Updated August 4, 2010
Disclaimer I created this site to inform and educate the general public about mental illness, in particular, depression and bipolar disorder. The information presented in this website is not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace legal or medical advice from a licensed professional.
Who Created This Site?
I’m Jane Chin and I started this website back in 1998 when I was a patient and receiving treatment for clinical depression. I was suffering from anxious-type of Depression, and was originally misdiagnosed to have Type II Bipolar Disorder.
I created this site shortly after diagnosis because I wanted to overcome the shame and stigma I felt for “getting” depressed. I believed that by being honest about my thoughts and feelings in such a public manner, I would not imprison myself in open secrets.
One of the hardest things I chose to share was a log I kept back in 1998, which was handwritten and I transcribed it online. This log remains available on my website today, although I don’t visit it very often. Reading it still makes me squirm, especially the worst depressive episodes I’ve experienced. I’ve periodically added to the log, especially when I had a depression relapse in 2001.
Where I am Now
Some have asked about my “status” with depression since I was off medication in 1999. I had a depression relapse in 2001, which was treated with psychotherapy. During my relapse I had tried several atypical antidepressants, which I was not able to tolerate. Thankfully the “talk therapy” treated the relapse successfully. I consider my depression “in remission.” This means I keep a vigilant watch on my mental health.
I became a mom in 2007; my son was born in December. Here is an old picture from 2008. He is the light of my life! I made sure that I stayed off bad news and depressing images during pregnancy, and visited lots of funny websites for jokes and pictures of cute animals. It helped keep me lighthearted. My girl friend Nancy also sent me lots of comedy DVDs and funny movies. When I was pregnant and during post-partum I was very careful about depression symptoms. Luckily I did not experience post-partum depression.
This website’s Purpose is to share depression, bipolar disorder, and mental health-related information from a personal point of view. This means you should take everything I write as my personal opinion. You may expect to experience similar situations and medications a little differently. I encourage you to approach everything you read here with healthy skepticism. Ask questions and search for truth in all information you read – here or anywhere else. Your truth can only come from your own experiences and personal discoveries.
I have a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Microbiology from Cornell University and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Cancer Biochemistry from the University of Buffalo at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.
I am not a licensed physician (M.D.), counselor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or an attorney. I cannot and do not intend to give medical or legal advice.
Financial Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest
Since 1998, I have funded all operations (i.e. paid) for this site.
This website IS NOT sponsored by, supported by, or affiliated with any pharmaceutical / biotech / device / diagnostic company, insurance company, or healthcare organizations.
This website IS supported in part by text-based advertisements from Google Adsense, Text-Link Ads, direct requests for link sponsorship, and ReviewMe.
I spent over a decade of my professional life in healthcare research and business. Most of my experience has been in the pharmaceutical industry. I have built my reputation on preserving the integrity and ethical conduct of field-based medical science liaison teams (non-sales function) in the biopharma industry. I am a very outspoken critic of deceptive and misleading industry practices.
Personally, I find unethical and illegal business conduct as an excuse for not learning how to be competent in one’s job, or for making employees pay for company’s lousy leadership. As of January 2011, I retired from the pharma consulting business I built in 2004 but still retain legal ownership of the consulting business.
Currently I work with executives and professionals who want to create a legacy of significance that can outlive their success – and outlive them. I’m called to work with people who have already achieved a certain level of success, but find themselves asking “is this all there is?” and more importantly – are ready to do something about it.
What Information is Collected (Privacy Policy)
No personally identifiable information is collected from or by this web site. There’s a sitemeter “site statistic” code on here, and I use Woopra to look at what keywords people are searching for when they end up on my site. But I am very lazy with these ‘SEO’ type of things and I have no idea what I am supposed to do with it, so I rarely ever check it. If I do, I usually look at the keywords and say “oh, that’s cool.” And that’s the extent of my “site monitoring”.
If you have any questions or concerns about this website or about what you’ve read, please email me at mhsourcepage@gmail.com .
