Pepin

This is a small portion of my book Maze Travelers.

Pepin made the maze.  It was for those who craved adventure but lacked the wealth to afford it.  Adventure was something for kings and nobility.  Most men in those days had very little; a home, usually on another man’s land, some animals to work the land and provide food, and a family.   

Pepin was a man of some substance.  He had a large home with a great hall.  This is where he put the first maze.  He gathered special ingredients and mixed them into a paint and used it to draw strange designs on his ceiling.  

It took him many weeks of painting to complete the task.  Pepin worked deep into the night with a large fire for light.  He was feverish in his work.  He made designs within designs that were only apparent when you looked very closely, and from the correct angle.  He finished several times.  Each time he was more satisfied with the results.  

Finally, when he could paint no more, his work was complete.  But, what was it?  There were many different things drawn into his ceiling.  There were faces, strange animal-like creatures, dragons, stars, and other shapes.  Some of the things he drew with his brush were very subtle.  Other things were very grand figures.  

There was not anything he could really call it.  It was by some definition a mural.  But it lacked any theme or continuity.  Nothing was relevant to anything else.  And yet they were connected in some way.    

Pepin was happy with what he had done.  He brought in some of his friends to get their opinions.  They had never seen anything like it.  

“Is it a maze?” one of them asked.  

“I don’t see a beginning or an end,” said another.  “Is it complete?” he continued.  

Pepin responded, “It is a maze but not as you would expect.  You have heard of mazes made with hedging or in fields.  These are mazes through which you travel.  You have also seen mazes drawn in the dirt where you trace your way through with a stick.  But this is a drawn maze that I will this day go inside.  I have concocted a potion that will transport me into the very paint on the ceiling.  I will enter this maze and return again to stand before you.”

When Pepin finished talking his friends were astonished.  They knew him to be a wizard but this was shocking.   They had seen him do many unexplainable things.  Sometimes his works would leave him or someone else hurt or maimed in some way.  This could be the most incredible thing yet.  The men looked at each other.  They looked at Pepin.  No one spoke a word.  Could a man go into a painting?  

Pepin walked to a small table on which was a cup with something in it.  He took the cup and spoke.  

“I will see you very soon my friends.”  With those words he swallowed the entire contents of the cup, sat it down in its place on the table, and stood there for a moment.  

His eyes began to glaze just before he fell to the floor.  As he looked up to the ceiling it began to look like waves of heat floating above him.  He felt himself begin to float upwards and into the unknown.  

Pepin emerged on an overgrown path that was hard for him to see.  He stretched his arms out to his sides feeling very odd and somehow very free.  The bright blue sky up above appeared very deep; almost as if you could see the depth of it.  He started to walk and have a look around.  Soon he was running faster than he thought possible and he could see himself as he ran.  After a moment he realized he was above himself watching.  He tripped on something and fell to the ground and rolled to a stop looking up at himself.  As he closed his eyes the vision was gone.  

Pepin opened his eyes to see he was standing on the face of a sheer cliff looking far into the distance.  He clung to the rock for safety but began to lose his footing and struggled not to fall.  But, loose gravel beneath his feet caused just that.  He was falling down the cliff bouncing off of rocks extending from the cliff face.  Before he hit the ground there was a flash of light and he was back at home on the floor.  

He was alone.  The men left after failing to revive him.  They were afraid to stay.  Pepin sat up feeling very strange and amazed.   He went outside to find his friends so he could tell them about what had happened to him.

When he couldn’t find anyone he went back inside, took out a parchment, and wrote down the entire experience still astonished at what he had discovered.  He was also very tired.  The experience in the maze had drained him.  With a candle burning beside him on the table he fell asleep.  

When Pepin woke the next morning he found his friend Eadric sitting outside of his house.  He invited him in and told him his story of the previous day.   Eadric was a regular man with average intelligence.  He was astounded at what Pepin was saying.  He didn’t really understand what he was hearing.  It certainly was bizarre; but also intriguing.  

Pepin was able to convince him to give it a go.  After mixing a batch of the potion he and Eadric laid down on the floor below Pepin’s creation.  Eadric was apprehensive as he looked into the cup but he knew that Pepin was fine after his excursion.  So, he took a deep breath and swallowed the mixture along with Pepin.  

