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Am I Depressed?

I seem to have a natural, negative disposition and I often feel depressed. Can depression be inherited? What can I do to turn things around?

There are so many reasons for a person to get depressed. If you are a social person, and you live in an isolated place, chances are you will get depressed. A loner living in the city can also get depressed, simply because of the social demands placed on him.

For this kind of environmental depression, and especially if you are away from counselling opportunities, I would check with your doctor at your next physical to see if you might be a candidate for an anti-depressant. Until then, look around and see if there are people you can reach out to, bake cookies for, meet with another isolated person once a week to play checkers. There are some great books out there that help understand depression. You might order Love is a Choice by Hemfelt, Minirth & Meiers. I understand you can order books now on the Internet.

~Dr. Ginger Gabriel, Ph.D., M.F.T., is an author and speaker as well as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. With Master of Arts degrees in counseling and missions and a Ph.D. in psychology, she has traveled to Asia, the Middle East and throughout North American giving her four-to fifteen-hour relationship and counseling skill-building seminars.

Her favorite pastimes are kayaking, quilting, hiking and reading novels. She is married to Dr. Stan Gabriel. They have three children and three grandchildren.

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