@stormy I like cats a lot. We had them growing up. However, I've developed an allergy to cats (and perhaps all furry animals) in recent years. As long as they're outside and I don't touch them, I'm fine, though. I can touch them if I wash my hands soon afterward. If they're in the house (newly put in a house that doesn't usually have cats in it), I don't notice too much for a good while, unless I touch them, but it builds up over time. Houses that constantly have pets can be more difficult.

So, our neighbors have cats, and one of them is often in our yard. I have to be careful or she might jump in my greenhouse, or dig holes where I don't want holes, but she's cool (although very unusual in her behavior). She won't even eat tuna fish, but she'll hunt and eat grasshoppers. I'd never seen a cat turn down tuna before her. Maybe she only eats food her owners give her. That would be smart.

@stormy Thanks for your words. I don't know that anyone's ever called me resilient before; so, that means a lot. Yes, love is important. It can potentially make all the difference, if you know people care, or if you have really good friends. Depression probably isn't my most problematic issue, though. I've dealt with symptoms of depression for most of my life; so, I'm pretty used to that (more severe kinds I've had were quite different, though, and fortunately more temporary).

That's no fun about side-effects for missing a dose.

I'm into alternative health, nutrition, physiology and stuff like that. So, I do a lot of research. I've found a lot of things that help. If I'm very depressed, I find that there's usually a reason for it, and if I know what it is, I can do something about it. For instance, some foods make me depressed (e.g. hydrogenated oils; I stopped eating those years ago). I evaluate how I feel when I eat stuff a lot. It helps. Avoiding fluorescent lights helps with my issues a lot, too.

My laptop has a fluroescent backlight, though, which is no fun—so, I usually invert the colors and/or use Fluxgui to remove the blue light, and that helps. This isn't particularly for depression, but it does help me feel a lot better.

Wearing Dewalt red laser glasses helps me, too. I keep forgetting to wear those. I better put them on.

Ah, that's better. It's a relief like cooling off after being extremely hot.

They block out blue and green light.

@stormy My dog, Cleo, would help me through bad times more than the other animals. And like you said, planting helps so much on stress as well. But Cleo is dead (died ~month ago) and I have had bad luck with plants lately. The only thing going right is my wood working. Coming back and reading what you have written. I have a whole new respect for you.

It is indeed a high tech world. We have Chromebooks in high school here. I only used one notebook, for math. But everything else is online. Google docs, spreed sheets, anything. Some days it can be nice. Other days it drives me up the wall.

@Shule I read the thing about your grandpa, I feel sorry for you. My great grandpa died when I was born. So I didn't get to know him much myself. I can understand how you must feel in my own way.

@Ljk2000 Thank you for the nice words. It has always been a huge mystery that dog's lives are so short! My baby girl, chocolate lab, Rio, just died a half a year ago. We've since adopted 2 brothers that are part lab and part heeler but look just like Rio. Our friends brought them over, how can you say no to two 5 week old puppies that looked just like Rio X 2? Working with these two as yet to be fixed brothers makes me appreciate her all the more.

@Ljk2000 And both plants and animals teach me there is no such thing as 'control' of one's life. You do the best you can sweetie and learn from mistakes. Who the heck learns anything from success? What really sticks are those mistakes...

@Shule Well, ha ha, better not come to my 'home'! 4 cats 3 dogs and one parrot African Gray who is messier than all the other animals combined live with us in 750 sq. ft. We have 'learned' to be okay living in clutter and filth (and the occasional hair ball, boo boo vomits, shredded pillow stuffing and dust galore) sigh. I am allergic to grasses (but I spent many summers haying) and I am allergic to cats, too. Getting older it has gotten a bit worse but there is no way....

...I'll live without my cats. I didn't get my 2 kittens fixed soon enough and they got preggo and I rationalized I would 'punish' myself and keep the entire family so I wouldn't be taking up any homes from other cats. Wasn't that nice? I have loved my pride of cats, all black btw! Cats live for 30 years, dogs 15 or less? My parrot will live for 80 to 100 years! Makes no sense. Horses, 30 years or less. Eisenhower's beloved African Gray (Grey?) died just last year...

...and when I had those kittens we lived in a huge almost 4000 sq. ft. log home where mice loved living IN the logs. But, life deals crap cards more often than not, we lost that home and another home and we now live in a yurt without bathrooms, no hot water yet, no storage and well, we adapted well and are happy in spite of losing everything. Banks are totally the bad guys! 2008?

We are just aging hippies with a green house!