Pepin and Eadric melted slowly into the maze above them.  They settled in a meadow filled with wild flowers.  Eadric was stunned.  He looked around in awe.  

“Where, what is this place?” he asked.  

They started to walk, leaving the meadow.  There was a path running alongside it which lead to a large rock.  They walked over to it to take a look.  It was very large, taller than either of them.  They could see veins of gold running through it.  But, they had no way to retrieve it.  Disappointed, they kept walking and talked about the place.  

“What do you think of this place?” asked Pepin.  

“I don’t really know what to think.  I do wish I could have brought my big hammer to crush that rock and take back an armload of that gold.  I’d be set for life,” replied Eadric.  

Pepin stopped in his tracks, “We could swap pieces of gold for visits to this place.  People will line up to get in here.  We can invite some of the nobles to give it a try.”  

“They’ll pay handsomely to see this,” added Eadric.  

The two men continued walking and discussing their plans to strike it rich.  

“We’ll start off by bringing in a few friends at a time.  Soon word of it will be on every tongue for miles around.”  Pepin suggested.  

As the two men walked they didn’t realize they were walking down an incline.  The land started to change into a more rocky location.  Pepin turned to Eadric to say something but before he could speak Eadric disappeared.  

“Eadric!” he hollered.  But Eadric was gone.  There was nothing he could do.  

Eadric knew very quickly that he was falling and spinning out of control.  A large body of water engulfed him.  When he touched the bottom he lunged back to the surface.  Coming up powerfully he rose completely out of the water.  He looked down to see that the water was gone.  Looking out ahead he realized that he was floating in a strange expanse with no ground below him.  He could stand or sit as he pleased.  With no gravity to hold him down this was beyond his scope of knowledge.  The poor man was frightened, amazed, and excited all at the same time.

Pepin continued to walk down the path until he came to a small lake.  He circled it and surveyed the area and found another path leading away from the water and decided to follow it.  This path led up the other side of the rocks.  As he crested the hill he saw something beautiful.  

There was a huge valley filled with trees and dotted with large clear places.  It almost looked like there had once been a large town where the clearings now remained.  There were spots for houses as well as pastures.  He chose to explore the area to see if there were any artifacts lying around.

“Did I create this place or was it here all along?” Pepin wondered to himself.  That question would remain in the back of his mind for the rest of his days.  

Eadric tried to walk in the foggy expanse but he couldn’t really tell if he was getting anywhere.  The darkness began to thin a bit as he walked, so he tried to quicken his pace.  It was difficult to walk in that thickness.  When he reached the end of it, he had to step down to the ground as though he had been in an elevated room.  This place was familiar to him.  He was in Pepin’s house.  Pepin was standing there waiting for him.  

“What manner of sorcery was that?” asked Eadric.  

“Indeed,” responded Pepin.  “We can have a pile of gold in no time at all,” he added.  

Eadric told Pepin what happened to him after they parted.  Pepin wrote it down.  He wanted to keep a record of their visits.  They decided to tell a few close friends; those who would only think them slightly crazy.  

Pepin gathered enough of the ingredients for five people to go in together.  Eadric went home to tell his wife about his experience.  

“It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen or done,” he told her.  

“You have gone mad.  You need to stay away from that crazy old wizard,” she told her husband.  

“You should try it before you condemn it.  You will see things you never knew existed.  Your eyes will be opened to strange new things,” he said, trying to convince her.  

“I will try it once, but then I don’t wish to hear of it again,” she agreed somewhat reluctantly in an effort to get him to leave her alone about it.

Pepin went to the home of his good friend Henry.  Henry was one of the men who were with him before he entered the maze.  He was glad to see Pepin alive and well.  

“What happened to you my friend?  We thought you were dead.  Your body was cold,” Henry explained.  

Pepin told Henry of his journey as well as the one he and Eadric had been on.  

“Eadric and I would like to bring in a group of people.  Would you and your sons like to come along with us?” he asked.  

Henry had two sons.  The three of them lived on the land of a nobleman named Lord Harlan.  Henry and his sons were farmers.  They grew wheat and barley. Lord Harlan had a distillery.  He made whiskey from the barley that Henry grew.  He sold the whiskey to merchants who came from foreign countries with long caravans.  The Harlan’s were friends of the king, although not as highly esteemed as they would have liked.  Lord Harland’s brother was the sheriff.  He collected taxes and kept everything in order.  

