major depressive disorde
"First diagnosed in 1965, when a student in London, I was treated with group therapy (useless) and eventually with whatever else was considered to have antidepressant properties at the time (useless). Various MDs in Singapore and Dallas tried whatever was new, but nothing helped. In 2001, after a rather dramatic and public breakdown at a conference of my peers, I was admitted to a psychiatric ward and given 300 mg of Venlafaxine daily. It wasn't a happy pill, but it enabled me to make the most of the CBT that was offered, and allowed me to feel "normal" at last."