Disregarding the obvious and ultimately pointless answers like not taking all those pills, this is an easy question for me. Preventing a single regrettable act is a moot point in this case, because people in tough spots are surprisingly hard to deter. If those things didn't happen then/in that way, I don't doubt they would have happened in some other manner. No, if I could change something, anything, I would have sought help much sooner.
It's been only about three years since I was diagnosed with Major Depression. That doesn't seem like long, but I have suffered the effects of it my entire life and I'd just been too scared to come forward. I remember looking up the symptoms and thinking it sounded like me, but dismissing it because surely Depression had to be worse than what I felt. By the time I did learn that I did in fact have it, I had to be hospitalized, withdrawn from school, and gotten myself neck-deep in a destructive friendship.
I am not one of those people that believes that all labels suck or all you need is to take vitamins/think positive and your depression will magically vanish. Maybe those things are true for you and maybe they aren't but I know that two years of therapy have rendered me very capable of dealing with a crisis constructively (and I've got an amazing self-esteem) but only when my meds are in working order. I have a true chemical-depression and understand that now. I am still learning everyday how to work with my disorders to improve my symptoms and quality of life. I've made great strides in three years, but I wish sometimes that I had been able to start sooner. How wonderful four years--five years--would be!
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