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The ABC tonight

A page in the diary "Meandering Thoughts"
Written by cateblack 28. Apr 2008 11:09 PM

Tonight on Australian Story they told the story of Charmaine Dragun... she lost her fight to depression... not so long ago... She hid it from her friends, her partner but her parents knew about it.. but she hid how serious it was for her this time from them ... WD she hid it... like you do ... it ate at her... her psychiatrist was trying her on a radical regime of fish oil and anti depressants but it wasn't working... she found her solution... and it is a permanent one... her partner is trying to understand how she could do this to him and her parents and her friends... but we know the pain she was feeling ... the sense of desperation... the emptiness and heartache...

She always had a smile and was always performing right up until the day she died...

anyway ... they said we need to talk about mental illness more...

take care

rgds
cate

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Comments from the community:

it was disturbing to hear of her death.

i wish someone could have gotten through to her.

Written by zombieluv, 28. Apr 2008 11:47 PM

Very sad, just goes to show that it can happen to anyone. All sort of nice people can be affected. Depression doen't discriminate.

R.I.P.Charmaine

Written by hippiechick, 29. Apr 2008 12:37 AM

Thanks Cate for your lovely comment on my entry.
I like to think I do my job ok, maybe some day I'll score a really cool job that I love. I think it will make a bit of difference in my life!
Cheers,
Cheyne

Written by hippiechick, 29. Apr 2008 12:41 AM

It is so true that depression affects all people...sometimes the people we least expect. It definately chooses people from all areas of life...even people who are financially well off seem to suffer depression.
Such sad news.

Written by Deleted_User, 29. Apr 2008 01:00 AM

Cate

I think we all go through stages of the happy face and hiding it from people. It is just sad that some people hide it better than others and put themselves in denial.

Go Cate!!!

Mrs Studying1

Written by studying1, 29. Apr 2008 06:38 AM

Bugger. Didn't read this in time & missed it.

One of the things with depression is the previously-mentioned "happy face" we all put on at some stage or another. Personally, I find it mentally exhausting when I have to do it. I wonder if others also find it exhausting and, if so, then how much this is compounded when you're a "public figure" like Charmaine? Afterall, any of us alone in public are not expected to be a certain way, whereas someone recognisable like Charmaine would be putting on her "happy face" non-stop. Ditto the late league star & TV personality Peter Jackson. Known throughout his career as a larakin, he was always "switched on" as that public persona (I've spoken to a couple of different people who ran into him at different times & they said he appeared to be the same larakin as they'd seen on TV). Ditto again for Andrew 'Joey' Johns.

Whilst it's easy to think, "Wow - Charmaine had a great job, was beautiful, etc," I reckon depression would be so much harder to cope with as a media personality.

Written by Deleted_User, 29. Apr 2008 03:26 PM

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