Abyss Painting

It doesn't matter who you are, what you do, what you believe in. Whether young or old, no one is spared from going down the abyss of depression. Not even research scientist Marlene Belfort. Her vivid recounts of bouts with depression and the discovery of its possible link with hyperparathyroidism is written in an article published by the New York Times. Belfort was 46 when she felt nervous and depressed, exactly the same age when her father had committed suicide. While her married life seemed fine, with a supportive husband, three healthy sons and a good career to get by, anxiety prompted her to seek the help of a psychiatrist. She was found to be suffering from dysthymia, or simply called burnout. While no medications were prescribed, she was told that she had to deal with her repressed feelings as the child of a suicide. Psychotherapy was offered as a promising option. According to Belfort, in science and in psychotherapy, one approaches a problem from different angles through observation, hypothesis, discarding theories and drawing conclusions. When the evidence from various directions converges on a point, that point becomes a discovery, a new “truth.” Four years of therapy seemed alright until Belfort suddenly began to feel profoundly depressed and returned to therapy three years later. She was advised to take antidepressants. And though she had never taken anything more than aspirin, not even for childbirth, she conceded to the use of antidepressants in various combinations and at increasing doses as depression deepened. She described the experience as being in “psychic hell”, a place where she was unable to eat or sleep. During this time, an odd e-mail message arrived from her friend and colleague, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who questioned her contributions to a collaborative discovery that had won for her recognition. She reacted irrationally and began to assume that all her scientific work was fraudulent and that her friend had found her out.