Posted by gary (209.187.113.171) on February 06, 2000 at 23:29:12:
In Reply to: Excellent!...with a caveat posted by Francois on February 06, 2000 at 22:44:35:
the goal is not/should not be to erase CH from our lives like magic - because that isn't going to happen
the goal needs to be to learn how to build a life fully including the FACT that we have CH, find ways to reduce its impact on our lives, and ALSO work on reducing OTHER problems that steal the joy of life from us
DEPRESSION is NOT a symptom of CH
it is NOT a universal side effect of CH-
it IS a separate serious affliction that may COEXIST with CH, and in people with both problems, they may well feed off each other
and interestingly-
CH and Depression each seem to have the same relationship to alcohol as a biochemical substance -
alcohol doesn't cause CH
alcohol doesn't cause depression
BUT -
if you have CH, alcohol makes it worse - absolutely
if you have depression, alcohol makes it worse - absolutely
(and it's shocking how many people don't realize that alcohol is a powerful depressant, it is NOT -EVER - a stimulant, so if you have the disease of depression to start with, and you drink, you're pouring gas on a fire - it's simple arithmetic, and there is no way around it - there's nothing in THIS one to argue about - the physiology involved is kindergarten level stuff)
the fact that these tangled relationships DO exist with these maladies,
is what I mean when I say we have to "pick things apart" and not simply blame everything on CH, with the expectation that "fixing" the CH is going to fix the other things !!!!
this is pretty straight-forward stuff actually, if you give it a little thought