A Commentary on Depression from One Who Suffers from it

I wanted to write this for any of you who don't know what it's like to experience Depression. Do I want pity? No! I want understanding and care. A shocking number of people in the world suffer from Depression, but don't ask me for specific statistics. It's sort of like the inexplicable ratio between the enormous numbers of rape victims to the small number of victims who actually report their experience. It's sort of like the boy in the movie The Sixth Sense who says about the dead people he sees, "they're everywhere"; you just don't know it. Humans who suffer from Depression are everywhere, reported or not. Likely as not, every person is regularly or has been in contact with one or more individuals who suffer from Depression.

Let me preface the rest of this article by saying that I graduated from high school as a Valedictorian, and from college as Summa Cum Laude. I tell you this not to brag, but to say that even high-achieving, intelligent people can suffer from a mental and emotional disease such as Depression. In fact, I heard once recently that very intelligent people often are more likely to experience some mental illness. Unfortunately, I also have this not-so-healthy idea in my head that because I'm a writer, I will probably never experience an emotionally-stable life because so many writers just seem to have "issues", if you know what I mean. Well at any rate, I don't write this essay as a way to say "I don't do anything wrong" or "there's nothing wrong with me, but it's everyone else's fault that I feel like I do." No, the point of my essay is not to put all the blame on everyone else for what I suffer with Depression. The point of my essay is to provide some insight on what Depression is like to the many people who do not know and to provide some suggestions for how those people might be able to help someone close to them who has Depression.

When will it all end!?!?

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