Julie Barton's memoir Dog Medicine - How My Dog Saved Me From Myself (#598) opens a disturbing window into the mind of someone suffering from clinical depression. There is such a stigma attached to mental health diagnoses that it often goes unrecognized and untreated. It's difficult to image living every day with what Ms. Barton endured before she hit bottom. She was fortunate in having parents who did their best to support her and help her to seek treatment.
As she will be the first to tell you, Ms. Barton's best treatment came from adopting a golden retriever puppy whom she named Bunker Hill. For a while, until she got a fresh start by chance and moved to Seattle, meeting new friends and finding a new attitude, she was content to unconditionally love and be loved by her dog. It was not until Bunker himself was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition and she determined she would do anything not to lose him that she was finally able to accept help from her family and friends who rallied around them both.
Julie and her dog, Bunker, truly did save each other. Neither would have survived without the other. Although at times this was a difficult read, it does show that there can be positive outcomes to both mental and physical illnesses through diagnosis, treatment and life-long follow through. That's encouraging and makes this book worth reading.
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