Credit: Reprinted with permission, Courtesy, Asbury Park Press, a
Gannett Co. newspaper
Ann Delli Sante opened her hand and displayed a small river rock with
the inscription "Forgive.''
"There are no words to describe how proud I am to have this stone,''
said Delli Sante, clutching it like it was the Hope Diamond.
A short time earlier, Delli Sante, of Toms River,
had received the stone for graduating from a program called Stepping
Stones at St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Center in Toms River. Stepping
Stones is an intensive outpatient program designed to help people overcome
medical conditions like depression and dependency on alcohol and drugs.
More than 100 people are enrolled.
More and more Americans are dealing with depression-related
maladies these days. A recent study published in the Archives of General
Psychiatry revealed that the use of antidepressant drugs in the United
States doubled between 1996 and 2005. Last year, more than 164 million
prescriptions were written for antidepressants, according to health
officials.
For Delli Sante, 62, the journey from a depressed
alcoholic to a reborn spirit began a decade ago when, in a one-year
span, her husband, father and father-in-law all died. The series of
deaths triggered a descent in which Delli Sante repeatedly pondered
suicide until the Rev. Joan Pettit Anders of Christ Episcopal Church
in Toms River intervened and persuaded her to get help.
After the deaths in 1999, Delli Sante found herself
battling frequent bouts of depression. She began to drink, especially
in social settings, and would often return home drunk.
"I was what you would call a social alcoholic,'' said Delli Sante. "I
didn't wake up in the morning and say, 'I need a drink.' I didn't rush
out to the liquor store to buy a bottle of vodka. My alcoholism was
to run from facing life, and eventually it got out of control.''
With her depression intensifying, Delli Sante went
to St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Center in March for inpatient treatment.
She left after six days, seemingly in recovery. It was all a facade.
"I faked it until I made it through,'' Delli Sante said. "I did everything
that they wanted me to. I told them everything they wanted to hear to
get me out fast because I was scared out of my mind.''
After her stay was over, Delli Sante reverted to
her old ways — partying and drinking — and not using the
coping tools she had learned at the hospital. On a dark night in June,
alone at home, she contemplated suicide.
"By the grace of God, a friend called Mother Joan from my church, and
she came over to my house,'' said Delli Sante. "It was like a spiritual
awakening for me.''
Within minutes, a police car arrived at Delli Sante's
house and took her to St. Barnabas, where she enrolled voluntarily.
This time, after having been to the abyss, Delli Sante was determined
to break the grip of alcoholism and find help for depression.
During her second six-day inpatient stay, a team
consisting of a social worker, psychiatrist, and a psychiatric clinical
nurse administered the program. Delli Sante also began taking Paxil,
a drug that affects the brain chemical serotonin.
"A number of studies have shown that increasing the amount of serotonin
in the brain can help in treating depression and anxiety,'' said Dr.
Arshad Siddiqui, a staff psychiatrist at the Behavioral Health Center. "Antidepressants
take three to six weeks to get into your system. People need to realize
this and give it a couple of months to work."
Siddiqui, who did not treat Delli Sante, stressed
the need for both medication and psychiatric treatment in dealing with
depression.
"A three- or four-month evaluation with medication and individual psychotherapy
is the key,'' he said.
More and more people are coming forward these days
and asking for treatment for depression. They are not afraid to ask
their primary care doctors for medication, either.
"In the past, it was kind of taboo to complain about being depressed,''
Siddiqui said. "Now, with more science there is more of an openness.
It is just more acceptable in society.''
Delli Sante realizes that she can be dragged down "that dark hole''
at any moment. She understands the fragile nature of her condition and
knows there is no cure.
"I have a disease, and I have to spend the rest of my life protecting
myself from it,'' Delli Sante said. "I have to keep working the program,
keep using the coping tools I learned. I know if something happens,
and I need some help I can lean on my support group at the hospital.
They are my safety net. I can call and they will be there for me.''
Anders is confident that Delli Sante, a parishioner
at her church, won't suffer a relapse.
"She has done all the hard work, and her efforts have paid off,'' Anders
said. ""I am very, very proud of her. She is doing wonderfully now and
is an inspiration to everyone."
Additional Facts
• Saint Barnabas Behavioral Health Center
in Toms River has more than 100 people enrolled
in a program called Stepping Stones, an intensive
outpatient program designed to help people overcome
medical conditions like depression and dependency
on alcohol and drugs.
• More and more Americans are dealing
with depression-related conditions these days.
• A recent study published in the Archives
of General Psychiatry revealed that the use of
antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled
between 1996 and 2005.
• For more information about Stepping
Stones or to make make a referral, call (800)
300-0628.
Date: August 31, 2009
Credit: Reprinted with permission,
Courtesy, Asbury Park Press, a Gannett Co. newspaper
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