Away Day Smiles and Depression

A sunny Saturday afternoon in Bournemouth and a point gained for Charlton. Having watched the highlights on CAFC Player the team seemed to play well, with Rob Elliott having an outstanding game in goal. However we do seem to have some defensive frailties and I hope this will be addressed in the summer when Chris Powell gets some money to spend. In the meantime we are going to have to continue to keep our fingers crossed whenever a ball is launched into the 18 yard box. Hopefully the next Saturday away game will result in 3 points for Charlton and one very happy fan making her way back to Liverpool.

A lot has been said in the media this week regarding depression after England cricketer Michael Yardy announced he was leaving the Cricket World Cup because he is suffering from this illness. The usual comments about how can a sports star be depressed came out from all sides. The answer is they can easily be depressed, just the same as anyone in any walk of life can.

Imagine this scenario. You wake up with a cold and drag yourself into work. You look and sound awful and get a certain amount of sympathy from colleagues. Maybe you're even sent home. As far as people are concerned you are ill.

Now imagine this scenario. You wake up and it feels like a heavy black cloud is sitting over you. It takes effort to get out of bed, get ready for work and actually get there. When there you really don't want to talk to anyone. You live in your own world which is dominated by this cloud. Where it's come from or how long it will last is anyone's guess. If you're lucky it's a day or so. If not it could be months.

This is what I and millions of others suffer from. Today is a good day (and has been for a few weeks now) and I feel "normal". Tomorrow - who knows? If the black cloud descends will it be for a couple of hours, a day or..........?

I have suffered from depression for at least 30 years. I've tried drugs (Prozac), counselling, exercise, diet, anything and everything. I wish I could be cured. It's not something I can just "snap out of". I AM ILL!