My name is Mark Hastings I am 38 years old and live in Christchurch, New Zealand the most beautiful country in the world.

I played semi professional cricket for 10 years from 1992-2002 for Canterbury. Also making all the under age New Zealand teams in cricket and soccer. I currently work part time and on a benefits due to my illness. Clinical Depression.

While growing up in the garden city of New Zealand I was always around sports people and playing the game from the day I was born as my father Brian played cricket for New Zealand from 1968-76. He played 31 Test matches scoring 4 test centuries. He was not around that much in my yearly years as he was touring around the world with the NZ team some times for 5 months at a time. It was difficult for my mother Maureen as she bought up my elder brother and I on her own as Dad was away playing cricket much of that time.

My brother and I were always playing cricket in the backyard every day after school for hours and hours on end imitating our favorite players. We were both very naturally gifted sportsman not just in cricket but also in soccer to. Playing in all the representative teams as I worked my way up through the grades in both codes.

Life was great growing up watching my father play cricket on T.V and when Dad was playing in Christchurch Mum would pick us up from primary school and take us down to watch him play at the Lancaster Park (the big stadium in Christchurch).
Later in my life to play there myself. To sit in the stand with thousands of people around cheering as Dad hit the ball all around the park was the best felling any youngster could experience.

But suddenly at the age of 14 something happened in my life that was to turn not just my life upside down but my dreams of doing what I was best at and my god given talent. To play cricket for New Zealand and to entertain people like my father did.
What started happening to me was mind blowing to me at the time and for years to come. I was having these really intense feelings of sadness, couldn’t concentrate, no interest in anything and this would last for about 4 weeks and then I would suddenly come right and be back to my happy self for about the same amount of time. I never told anyone about this and other people never knew even the closest people to me, my parents. At 16 I told my parents that I was having these terrible times and at the time I didn’t even know what depression was. There was no reason I was feeling this way it just seem to suddenly happen in a cyclic pattern.

My parents were extremely worried about this and proceeded to get me professional help after consultation our GP. So I was diagnosed as having Major depression and was prescribed antidepressants. This would go on for 10 years. Doctors trying different pills and doses but nothing seemed to work. The deep deep depressions would always come back. During my depressive episodes I couldn’t even go out of the house and struggled to talk to anyone even my parents!

At the age of 24 I made the Canterbury cricket team and was in and out of the team for 10 years due to my illness. This was very difficult not just on me but my parents. If it weren’t for their loving support I would not be here today!

During the next 14 years I decided to try many different therapies but nothing seemed to work. The depression always came back. I was admitted to hospital on two occasions, which was the scariest time of my life.

At my time with the Canterbury cricket team I was really interested in getting the cutting edge over my opposition so I was always on the lookout for the newest advancements in nutritional supplements. This is where I came across an amazing product while I was searching the Internet looking for Omega 3 fish oils that I had heard about that was helping children with behaviorial problems. While progressing into this more I came across an article from the Finnish doctor Matti Tolonen. The product he wrote about was called E-EPA. I was so elated when I read the case studies done on people with a far more serious mental illness than what I had experienced that there was no option but to give
this a try!

I ordered the supplement that night via internet and have now been taking it for about 4 months at a dose of 1500 mg (3
capsules). During these 4 months I have had no bouts of depression. But the most amazing indication to me that this product really works is that about 6 weeks ago I felt my depression coming back. The symptoms that proceed my depression are mild anxiety and mild panic for about a week, slowly get more anxious and lower each day until I would hit rock bottom. But this time for the very first time in my life my mood never got to the stage where it was a problem for me. So after about 5 days my mood was back to normal. I was literally the happiest person on the planet and the only thing I can put it down to is E-EPA that Dr Matti Tolonen has produced and is having great success with other people who have had mental illness.

I owe so much to this man and his wisdom to discover and produce a product that has changed my life and now I have the courage and belief to really move on
with my life.

Mark Hastings