I have never been diagnosed with depression, but looking back I am sure I suffered. I can back from overseas with the military in ’93 and it all went bad. At that time it was not a good time to be “in”. There was not the same support as is shown now. All news stories of the military were of a negative nature. I came back, started drinking heavily and left the military. I went back to U of C, did nothing, and got kicked out. I saw a psychologist (that was arranged by my old CO LCol Lynn Moffat, a great man). It’s funny she sat down with me and we talked. She could not believe that I was allowed to get out with no counseling. We left a very violent place where we were shot at and mortared daily and got on a plane, and 7 days later I was walking down a city street in Calgary (thankfully that has changed now). It was her that pointed out my troubles. I was lucky and had some good friends and a great girlfriend (now wife) that was very supportive. I was not a good patient and should have seen her much more. But back then I was coming from a military mindset which very much was suck it up and soldier on (again this has changed). I ended up working some really dead end jobs, some days I couldn’t get out of bed. I got very heavily involved in sport (in my case rugby), and met some very good supportive people. I managed to get through it and get my life back on track. I got my degree and now have a good job, two wonderful kids and a great wife. But it still raises its ugly head sometime.
I am not sure if this helps at all, but I reckon you would be surprised if you know how many people battle the same things.
Cheers and all the best. If you need any help please reach out.
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