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Depression is a life-threatening problem for men and women worldwide, so much so that the World Health Organization made depression its focus for 2012. Expensive medications and conventional therapy are no longer considered to be the only alternatives to deal with major depressive disorder. But what happens when a patient’s depression is severe enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room? Mel Edwards, who currently lives in Indianapolis, IN, learned the hard way, and instead of hiding the truth, she has drawn back the curtain in her revolutionary Kindle book Depression Smackdown.

Depression Smackdown illustrates the steady decline that can happen to anyone with depression, all the way through to the reality check that helped heal her. Edwards states, “One in five Americans suffersfrom a major depressive episode at some point in life, and some estimate that 17% of people can be depressed at any given time.”

Edwards continues, “Depression can happen to anyone, and in my case I made a serious mistake at work one night letting a cuss word slip, which I apologized for and made reparations for immediately. However, I was already under a great deal of stress from major changes in my position, my perception of those changes, and this added error made me disproportionately ashamed to the point where I became life-threateningly ill.” Edwards details her story in the first half of Depression Smackdown, as well as the reality-check that significantly changed her view of the situation and finally allowed her to heal. The second half of the book includes resources for anyone dealing with situational depression or a loved one in crisis.

“It is my sincere hope to save lives,” Edwards states. “Errors happen in life, but in my case, my career identity was threatened by my mistake. I asked myself, ‘Who will I be if I could not continue (in my career)? What if I am an absolute failure?’ and I did not know the answers. My self-anger was so intense that my body was truly shutting down so far that I reasoned that death was less painful than what I was putting myself through mentally at that time. I did not want to die, so I went to the emergency room, and got the reality-check of a lifetime when I saw the daily lives of people who were completely unable to function or care for themselves because their mental illnesses were so severe.”

Edwards has been recovered from her major depressive disorder for two years, and is actively working to help others avoid the same outcome, while assisting loved ones in dealing with the thorny road of mental illness. “As a society, we joke about being crazy, but to live with a mental illness is not comedy, just as living with any potentially-terminal disease is serious and daunting. I want people to understand that depression can strike anyone, but there is treatment, a way out, support, and hope.”

When asked if she was scared to share her story because of the stigma, Edwards states, “Small-minded people will talk about my error, my illness, and say how I was not fit to do my job at that time. However, I keep my focus upon colleagues, parents, and students who all have had to deal with mental illness and I remind myself that breaking my silence could empower someone else. If even one person can hold their head up high, and realize they can get help, and recover, I will have lived my mission.”Reading Depression Smackdown can certainly help you out to identify the ways to resolve your depression and anxiety, as well as understand the intricacies of living with mental illness.

For more details, please visit http://www.amazon.com/Depression-Smackdown-Reality-Check-Medication-Therapy-ebook/dp/B015YGBBXY and http://www.msmeledwards.com/

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