Posted by FredPotter on February 11, 2003, at 15:53:50
In reply to Re: Depression and break-up of the extended family » FredPotter, posted by bozeman on February 10, 2003, at 22:03:04
Thanks Bozeman that was beautifully expressed. It explains my situation exactly. I left my extended family (my Mother's I mean) in England 7 years ago, and a warm supportive Welsh village, where I had lived. Not everybody loved everybody else by any means, but there was a feeling of there being a safety net. There was also the opportunity to support others when things weren't going well for *them*. That also has a strengthening effect. But apart from that, in a very real sense we *are* each other. I was OK in New Zealand at first, being with my wife and 2 children, but she gradually showed signs of withdrawing her love. Indeed she was replacing it with hate. This led to me getting insecure, depressed and anxious, trying to make the dreadful feelings go away by drinking.
And so it was she took the kids and left me. I then became sicker than I've ever been.
But this isn't about me. I was interested in the idea that failure to adapt to the breakup of extended family, with all its symptoms, is what depression *is*. Perhaps not some chemically based depressions or bipolar illnesses.
poster:FredPotter
thread:2558
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030203/msgs/2589.html