Henry and his family worked very hard.  It was a life of peasantry.  Henry agreed to bring his sons to Pepin’s house the next night. 

To get a copy of the complete story please follow the link below.

Maze Travelers

R vs. D

Politics

For many Americans the thought of an election year means one thing; the invasion of politics into our lives.  Many of us are sick of it.  One party wants one thing, while the other party wants just the opposite.  If one looks beyond all of the muckraking, and the backbiting what they really want is to get elected.  One may assume that these people have such a strong sense of community that, for them, there is no other job.  One may also assume that the sky is green.  At the federal level, elected officials get paid very well.  Then there is the expense account.  They want for nothing.  If that's not enough there are also lobbyists catering to their every whim.  Who wouldn't want and fight to keep a job like that?  At my job I have to get up early every morning; not just during a session.  I go to work and get my instructions from my boss.  I do my job like I'm told.  Then I get to go home.  Does that sound anything like the life of a career politician?  

Merriam Websters online* defines politics as: "activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of a government or getting and keeping power in a government".  Reread that definition.  The second part is what bothers me the most about politicians.  The very definition of a politician is someone whose function is to get and keep power in government.  That is were the fighting comes into play.  They fight to the bitter end.  They will say or do anything to keep their power.  Do you wonder why the office of President is subject to a term limit while members of congress have none?  It's simple.  They pass the laws and they won't pass a law which will remove them from power.  

We buy into it

Many of us buy right into this political nonsense.  We join a political party when we register to vote. That decision is usually influenced by our parents and friends.  For whatever the reason, we make our choice and become part of the team.  Our team leaders tell us what the team believes and we follow along.  We copy their catch phrases and slogans and accept them as facts.  We think, why would they lie to me?  We're on the same side.  Once one has "buy in" to a set of political beliefs they rarely change teams.  Our need to belong to something keeps us where we are comfortable.  The problem with this thinking is that they are not on the same team.  

Being a member of a party, in may states, entitles us to vote in the respective primary elections. There are reasons why this is both good and bad.  One could argue that a certain party only should have access to the decision making process of that party.  Furthermore, allowing members of a different party to vote in a primary could allow the latter party to stack the deck in favor of their own candidate.  These are legitimate reasons.  But, one could also argue that having the Constitutional right to vote means they should have the ability to vote in any election if that election is being run by government officials; which our primaries are.  We are supposed to have equal access to our government.  One argument is that the government shouldn't be spending our money and only one political party receives the benefit of that expenditure.  All of these arguments are correct.  That's why the states get to decide.  One must simply move to another state if they don't like the election laws of their state.

Don't Join them

It is said "if you can't beat them, join them."  I don't subscribe to this line of thinking.  I say not joining them is the only way to beat them.  I would like to see a country where the only people joining political parties are those who wish to run for office.  Why should we be limiting ourselves to being either Democrat or Republican?  If recent history is any indication we will see more of the same political wrangling going on despite the fact that one party will take the majority in both houses of congress.  Some people don't know that they can register to vote with no party affiliation.  I dropped my party years ago and I haven't looked back.  The experience is eye opening.  

I see two groups so set against each other they are willing to say anything so long as it is in opposition to the other side.  It is laughable how party members will align themselves  with a particular side of an argument just for solidarity's sake.  When the left takes a stand the right finds any and all possible explanations to the opposite.  Having watched this crazy dance for many years, I have seen the following happen more than once.  That is, one party takes one side of an argument to fight. Years later, when a similar issue comes up they are on the other side of the argument fighting just as hard as they had the first time around.  What I have discovered is that they don't really care about the issues.  They only care about what the party says at the time of the issue.  If it makes them appear good to take one position they take it.   Right and wrong don't factor into the equation at all.  You can see a mad dash to the media to be the first side to come out for or against an issue.  Whichever side gets there first ultimately decides what the other side will think.  They rarely agree on much anymore.  As an American I say Don't tell me what to think!  

I say don't join either party.  Why would anyone want to be a party to any of that foolishness?  Our latest election turned out heavily in favor of one party.  Time will tell if there will be any real change in the way the government is run.  The age of the Statesman is long gone.  If it is true that history repeats itself, I hope I live long enough to see it come back again.

