BRAIN CHEMICAL DISORDERS by Doris Ray
Major Depression
Major depression is the most common of all brain chemical disorders. According to statistics one man in ten and one woman in five will suffer a serious depression at some time in their lives. Many of us become depressed when we anticipate or experience unpleasant situations. It’s that “blah” feeling that envelopes us when our least favourite aunt arrives for an extended visit and the anguish that tears us apart (after the murderous rage has subsided!) when we discover a parking lot dent in our brand new car. And in my case, the ultimate down-in-the-dumps despair I once felt when I stepped on the bathroom scales. (I remedied that a few years ago when the offensive measurement of poundage went out with the garbage!) Those dark feelings usually dissipate within a reasonable length of time and are a part of everyday living. But when those feelings don’t go away, the sufferer may become trapped inside a demoralised and hopeless state of existence.
Symptoms of major depression are: tearfulness, brooding, irritability, obsessive rumination, anxiety, phobias and excessive worry over physical health. My oldest daughter experienced a severe depression in 1985. She later wrote a song about what it was like living in a “hall of mirrors.

THE HALL OF MIRRORS by Bee Wolf Ray
Is anybody out there? Myself is all I see.
Is anybody waiting, or is mine the only reality?
Walking in the Hall of Mirrors,
reflections glimmering catch my eye.
Living in the Hall of Mirrors,
images of me are my only guide

Working in the Hall of Mirrors,
taking the mirrors down, putting them aside.
Lived too long in a Hall of Mirrors,
I want to see what’s on the other side.
Is anybody out there? Can anyone see me?
Is anybody waiting or is mine the only reality?

Gets damn lonely in a Hall of Mirrors,
My body cries for warm live flesh.
I tried to touch my own reflection,
but I cut myself on the broken glass.
I’m too big for a Hall of Mirrors,
my heart cries out for open skies.
My spirit calls for other choices,
other melodies, other voices.

The Hall of Mirrors is a prison cell,
yes, I know it all too well….

In the last two verses of her song Bee describes how she finally reached out for help to escape from her “Hall of Mirrors.” There are many medications that have been developed to relieve the debilitating symptoms of major depression (also referred to as “unipolar disorder)