My father died, suddenly, when I was 14. His death had a devastating effect on me and plunged me into years of stress, anxiety, and most especially, depression.
As the first born son I was my father’s favorite. A well respected, successful attorney, my mother, older sister, younger brother and I lived a comfortable life. Money never seemed to be a concern.
That changed with his death. I was in a private school at the time and my mother told me that if I wished to continue I’d have to pay for it. I got a job in a convenience store and later in a supermarket. Money was now a concern. New cars, expensive restaurants and nice vacations were a thing of the past.
Emotionally I was a wreck. If I had been diagnosed at the time, which I wasn’t, I would have been classified as having a Major Depressive Disorder. As an indicator of how bad things were for me I graduated high school 229 out of a class of 230 students.
After several years of working I somehow managed to get into college and graduated with my bachelor’s degree. Much later I would earn two Master’s degrees.
While working as a bilingual guidance counselor in the Boston school system I came into contact with a Cuban American professor of psychology at Boston University. She suggested I apply for the doctoral program, which I did.
All the students in the program were encouraged to get into psychotherapy. I did and gradually my stress and anxiety began to fade. My depression was another matter. It was a struggle that took some time to overcome.
With the passing of my first therapist I got into therapy with another therapist. For whatever reason, the stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas were always difficult for me, depression wise. But then I began to notice that the depression seemed, with time, to be getting lighter and lighter. Then it was gone.
After a stint doing forensic work I decided to specialize in mood disorders with my practice focusing on helping people who suffer from anxiety, depression and stress. It was my good fortune to have had two competent, caring therapists and I decided to model myself after them.
So, now I’m helping people overcome their mood disorder, whether it be anxiety, depression or stress. I know a thing or two about these disorders. After all, I experienced and overcame them.