BY: MARY WILSON
Opinions Editor
The commercials are on TV – a new medication with a glum-looking person, sometimes masking their symptoms of depression, occasionally with a literal mask appears on the screen. Then, a psychiatrist visit and suddenly, the individuals who looked sad a mere 15 or 20 seconds ago, appear happy. Sometimes the characters are laughing with friends; other times, they are interacting with family members. A reminder of the medication name, the dosages, and an urge for the viewer to ask their doctor about the new medication. As people who struggle with depression know, the answer is rarely that simple.
I have been open about my struggles with mental health disorders, but haven’t talked much about my depression, despite having been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder since I was 16 years old.
We hear when someone–most notably a celebrity or public figure–dies by suicide. We see the push for people in crisis to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. We see the social media posts urging struggling individuals to “just get help,” And then, silence.
Major Depressive Disorder is estimated to affect 6.7 percent of American adults in a given year. Children and teenagers can develop the disorder, too. It’s especially widespread among college students. Each person’s experience with MDD is unique to them, but there are some common traits: individuals in the midst of a depressive episode can have cognitive, emotional and behavioral or physical symptoms.
When I’m in a depressive episode, I feel like a burden to all those who are around me. Helpless. Hopeless. I lose my appetite. I gradually withdraw from activities I once loved. It’s a despicable experience. MDD is one of the most common mental illnesses. Odds are, you personally know someone who struggles with depression or struggle with it yourself. It can affect anyone, even people who appear to have the perfect life and everything one could want. As a therapist explained to me, depression puts the sufferer into tunnel vision. All the activities the individual once enjoyed no longer bring joy or comfort, and it seems like there’s no way out of their misery. Depression blocks all the good parts of their life out and quickly sucks the victim into its trap.
I thought I had a handle on my depression. I thought that since I could still go to school, work, and fulfill all my obligations, I couldn’t be that depressed. I was shocked when my therapist told me that I had severe depression, as I was crying on her couch, not seeing a way to go forward. Functioning depression is real, she explained, and I wasn’t doing that great of a job with my day to day functioning, either. She enrolled me in a program for depression and anxiety and I am slowly on the path to recovery.
I am lucky enough to have access to healthcare and surrounded by people who tell me that it will get better, that ending my life is not the answer, and remind me that I have struggled before and survived, and I will survive this time, too. There are people, right here on the Meramec campus, who know how depression feels. The Counseling Center has counselors that are trained to listen, and can point toward resources in the community. I promise that it will be okay–not all at once, but eventually. We won’t always feel this way. Depression can block out the light and make an individual feel hollow and worthless. But there are ways to fight back.
Depression is a liar, and with a proper treatment plan, individuals can recover. It will get better. I need to believe that.
