My blogging buddy, Douglas Cootey, over at The Splintered Mind wrote the following sympathetic and thoughtful blog post after he, too, was reamed out regarding a Heath Ledger commentary. Interestingly enough, Douglas gets it from the other side–from those who tell him that if he doesn’t take meds, he’s not a “real” depressive. I found this fascinating, because in my circles of friends and family, I would be much more accepted if I leaned on the Law of Attraction alone to treat my depression. Douglas, however, does not live in Annapolis and is criticized for being against medication. Just as meds saved me, he believes that they destroyed him.
Here are the first three paragraphs of his post. I really do appreciate his effort toward understanding my perspective, and offering me some support during the personal attacks. He is a very kind person, which is why I am going to open my mind as far as I can (without that becoming hazardous to my health) to understand his perspective as well.
To get to the full article on his blog, click here.

I’m taking a moment out of my hectic evening to reply to an article I read while I was taking a break. My blogging friend, Therese Borchard, a fellow Psych Central Best of the Web Mental Health Blogger, writes Beyond Blue over at Beliefnet. Recently, she wrote about the death of Heath Ledger as I had done. Although her commenters are legion compared to my silent bunch, she, too, was chided and reprimanded for her belief system. Apparently, it upset her a great deal.
Therese and I don’t see eye to eye on one issue and that is the issue of medication. While Therese advocates the use of pharmaceuticals to abate her Depression, I advocate the use of determination and positive thinking. We both respect each others opinion, but we are apparently alone in this. I have been railed upon time and time again by insecure, hostile, snarky, grumpy, veritable in-patients because of my stance (as I recently wrote about). They accuse me of belittling their own problems, they accuse me of not truly being Depressed, they accuse me of irresponsibility, they accuse me of insensitivity, they accuse me of cruelty and ignorance and foolishness and the cause of all that is wrong in the world. I represent to them the “Just shake it off” clods who caused them pain from the time they first remembered pouting for no reason at all. I am the Grand High Priest of Indifference to them and they come armed with their self-righteous indignation and attempt to foist me upon a cross.

On the other side of the issue, Therese is chided for relying on medication. They label her mentally and spiritually weak. Since her articles seem to engender responses more than mine, she is buried in comments — many supportive, many not. For Therese, the Law of Attraction people are her bane. So pummeled has she been that she shudders when somebody mentions “positive thinking,” as if happy thoughts alone scare away Depression like a light into the heart of darkness. Everybody with an axe to grind against the pharmaceuticals starts swinging in her comments section it seems and it is sometimes too harsh for her to bear. When I am attacked, I get facetious and give it back to them. Some would say it is not Christ-like, but then I’d read them things Christ said to the Sadducees (A den of vipers, indeed!). But I’m cheeky. I’m not a kind, gentle person like Therese. I’m more likely to get a gleam in my eye as I roll up my sleeves and dive into the fray. Everybody can’t be like me. I’m Irish and Italian. Besides, I bet she’ll live longer.