Markham cyclist shares painful story of depression

Unionville man bikes 750 km to raise funds and awareness for mental health

Great story. Neil, thanks for sharing your journey. The more we share our stories the less stigma there is for those of us dealing with mental health struggles.

“You feel betrayed by life. Despite living a phenomenal life, you’re sad and it’s completely incongruous. You lose weight, don’t sleep, not driven, lose focus, irritated, anxious, panic attacks, self-critical, guilty, irrational belief systems … We are talking about chemically destabilized brains and it requires a lot of TLC.”

Sometimes it is environmentally triggered — by loss in the family, failure in some part of life, stress.

“Everything we feel is chemical, and sometimes those chemicals get triggered to go in the wrong direction and stay there,” he says.

“It is very treatable. But this is not a disease that can be treated by one person. It needs an orchestra. The psychiatrist may be the conductor but there are multiple musicians — family friends, work colleagues, support services all have a role. It’s a big, multifaceted intervention.

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