As one who has experienced the pain of depression, I took special interest in your editorial “Stigma detours mental health solutions.”

In the middle of my legal career, I fell victim to this vicious disease. I called it a disease because that is what it is. The brain is one of the organs of the body. Like the heart, the liver and other organs, it can “get sick.” In the case of my depression, I was told that many doctors believe the main reason for my ailment was that there was biochemical imbalance in the brain of a chemical called serotonin.

Many researchers believe this imbalance can lead to depression as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, panic and even excess anger.

Although finding the right medicine to treat my disease was not easy, I was able to find one that worked.

After having to go on medical leave at my law firm for six weeks, I returned and continued practicing law. One of the greatest obstacles I had to overcome was the myth that “grown men don’t cry.” When I admitted that depression was a disease that could be treated, not a weakness, I was psychologically able to deal with the disease.

Many well-known people, including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill (who called depression, the “black dog”), have experienced the pain of depression and have overcome it.

I encourage those who think they may have depression to ask for help. It is an illness that can be treated.

Bill Greenhill
President of the TCC Board of Trustees