"my life has been more difficult than most and i experienced an intense emotional life of ecstatic highs and darkest despair. it was wearing, but i enjoyed the drama of it all. gps often suggested medication, but i considered my depressions to be &#039;justified&#039;, the intensity a means of &#039;being human&#039; in all its extremities. however, the energy to carry these extremes ebbs, and in a particularly unhappy period my brain shut down. i work with my brain, so finally succumbed &amp; trialled a number of anti-depressants. didn&#039;t like the effects until i took cymbalta. finally, a normal emotional range. two years later i stopped, the only side-effect a half-tone tinnitus, eased by taking half and i&#039;m still fine two years later."