Depression doesn’t define Terri anymore
Terri:
Hi, my name is Terri. I was in the U.S. Navy. I was an E2. I was stationed in Groton, Connecticut and also Pensacola, Florida.
I went to school to be a Communication Tech and then I got sent to Groton, Connecticut and I studied to be a Fireman Apprentice. Then, I got honorably discharged. I got pregnant and my fiancé was stationed in San Diego. He still was in the service. He was in the Navy. We ended up getting a divorce and when we got divorced, I was very depressed. I slept a lot and had it not been for my kids, I’m not sure I still would be here. I had two young daughters. I moved in with my parents. I just didn’t feel like I had a lot of reason to have anything to be happy about because I thought when you got married, marriage was supposed to last forever. I mean, I was there for my kids, but it seems like I was always taking a nap or sleeping and you either sleep a lot or you don’t sleep enough.
So, I later on went to counseling outside the VA. I saw somebody at a pastoral center. She considered me in crisis when my third marriage broke up because it was abusive. It was very abusive and I was in crisis. It was very, very helpful. I saw her and her name was Frankie and she is deceased now. Then, I saw Catherine at the VA. She was very, very helpful with relationships and my individual issues and I have migraines and people that have migraines, a lot of them have a tendency to have depression I found out. So, and they run in family too. So, it’s just that can be, not everybody, but if you have migraines, you can also suffer from depression.
It’s a relief to know whatever it is that you have wrong with you so that you can put a name to it and so you can deal with it and then you can get literature about it. It’s helpful then to find out, you know, which drug that you need to take if they prescribe, you know, a prescription drug. It’s just helpful I mean and it takes four to six weeks at least for the drug to, you know, start working on you and everybody’s body chemistry is different, so sometimes they might have to play around. But it was helpful for me. I just think it’s imperative that someone, whatever their issues are, they should seek help.
You need to go to the VA. You can get all your care there. They put you on a team for your primary of care and then if you need, like specialty, they have specialty clinics, but they take care of you and you just have to call and get enrolled and I believe they just go by your DD214 and then you get a little card that you take in with you when you see the doctors and you need to take advantage of it if you’re a Veteran.
