people challenge and overcome their depression. If you look to the left of the screen under "PROGRAM TOOLS" you'll find our Depression Test, Session Diary, CBT Buddies and our Depression Program. Why a Depression Test? The purpose of our Depression Test is to prepare you with information that you can present to your physician. When you're finished the test, you can either print your Final Report or email it directly to your doctor. What is a Session Diary? Your Session Diary is your Depression Program "Control Center." Your Session Diary contains all of your tools, worksheets and results as you move through each of the 16 Sessions in the Depression Program. Online Support? CBT Buddies? Our CBT Buddies and Online Support Group allows you to have some anonymous assistance when dealing with depression. The CBT Buddie and Online Support Group is offered on a 24-hour basis and allows you to communicate with others like you around the world. CBT? The core of The Depression Center is our Depression Program which is an interactive, 16-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)course. When using cognitive behavioral therapy, each person has unique goals in their treatment. Whatever your motivation, cognitive behavioral therapy is a very effective treatment for depression. You can use the tools whether or not you are taking medication, and whether or not you are currently seeing a therapist or mental health professional. The Depression Program has a number of tools and resources to help each individual overcome their depression and win. We hope you find the help you need within The Depression Center. If you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our site or with depression please click the "CONTACT US" link at the bottom of the page. W

Hi all. The basics. Born in New Zealand. Grew up in Ohio. Now live in SoCal. Im 56, never married, no children or other pets. Have worked with computers since 1982 (the big ones). Lately have worked with pcs servers, & internet stuff. Once a geek, always a geek. Or is that a geek-ess? I can write this OK because right now things are going well. Most stable & even Ive felt in a long time. perhaps more like the me I used to be. Im not really sure. It was a long time ago. But, Im being cautiously optimistic. I have been on this road to recovery a few times & have fallen some very big potholes. But I managed to climb out, go back to the beginning, and work on finding the road one more time. OK, why Im here. I WILL write too much, and this WILL be too long. Sorry. Been depressed off & on since high school . . . over 36-37 years of my life. Each time a higher stress level attacking my brain. Each time I sank lower and lower. Finished high school & college & started graduate school, but could not stay well long enough to finish my masters thesis. More years of up & down: Sometimes barely hanging on, sometimes OK, sometimes having a great time. Taught at the local college while taking computer training courses. Later moved from Ohio to SoCal & started my first job in computers. Still the ups & downs, but I was coping enough, but only by crying, writing, smoking, and a lot of drinking. Each time managed to come out the on the other side OK. Then the fun really started - - July 2003. general doc put me on Zoloft, 100 mg, then 200mg. Seemed OK for a while, but then started slip sliding away. Nov - Dec 2004. Serious problems at work -- crying, yelling, crying, throwing things around cubicle & computer labs, crying a LOT. My job required attention to detail & the ability to concentrate for hours on end. This was always my strength, but now my brain was starting to fail me! Feb 2005. Still slip sliding. Received my first verbal warning about my job performance & behavior; I was told to improve or be fired. I had I totally lost control of the situation. I just didnt know it. May 2005. Received second warning about behavior & job performance. Told to see tdoc or be fired. Tdoc referred me