Denying depression can be costly
Posted
May 14 2008, 09:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
"Him" at the Him-and-Her blog, Make Love, Not Debt, is depressed -- clinically depressed. He reached the decision to get professional help after it began to affect his relationship with "Her."
But, before that, he tried to spend his way out of depression. He explains that "trying to thwart depression by doing everything except getting treatment can affect one's finances." His post is called "Depression is expensive, denial much more so."
"When I first started feeling pretty crummy, I thought to myself, 'Maybe if I go out with friends/eat at a nice restaurant/buy myself something I've put off for a while now, that I'll feel better,'" he writes. "I actually chose all three of those routes. ... I don't even want to think about the amount of money I threw at the problem."
The solution can be costly as well. Under his health insurance plan, he's pretty sure he'll have to pay for most of the psychiatrist's fee and perhaps part of the cost of the antidepressant that was prescribed.
But it will be well worth it. He says that "if you're feeling depressed or just not right, there's no shame in going to a psychiatrist/therapist/someone who loves you to talk about it."
