I have suffered from depression all of my life and I am 52 years old. As a child I was obese, wore glasses, and was made fun of even by family members I was the butt of jokes all of my life. I have never felt like I fit in anywhere and I have always felt like an outcast. I have been in and out of therapy for years and on many medications nothing seemed to help me and my mood swings and constant criticism of myself. I went to the doctors last month for my usual check-up and finally got up the courage to level with her about my feelings. She told me she thought I suffered from social phobia and she perscribed efexor for me. I started taking it three weeks ago each week increasing the dosage and much to my suprise I am starting to wake up and feel like I want to see a new day. It is kind of scarey for me because I have never woke up and asked myself well what am I going to do today, and I am not thinking of suicide everyday. The thought enters my mind still but not everyday. I just wanted to share this information with all of you. Hopefully the next few weeks will prove even better. I would like to for the first time in my life enjoy my life