  

   

 *   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics

On Raising the Minimum Wage

There has been so much talk lately on raising the minimum wage in the United States.  People are so confused about this subject. I thought I should help explain the logistics of said raise.  On the surface, it sounds like a great thing.  Everyone could use more money in their wallet.  Unfortunately, that is where the confusion steps into the picture.  Let's take a look at what happens when we raise the minimum wage.

To better understand this subject one must put themselves in the position of someone earning minimum wage.  Currently, the jobs which pay minimum wage are those in retail, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.  If you have never worked in one of these industries it will be difficult for you to understand.  Obviously, people who work for minimum wage don't have much money.  They have to get the highest value products when they shop.  They don't usually have the luxury of deciding which brand to buy.  They have to buy the cheapest items they can find; never mind the fact that these items are usually of lesser quality.  The only places this group of consumers can shop are discount stores and low price grocery stores.  They still have to buy gas if they drive.  If they have children that opens up another list of non-negotiable items they must buy.  In some cases, people earning minimum wage don't even make enough to use a budget.  Budgets require that you have enough money coming in to support the bills you have.  This is not the case if you make minimum wage.  You must constantly be making decisions on where to spend your money.  You come upon questions like "should I pay the electric bill this month or let it go until next month and pay the outstanding balance?"  You may not want to do this but it's the only way you will be able to have money for gas so you can go to work.  Problems like this pop up every month.  You wind up constantly being behind and trying to catch up.  Even this wouldn't so bad if you could maintain it. But what happens the next month when you need a set of tires and you're already behind on the electricity.  (no tires= no work= no money)  This equation is not an option, so what would you do?

Now consider this; the places where you must shop are places which also pay their employees minimum wage.  They do this to keep prices low. These jobs require a low level of experience.  Many of them employ high school aged kids and young adults who, for one reason or another, don't require a high rate of pay.  They may still be living with their parents.      

These businesses are set up on a profit per transaction basis.  That means that during every transaction several things must be considered.  These are the cost of the goods being sold, operations; that is the cost of having the business, insurance, state and local fees, utilities, and labor.  The only variable cost is labor, and it is tracked and scheduled very closely.  This way they can have more people working during periods of higher demand.  That is why your grocery store has more people working on Saturday morning that they do on Tuesday evening. 

Knowing all this, what happens when you raise the minimum wage?  The first thing that happens is that the politicians feel good because they got their constituents a raise.  It makes them look good when election time comes.  The next thing that happens is the workers get their raise and they feel good because they suddenly have more money.  They can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.  Maybe now they can catch up.  What happens next is where everything falls apart.  

Employers who pay minimum wage are suddenly hit with a big drop in cash flow.   They have a few options.  They can cut hours by reducing the number of people they use during those periods of higher demand.  This results in the workers having to do more.  You might say "that's fine.  They are getting more, they should do more."  Let's assume for the moment that you are correct.  These workers were already working very hard before they got the raise.  Now they are being required to do more with less help.  What ultimately happens in this scenario is that customer service suffers because the worker's morale is now lower because they are working harder.  The job they were used to doing has changed.  When customer service falls, so does profit.   The next option is that the employers can raise prices.  You may say, "That's fine.  I don't mind paying a little more if it means the workers at my favorite store are getting more money."  In reality, what happens is a combination of both scenarios.  Prices go up and labor is cut.  Doing one or the other would be too extreme.

Keep in mind that when the grocery store sells you a loaf of bread, they are not making much on that sale.  You may be surprised to learn that the profits from most of their sales are only a few cents.  The only way they make enough is by doing a high volume of sales.  (Some items in your local stores are actually sold at a loss in an effort to attract more customer who will also buy other items.) 

Now let's take a look at the result of our raising the minimum wage.  We know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The worker works twenty-eight hours at $7.25 per hour. They make two-hundred and three dollars before taxes.  What if we raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour as is being suggested by many politicians?  Using the scenarios above the workers get their hour cut to somewhere around twenty hours.  That gives them $300.  Now the prices they pay for everything from food and clothing to gas also go up.   What benefit have they gotten? They will also have to start paying income tax; another reason politicians want this. Yes, they have more money on payday but, the day after payday they still have the same amount.  If prices go up twenty percent that turns $100 worth of groceries to $120.  $70 worth of gas turns to $87.  You get the idea.  Using twenty percent is a very conservative estimate when you increase the minimum wage by more than 100%.  The price increases could be as much as 30% - 40% or more.  In the end, the minimum wage still won't be enough to budget everything.  

