Throughout the month of January, we at B-Metro are spreading awareness for mental health and happiness along with #UABPsych on our Facebook page. Today, we’re excited to introduce you to a real-life local success story. Today’s #UABPsych topic: Meet our “Happiness Hero” For many people wanting to overcome depression, the hardest step is often the first one: reaching out to seek help. Taking that first step, however, can ignite the pathway to recovery. We’re talking with local “Happiness Hero” Betty Squyres, who, after a long battle with depression, reached out to the UAB Medicine Department of Psychiatry so she would no longer have to fight the battle alone. “Ive been suffering from depression for more than 25 years,” she explains. “Before UAB, I was being treated with a couple of medications that helped a little, but I still had episodes of depression.” For Squyres, the road to happiness seemed far away: “I felt resigned to only feeling ‘ok’,” she says. When Squyres found out about a study featuring new treatment options that UAB was conducting, she saw the potential for a new beginning. She had just lost her job and was struggling both financially and emotionally. That’s when UAB Psych gave her something she had been missing for a long time: hope. “Everyone I met at UAB helped me find new ways to cope and understand that being just ‘ok’ was not the only thing I had to look forward to,” says Squyres. “They have treated me with compassion, kindness, and understanding.” Since receiving treatment and support at UAB, Squyres, who is now employed as a clinical lab scientist, lives life in a way she had not in decades. “I feel ‘normal,’ whatever that means!” she laughs. “I still get sad, but it doesnt feel uncontrollable or extreme. I can still laugh at things when Im sad--that is a big difference.” If you are suffering from depression, you don’t have to fight the battle alone. Find out more about how UAB’s Department of Psychiatry can help by visiting its website (bit.ly/1wEomBM) or by giving the team a call at 205-934-2484.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:00:00 +0000
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