Marcel is what mental health workers call a "survivor."
The grey-haired, 55-year-old Gananoque-area resident, a member of the depression recovery support group at the Leeds and Grenville Rehabilitation and Counselling Services, speaks with difficulty, slowly and with frequent pauses. His eyes are lowered, his hands shake and he works nervously with his pen on the plastic cap of his open pop bottle as he recounts some of the horrific incidents that caused his illness.
Other members of the group take fewer than five minutes to outline some of the experiences that triggered their depressions. Marcel, whose every sentence feels like a crippled runner's heroic attempt to complete a full mile, takes more than an hour.
The other members of the small depression group, which meets at the former Brockville Friendship Centre, are riveted by Marcel's story. It's easy to understand why someone in his shoes would prefer silence.
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