Twenty years ago (1994) the federal minimum wage was $4.25 per hour.  At that time the price of gas was $1.20 on average.  A loaf of bread was $.80.  Electricity was $.90 per kilowatt/hr.  Today those same prices are gas $3.60; bread $1.40 and electricity $.14 respectively.   With that minimum wage, an employee could earn as must as $170 per week without overtime.  Compared to today that is a difference of   $33 per week.*  It is plain to see that the minimum wage is not the problem.  So many lives are simply not hinging on $33 per week.

One major difference is the number of hours employees are allowed to work.  With current laws the way they are, employers are afraid to give more than twenty-eight hours per week.  Many employers would have no choice but to go out of business if they gave employees forty hours and provided health insurance.  Like it or not, those are the facts.  Twenty-eight hours per week is the new standard.  People do have the option of working two jobs; as many have had to do in order to get by.

Now consider, if you will, another problem associated with raising the minimum wage.  There are people who make a little more than minimum wage.  Anyone who makes less than $15 per hour but more than $7.25 will also get a raise.  But their raise will only put them at the new minimum wage.  In today's economy, someone making $15 per hour is most likely working full time and already has health insurance.  The people who make say $10 per hour will really be hurt.  

Depending upon where that person lives, $10 per hour may or may not be enough to budget for everything.  Let's say for argument's sake that they are paying all of their bills and have enough food to feed themselves.  Their current standard of living will be gone once they start making minimum wage; even though it is more than they are making now.  The mean yearly income is $46,440 or $16.87 per hour.*  That is $9.62 over minimum wage.  Let's say that is enough to pay the bills and have some disposable income.  If the minimum wage goes to $15 per hour that same person is now only making $1.87 above minimum wage.  That person who has worked hard their entire career and always gone over and above what was asked of them is now only making $1.87 above what high school aged kids make.  If you think, like many people, that these people will also get a pay increase, history will argue with you.  

A company with 100 employees, 75% of whom make minimum wage; the rest are long-time employees, management, or skilled labor making more than $15 per hour, will not be able to afford to give the others a raise.  It simply will not happen.  What will the increase in the minimum wage do to them?  After prices of basic necessities go up they will also be in bad financial shape.  They will be pushed closer and closer to the poverty level as time goes by and prices continue to rise.  How is this helping anyone?  The poverty level has always been slightly lower than minimum wage.**  It is not illogical to say that trend will continue into the future.  

Raising the current minimum wage to $15 per hour sounds great on the surface but in reality, it will cause more financial hardship for more Americans.  The solution is to leave the minimum wage alone, or dare I say lower it, but have average Americans making more than the minimum.  How can this be accomplished?  We have to lower all of the other costs associated with doing business.  This will allow employers to pay more in wages.  The American spirit of competition will ensure this.  But how do we lower those other, fixed, costs?  

Let's look at the restaurant business.  A certain restaurant owner brings in $4,000,000.00 per year. 28% of that or 1.12 million dollars goes to his food cost.  You have to ask "why does the food cost so much?"  Fuel prices.  That's right, fuel prices are so high and they are associated with every phase of business.  Farms are spending more to fuel the equipment.  Truckers are spending more to fuel the trucks.  Processors are spending more to fuel their facilities.  Another set of truckers is also spending more to fuel the truck that delivers the product to market,(or distributor as the case may be), and still another set of trucks is required to deliver the product to the restaurant.  That is five steps where fuel prices have caused retail prices to rise.  That is a basic scenario.  More complex products require more fuel stops along the way.  The solution is staring us in the face.  Lower the price of fuel.  What would that do?

