Being a Gloomy Gus gets us nowhere. Unfortunately, millions upon millions of people can’t get out of their rut. While an estimated ten percent of those countless millions simply can’t find a suitable dick, the majority suffer from – you guessed it – depression. Olympic diver and avowed homosexual Greg Louganis counts himself among those remaining millions.
The experience of writing his autobiographical book, Breaking The Surface weighed on his already perturbed emotions. Heeding co-author Eric Marcus’ advice, Louganis headed to the headshrinker, found out the deal on ‘the d-word’ and enlisted as an awareness activist, “With any type of mental illness, there’s an education and an understanding that needs to take place.”
Despite all his understanding, the 47-year old may not be out of the woods yet:
I don’t know if you actually ever beat depression. I learned that in my situation, I had to learn coping skills. That helped me battle these feelings.
…
I’m living with HIV, and I need to take meds every day, twice a day. I’m lucky that it’s down to two times a day now. But if I have a difficult time remembering or staying motivated to take my meds, I start questioning what it is that’s bothering me. It can be something someone said, and if it’s from someone I care about, I know I have to talk to that person…
Louganis will be doing a lot of talking this weekend in Orlando, where he’s the keynote speaker at depression conference. Sounds uplifting…
(Image note: Herb Ritts snapped this shot of Louganis in 1987, one year before his infamous, Olympic head crack.)
WWH
Depression and HIV often go hand in hand. No laughing matter.
leomoore
Those who do not have experience with clinical depression cannot understand the conscious efforts required to counteract it. It’s always lurking in the background even with meds. Sometimes, when one is distracted, it will simply pop to the surface. It can be that quick. Not all the time, but there are always triggers lying about.
Combine a propensity towards depression with HIV, and it becomes a mixture that can be like running in knee high water. Being HIV positive in itself can bring it out with worries about missing doses (it happens), keeping insurance to pay for very expensive medications, gradually developing resistance to the medicationss that are still available, not to mention the effects of the virus on the brain.
There is some good news, though. We share good company with people such as Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.
abelincoln
Hallelujah and pass the Lamictal.
WWH
Try Cymbalta and Abilify or Zyprexa and Lexapro.