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 Shawn Colvin's Battle Against the Blues by E.J. Mundell Grammy-winning
singer encourages others to fight, and overcome, depression (HealthDay News) -- In
"Trouble," a cut from her 1997 Grammy-nominated album A Few Small
Repairs, pop-folk singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin captures the kind of
leaden emotions that can grab a person and not let go. "Now I
know the business of the heart/," she sings, "And it'll get you anyway
it can/You need someone to walk with in the dark, well,/I'm your man." For
most of her 47 years, Colvin said, she's been battling against
depression's darkness, first experienced as far back as childhood but
only diagnosed and treated when she was 19. "I've
dealt with it on and off since then, and began treatment in earnest
again in 1989," said Colvin, who's taken home three Grammys in her
career so far -- once in 1991 for Best Contemporary Folk Album (Steady
On), then twice in 1998, when she won Record and Song of the Year for
the hit Sunny Came Home -- a song centered on a heroine who burns down
her own house, determined to start again, "out there on her own." She
lives there with her 7-year-old daughter, Caledonia. According to
Colvin, being an artist has played a big role in her decision to speak
out about depression. "I
think there's a misconception that if one is an artist and, like
myself, sings sad or sensitive material, that you're risking losing
that if you treat depression," she said. "But when I've been seriously
biologically depressed I'm actually unable to do anything." "There
are some people who are so depressed they can't bring themselves to do
anything -- shower, take out the garbage, things like that. They may
sleep all the time," he said. For
others, the signs of depression may be more subtle, including a general
disinterest in activities they used to love, an increase in morbid
thoughts of death or suicide, or an exaggerated sense of guilt over
one's actions. According
to experts, more than 14 million U.S. adults are affected by major
depressive disorder each year. Sussman said too many Americans still
mistake depression for something else -- just a temporary "funk" or
even physical illness. "Many
have trouble accepting the fact that it's primarily a biological
problem," he said. "But it is biological -- it's as if you've got the
gene for diabetes or hypertension. It just hits you." Colvin
agreed, noting that specific life events -- good or bad -- typically
had little influence on when depression stuck. And while she believes
that non-drug treatments such as therapy, diet and exercise can be
helpful, pharmaceutical intervention was the only thing that worked for
her. "If
you're in a biological depression, you can diet and exercise and take
vitamins all you want, and it's not going to impact it," she said. It's
in a different class of antidepressants than the widely used selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which work on another powerful
brain chemical, serotonin, and include drugs such as Prozac, Paxil and
Zoloft. But
while Wellbutrin XL has worked best for Colvin, "no drug is right for
every person," she said. "This drug that I'm taking may be great for
me, but it may not be for someone else." She and most experts agree
that patients may want to try different medications, settling on the
one that's best for them. The
key is for affected individuals to recognize depression's symptoms, and
then act. "It's just not something to toy with," said Colvin, whose
next album is set for release late this year or early in 2006. "If
you're feeling bad for a prolonged period of time, check it out --
don't suffer." [Nov. 7, 2005 AUSTIN, Tex.]
- Shawn Colvin songstress for the breakout hit "Sunny Came Home" says
she was very close to suicide and that that is what shocked her into
going to seek help for a second time. Colvin was originally diagnosed
with depression at the age of 19 and went on medication. Thinking
she was cured, she went off the medication only to become depressed
again when she was 30. She admits to crying for long periods over
nothing and attempting to self medicate with alcohol.
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