Who is Kelly?
I'm a guy, by the way. Many people assume I'm a girl, from the name...
I suffered from moderate depression for years, and I'm not sure why... sometimes you can have almost everything, loving parents and great friends, a good job and everything else, and still feel sad for no reason... It's like you're in a tunnel, and you'll never reach the end...
It was in late 1996 that I finally said enough-is-enough" and came to the realization that I just wasn't seeing the world as it really is. I went to the doctor and was very quickly prescribed Paxil, in under ten minutes. Getting prescribed a drug immediately was (unfortunately) exactly what I was looking for at the time, having known (somewhere inside of me?) that I suffered from depression. I was just starting to come to grips with this -- and I didn't know what would happen.
Paxil was okay at first, but it didn't take long for side-effects to kick in, and for me they were much worse then the original problems that I faced! Paxil has temporary side-effects that cause dumb sexual dysfunctions for many people (like an inability to orgasm in men), and plus I was completely unable to sleep. It's a terrible prescription drug. I stopped taking Paxil after about seven weeks out of frustration, and went without anything. All of a sudden, my life turned upside down and things got worse than ever before. I didn't know that you're not supposed to stop taking it abruptly, and that I would suffer from withdrawl. Virtually out of panic, I stumbled across a small bit of information on a natural remedy for depression, St. John's Wort, and started taking it after doing as much research as I could (back in 1996, there was much less info available than there is now).
I noticed it starting to take effect within the first week, though it took a couple of weeks to fully take effect. I was lucky, because for some people it takes up to six weeks to truly work. Wow, to feel normal again with a little bit of help from nature! Two months later I was so impressed that I started writing these pages, which grew and grew, and now after millions of visitors and media coverage from all over the world, the rest is history.
I don't take St. John's Wort regularly any more, but I believe that it changed my life... for the better. If there is one person out there in need of help that can take comfort in these pages, then it has been worth it. I appreciate every single email I receive saying thanks for having created the site. By visiting the message forum, you'll soon see that you're not alone!
This site has really evolved over the years. It wasn't easy to write these pages, at first. Depression is such a debilitating disease! But when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I had to tell the world about it.
For the first seven years, from 1997 to 2004, I included a link to my personal homepage... but there was never a link back here. I was embarrassed to let my friends and family know that I suffered from depression. For years I kept my depression private, if "millions of strangers" reading about me is "private." Millions of people visited and read about my life, yet my family and friends had no idea about this site. In early 2004, for the first time ever I created a link from my homepage back to this place. It has taken a long time, but I've grown and become so much more than I was before.
I don't know what causes depression, but I do know when there is something missing in my life... in the search for love and happiness, our lives are an open book in front of us.
Visit Kelly's homepage (leave this site) or his author page.