@Shule And I gotta tell you a bit about cats. She probably does have a home but cats chose their other homes and humans. They have a route if they are out door cats that looks very rectangular...when they do studies, these routes are consistent and rectangular. Go figure. My 'pride' are strictly in doors but that didn't help two of them. Out door cats become everyone's cats. I've also got 4 ferals/strays out doors. One that most certainly 'owns' me. The others just visit and nibble

...and sigh, kill baby bunnies. Adult bunnies and cats all eat together. Too bad, Shule, you sound like a cat person. How about a puppy? Training these guys is at once satisfying and frustrating. Chief, my dude cat is in my face right now...they cause lots of key board mistakes. Animals really bring me right down to earth. My drug of choice!

@Shule Depression isn't caused by external events. It is truly a chemical thing. Delay the medication gig as long as possible but do not dismiss its value. I love the light therapy you are doing. I am a sun worshiper! Winters here are 8 months long and snow or freeze can happen any night of the summer. Grrrr. I sort of ruined my eyes because I hate wearing sunglasses. My eyes turned 'crispy' and I now wear 4 type of readers, usually running around with them on my head! I had 20/15.

@Ljk2000 Thanks. :) I knew one of my grandmothers well. She was awesome. She lived in my hometown. My other two grandparents were in England, and for financial reasons, I never got to meet them (although I did get to talk with them on the phone sometimes; my grandpa had a pretty heavy and fast accent, though; so, I really had to pay attention and ask him questions).

They are all in Heaven now, though. And my grandma who lived in my hometown had other husbands. My siblings and I were pretty close with one of them when I was a baby. One I don't know much about. And one I was pretty familiar with as a child. My grandma outlived them all.

@stormy I meant to leave my condolences with you, too, about your experiences. That sounds pretty tough.

@stormy I always used to want a German Shepherd. English Labs and Huskies are pretty cool, too. We had Alaskan Spitz (well they were a lot bigger and wavier than the ones I see online). Whatever the case, they were those big, white, nice-looking dogs that were popular for families to have in the '70s. They were pretty awesome.

Events may not be the cause of depression, per se, but they can coincide with its onset and symptoms (perhaps like chlorine and Tourette's). There are different kinds of depression, though. Atypical depression is influenced a lot by positive and negative events. Melancholic depression gets more press, for some reason, though.

@Shule German shepherd...is the dog I am so attracted to...after Rio, shoot, I'd been looking for a German shepherd puppy when these two showed up at my door. Gotta send you this picture of a line of these brilliant dogs being tempted by a kitten. Have you seen it? And Shule, you have most indeed been researching! So what is your 'ethnic' background? Mine is Cherokee, Scot and German

@stormy English, American (pioneers, and back to the Mayflower), Canadian, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, German, and French, at least. Supposedly, there's lots of royalty further back on a few separate lines at least, but I haven't done the research to verify how true it is.

Funny I should bring up our Alaskan Spitz. In retrospect, after the male died (my first day of third grade) was when I noticed that I didn't feel as much pleasure in pleasurable activities as I used to. I thought maybe that was just what it was like to get older, though, but it was weird, and I didn't like it. Things seemed to have less meaning and color. It got slightly more severe every year for about fifteen years or so, maybe.

I never made the connection between that phenomenon and depression until much later, though.

@Shule The fact that you even remember dang date is incredible. I think you are an animal empath or whatever. My goodness! There is no such label or studies...but some people are so sensitive to animals...there has got to be a name for this. I know I am, I do have a major problem with caring more for animals than humans. I can watch sort of humans getting killed but I swear there is no way I can watch animal abuse and pain. None. Maybe you've hit on something...

Third grade was also when we got a Nintendo, though. I'm pretty sure that influenced my life a lot (although I did play my sibling's Commodore 64 and Atari games a lot before then).

@Shule I'd like to see every human be able to afford DNA testing! We are such mixed genes...I know that would stop this 'race' crap. We all came from Africa.

My fourth grade was when my family moved to Hawaii, Oahu, Kingsley Field...I think. I went to Mokulele Elementary! Wonderful childhood. No shoes! Super teacher that instinctively understood Hunter Kids (ADD). She sent the three of us out to play by ourselves when we had finished all our work, tutored the other kids, finished our projects like this solar system I remember. I also remember the day JFK died and the wailing from the school as we stood dumbfounded by the tetherball.

Bet that helps age me, huh!

@stormy Hawaii, huh? That sounds awesome. A couple relatives of mine have had their DNA tested through a family history site.

@Shule DNA testing is quite expensive as yet, or so I've been told. Hey I lived in Japan for 4 years before Hawaii. Airforce Brat. Not a single home can I ever return to nor friend.