You should ask your sister if she knows of any slding-scale counselors in the area. During my heaviest bout with depression, I found therapy helped a lot more than drugs. I'm sure there there's a place offering therapy at low/no cost. This is Olympia, after all

It must be something in the water. I'm having trouble pulling out of my funk too. I really don't want another full-fledged depression episode. I'm usually home after noon or noon-thirty if you want to call or play hookey from work for an afternoon.

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Oh God, that sounds horrible! I felt completely depressed at a job once and the only solution was to quit. I didn't even have a new job lined up, so first I made sure I could move back in with my parents (because my living situation was also contributing to the depression) until I found a new job. Living with my parents was no picnic, and I felt guilty not pulling my own weight, but looking back, I have no regrets about it because spending 40 hours working a job you hate is bad for the soul. I'll support you any way I can (you can call me and bitch to me for however long you want) and I'll keep my eyes peeled for job opportunities. If you'd rather talk to a stranger, but don't have any money, the Crisis Clinic is a free 24-hour phone line where volunteers will (or are at least supposed to) listen to your woes, and give out referrals to places that may be able to help (if you want that). I used to volunteer there, once upon a time, so supposedly I still got the mad phone skillz, but a) I could be rusty b) I am not a 24 hour service and c) no anonymity. And of course, in my opinion, Bejay is the most awesome listener in the world, but again there's that lack of 24-hour availabilty (freakin' "H" words!) and that anonymity thing. So, if you want it, the number is 586-2800 and their web page has an online, searchable database for services: http://www.crisis-clinic.org

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hey aaron. i'm sorry to hear you've been in a funk. me too, so it might not just be in the local water... my thought on it, and main reason i don't move out to WA is the darkness and rain. Some people can handle it, and some freakos like Jean-Paul and your wife (just kidding) actually like the rain better, for whatever reasons.
so, i'm not suggesting that you move, but rather, invest in a sun lamp. i would have sold you mine, but i sold mine to some lady off craigslist. actually, i wish i hadn't sold it at all, but i needed the money.
anyway, if you look up depression lamps or seasonal affective disorder sun lamps or some form of that on google or even on webmd i bet you can get more info on how to buy ne. new, i think they are usually about $100, but it is totally worth it, and although i had a hard time believing in it, it really helped bring up my mood. most people, especially those prone to depression crave seretonin (some natural chemical we have) and sunlight provides seretonin, so the less sunlight you get, the less seretonin intake you naturally have, and it can lead to very low moods.
so i highly suggest you get one.
take care of yourself dude and i'll be thinking of you.

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