Andy Copeland Speaks on Depression, Narrative Journaling

In honor of Depression Awareness Month, Covenant Counseling and Family Resource Center, headquartered in Snellville, held a symposium on Oct. 20 designed to lift spirits and raise awareness and needed funding to combat depression.

Andy Copeland, State Senator Renee Unterman and Jaye Lynn Peabody, candidate for State House District 94, were the guests of honor at the home of Board Member and Snellville resident Dr. Yvonne Freeman.

Peabody is the executive director of Covenant Counseling. She described the symptoms and challenges posed by depression, while Unterman and Copeland gave personal accounts of their battle with depression and individual coping methods.

Unterman, Chair of the Georgia Senate Health and Human Services Committee and longtime politician, described her family history of depression. One of her biggest challenges has been that her private life – both successes and failures – have always made front page news. Whether it was her battle with depression, which required inpatient care, or her very public divorce, personal matters were rarely left private.

Then, the worst thing imaginable happened – her adopted son committed suicide nearly four years ago at the age of 25. Ironically, she was already working on suicide prevention committees.

“I know what it’s like now,” she said, “to have a family member in the hospital or who needs counseling. I’ve learned to talk about it. No one really wants to talk about it, but if we don’t talk or lobby for the money that needs to go into the infrastructure to help these people, it won’t happen.”

For Unterman, her work at a nonprofit called Angela’s House is part of her son’s legacy.

“You have to make something good out of such terrible tragedy,” she said.

Angela’s House is a place in Atlanta that reaches out to young girls who have been trafficked. When she spoke about the nonprofit with her son, he strongly encouraged her to advocate for the center, and even helped her with her work.

, who battled a devastating bacterial infection which resulted in quadruple amputations, described how “narrative journaling” helped him work through the tragedy he and his family faced.

He recounted how he and his wife felt those first few days following Aimee’s accident and the emotional rollercoaster that followed. After her initial surgery, the surgeon approached Andy and his wife and told them that “she’s not doing well.”

Aimee had gone into cardiac arrest when they moved her from the operating room table, and they didn’t know if she would last through the night.

“We just went through so many emotions,” said Andy.

For the rest of the story, read it on Snellville Patch.