Surviving Unipolar Depression - The Effectiveness of Ginkgo Biloba

began nearly 30 years ago when I was 17. Thinking I was just intense and moody, I did not realize I was having episodes of a mood disorder. By 1995, the symptoms worsened, as expected when an illness is left untreated for years. I was feeling helpless depressed, and anxious most of the time, having trouble sleeping, my appetite was gone, my libido went too, short term memory wasn’t reliable and it was hard to focus. Finally I sought medical advice. My doctor laughed. After consulting with a family practitioner, a psychologist, a therapist and two psychiatrists, I was diagnosed with dysthymia, episodes of double depression and major depression. Given my sorry state, the psychologist suggested antidepressant medication but explained that I would have to be monitored by a physician. I started taking paxil, first monitored by a family doctor and later referred to a psychiatrist. Meanwhile, sessions with the psychologist helped me update my coping skills and identify patterns of thinking which were inappropriate, illogical, unrealistic, upsetting and negative. My uncomfortable trials of synthetic antidepressants took nearly a year. During this time, I was under the care of a psychologist, a family doctor and an experienced psychiatrist who claimed success treating mood disorders. My medications included two SSRI’s (Paxil and Zoloft), one MAOI (Manerix), and lithium, which I took with Manerix. I also tried clonazepam for sleeping. (My doctor did not tell me that this was an antiseizure medication or that some SSRI medications can cause seizures.) My psychiatrist, a ‘specialist’ in mood disorders, Surviving Unipolar Depression The