'Grey's Anatomy' Eric Dane says he's doing OK after bout with depression – Newsday

Eric Dane opened up Monday about his battle with depression, which caused him to take a hiatus earlier this year from his show The Last Ship.

Id dealt with depression throughout my life, Dane, 44, who has publicly discussed his condition, said on NBCs Today. It was always manageable and I just felt like everybody kind of feels a little blue. But this just hit me like a truck. I had to take some time off I went away, I took care of it, and Im feeling great.

Dane, who played Dr. Mark Sloan for six years on Greys Anatomy and stars as Capt. Tom Chandler on TNTs post-apocalyptic drama The Last Ship, explained he took time off from the show in April because I was dealing with some depression, which was kind of odd to me. I felt very conflicted about it because I didnt really feel like I had anything to be depressed about. And now I take a medication called Pristiq, which I thought just sounded like a good mood. And the depressions gone, he said, adding, Im doing OK.

Pristiq, made by Pfizer, is a brand of the antidepressant desvenlafaxine, which balances levels of the brain chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine.

Youve got to listen to your body, Dane said. Its a very serious thing. And . . . I felt very conflicted because I couldnt figure out what I was depressed about. But its very real. And that was a scary thing, when you wake up and youre like, I dont want to get out of bed. . . . I was, like, seeing these doctors thinking that there was something physically wrong with me, because Id never felt like that.

Danes representative had said in a statement on April 30, that, Eric asked for a break to deal with personal issues. He suffers from depression and has asked for a few weeks of downtime and the producers kindly granted that request. He looks forward to returning.

Production on The Last Ship resumed after Memorial Day, with Season 4 scheduled to premiere Aug. 20.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Eric Dane says he's doing OK after bout with depression - Newsday