I hope everyone out there is coping as best they can with this difficult time of year for depressives. It has occurred to me after years of working in healthcare that when you are a depressed person, other phyisical health problems that arise do not get the same level of attention as non-depressed people. I have until recently been very physically fit and healthy my whole adult life. I take care to eat properly and exercise regularly, recognizing over the years what can happen to people who don't. It seems as though I just got a few decades more of pain free living than most people as a result of healthy living. Now, as I have always feared and worked hard to avoid, I have developed musculoskeletal problems that have resulted in near constant pain. The irony is that the very steps I have taken over all these years to avoid this are probably what caused it. Determined not to give in and give up, I'm continuing to work out as much as my body is capable. I'm still very fit compared to what my parents were at my age. They both have had bilateral knee replacements and suffer from chronic pain, so I think genes could be at play too. There's just not much you can do to avoid genes. When I visitied a neurologist recently to find the source of my pain, he was so un-empathetic and dismissive that I was shocked. I don't want pain medicine and didn't ask for it, that wouldjust lead to bigger problems. I work full time and am not seeking disability of any kind, so I am puzzled as to why I was treated so poorly. I will try not to be resentful about this and will continue to seek ways to relieve the pain.