"Depression: Emely's Story" Emely: "Hi. My name is Emely. I'm from the Dominican Republic, and I live in New York, and I suffer from depression. At work, no would be able to tell that I was depressed, because I was completely normal, efficient, and alert, and even happy at work, but when I would come home, things were just completely out of my control. I'm actually a mom. My son is eleven years old, and my depression was to the point where I was not able to really take care of my son and myself. So I got a psychiatric evaluation, and they told me I that had Access 1 Diagnosis, which was major depression, and my psychiatrist suggested that I should take medicine for it, but I was just concerned with some of the side effects of the current drugs that are out there, and I decided to do other things to help boost my self esteem and to help me gain a sense of balance in my life. Some of the things that I do is I go to a yoga center. I get a great workout. I've been known to even break into tears during my workout. It's an outlet for me. I also do counseling on a weekly basis. I come out here. Its nice out. I get some sun. I read. Whenever your feeling sad or anything, a great workout makes you feel confident about yourself because you feel good, you're going to look good. So that is how I am coping with my depression and thinking positively. Life isn't just a sequence of unfortunate events. It gets better, and the better you control your thoughts, and how you deal with situations, the better you feel."