Let's take a look at this.  Let's also stay with the food business because that is one of the easiest businesses to understand.  Basically, the farmer grows the food, sends it to be processed and packaged, then it goes to distributors, and then to the store to where we must drive to purchase it and return home.  That's a very simple business plan.  Now if the farmer doesn't spend as much on fuel for tractors, combines, and whatever else they use they won't need to charge as much to make the same amount of money; simple math a-b=c.  Next, when the distributors pay less for the product they, in turn, can charge less and still make the same amount of money.  So far so good, no one has taken a loss yet.  Common business sense tells us that profit must be made at every step of the process.  In this example, the only thing that was lowered was the cost of the fuel the farmer paid.  In reality, each step along the way has its own costs lowered as well.  This makes the price shrink exponentially by the time it gets to the consumer.  Everyone wins, including the consumer who is earning minimum wage.  Their earnings will buy more.  Everyone wins.  The farmer makes the same amount but it costs him less.  They, in turn, may opt to hire more workers or pay present workers more.  This concept can also be applied at every step of the process.  Consider, if you will, how many steps are in the process of manufacturing one car.  Prices will go down across all industries nationwide. When this happens $7.25 per hour won't look nearly as bad.

Every industry in America is subject to fuel prices in some way.  Is there any way to lower fuel prices?  Yes.  Good old supply and demand.  Increase the supply, demand goes down.  When demand goes down, so do prices.  All we need is a bigger supply of fuel and all of our financial problems will be solved.  So I pose this question:  From where can we increase our supply of fuel?  Fortunately for us, the answer to that question is also very simple.  Aside from Canada and the Keystone Pipeline, we also have access to one of the biggest oil fields in the world.  In fact, we own it.  It is positioned below the Gulf of Mexico.  There is only one question left to answer.  Why are we not doing anything about it?  

     

*Bureau of Labor Statistics

**US Department of Labor

The Pain of Depression

Depression hurts in many ways; not unlike many other diseases.  But unlike some other diseases depression hurts our innermost parts.  It is a fact that there are no pain receptors in the brain.  It cannot feel pain.  But the mind of the depression patient actually hurts.  Maybe it’s the sensation of pressure.  Maybe it’s psychosomatic.  Or, maybe it’s the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong; that we need help.  Whatever it is, it is very real.  

Mental pain is not the only painful condition associated with depression.  Many people report pain in the limbs and joints as well as other parts of the body.  The human mind is an amazing thing about which so much is still unknown.  As a person who has struggled with Depression for twenty years I can attest to this pain.  I have no scientific background, nor can I explain what it is.  I only know that it hurts.  

In light of recent events concerning the amazing actor, Robin Williams, I feel it only fitting to address the issue at this time.  People who don’t have depression can never know how it feels.  Although many people feel depressed at various times in their lives, they cannot know this pain.  Simple depression is vastly different from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  In the news and on social media I have seen and heard a great deal about this.  To most of us Mr. Williams was a great actor and nothing more.  For those of us who suffer from the disease he has been a real eye-opener.  I have personally done a lot of soul searching lately as I know others have as well.  Depression can cause you to think and feel things which other people never would.   The idea that someone could take their own life becomes not so far fetched.  It could happen to any of us.  With all of the different forms of Depression which fall under the umbrella of MDD it isn’t hard to see how little is actually known about it.  While you can find hundreds of thousands of listings in an internet search for Depression, most of them give almost the same information.  Many health care professionals are doing valuable research every day.  But much of the information online is almost canned.  It is meaningless to those of us who know how it really feels.  What’s worse is the fact that while we do know how it feels, we have trouble explaining it to the doctors we see.  How can you explain something that is not supposed to exist.  

Pain is typically accompanied by an increase in blood pressure.  This explains why they always check your blood pressure when you go to the doctor with a complaint of pain.  I have noticed when I am in the midst of a depressed episode that my own blood pressure is usually excessively low.  Not being a health care professional, I do not know if there is a correlation between the two.  It may be possible that the professionals don’t know either.  I do know that when I have visited my doctor, the nurse has commented on the fact that I have “good” blood pressure.  When I ask them what it is, the numbers are lower than my normal pressure readings.  

If you look a the pictures of Mr.Williams you can see the pain in the lines of his face.  Before the incident I had not heard of his struggle.  In retrospect I think I should have seen it.  I have seen those same expressions many times looking back at me in the mirror.  I am deeply saddened by this loss.  Hopefully people will take notice of those around them.  If you know someone who has that deeply troubled look on their face, they might well be tormented by this vicious disease. Yes, it is vicious.  It causes people to take their own lives.  What other disease can do that?  But, if you do know someone like this, please try to help them.  In a future article I will discuss what you can do to help without doing more damage.  Medications don’t always alleviate the symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder.  But there are things that can be done.  You can make a difference.         

  

  ©8-15-2014 by William Bouker