MB: It’s hard to explain because you really don’t notice it until you realize that you’re doing something that six months ago you would have never considered doing.

Dr. W: Can you give me an example?

MB: Um. My phone um I get a text from a friend who uh wants me to go to a birthday party and the old depressed me would have immediately gone through a zillion scenarios of how to get out of it. I would have said yes and then spent the entire week trying to make up an excuse not to go. And when I said yes I meant yes. And when the time came I went and I did have a little bit of social anxiety but that quickly went away as soon as the party you know was in full swing and I was talking to people that I already knew. You know logically I had no reason to fear anything um and it was one of one of the uh one of one of one of the first instances when I realized

that this treatment was definitely working or it was definitely doing something positive and um I think now going through it um I feel like my old self again in fact I feel like a little bit better than my old self again.

Dr. W: Your old self before you were depressed?

MB: Before I before I was depressed yeah. Um and you know I’ve always been fairly introverted I’ve always had mild depression and mild anxiety and um when you know it when I went up this deep end and really really needed help. Um I was dubious but I had no other choice and um looking at it now it’s I feel like I it was it was the best choice I could have made. Absolutely.