<html> At 05:58 PM 03/29/2003 -0500, you wrote:<blockquote type=cite cite> <dl> <dd>>And I'll add that it's, um, interesting that someone who so <dd>>frequently talks about his long battle with severe depression is so <dd>>hostile to any kind of psychoanalysis or even introspection. Much <dd>>more comforting to blame biochemistry; otherwise, you never know <dd>>what you might find within. <dd>You can't manage a chronic illness, be it a "mental" illness or <dd>otherwise, by blaming yourself.  Especially if you are clinically <dd>depressed, that's probably the last thing that you should do. <dd>- -- </blockquote> </dl> Ugh, Yoshie, how is "psychoanalysis" or "introspection"  a form of "blaming yourself"? Doug's reply bothered me only to the extent that he minimizes the incredible difficulty, the pain and labor of introspection -- of facing what seems at first an endless and endlessly painful emptyness. I would hesitate to call anyone a wimp for avoiding it. I spent three years on the couch but it was not the result of valor or superior character; it was the result of the fact that my life had become an unrelenting panic attack and that I was in agonizing physical pain 24/7....with a newborn to care for. It was suicide or introspection. That's how hard it is. Honestly, Joanna </html>