Depression

Depression is identified with continuous depressed moods or loss of interest in activities. Having depression may eventually lead to feelings of guilt and worthlessness, fatigue, difficulty in making decisions and concentrating, social isolation, and even thoughts of suicide.

How does it [depression] affect your day to day life?

“I often have very intense feelings of worthlessness, and during those times it becomes exceedingly hard to find the motivation to come to school or to get homework done. Depression feels like you’re waging a war against your own mind, and it is a battle that I fight daily.” (Matthew Gentile, Junior at NASH)

“My doctor put me in therapy. When I first got diagnosed, it was more apparent and noticeable than it is now, but I still feel it. One night I was up at midnight, just sitting in my bed crying. I was like, ‘Why am I doing this [being sad]? I don’t have any reason to be sad right now, but I am.’” (Sophomore at NAI)

How does it make you feel when you hear someone self diagnose themselves or use what you have in the wrong context? Do you feel like that demeans you having it or makes it less serious?

“It hurts to hear people take depression lightly. Depression is a very serious and debilitating mental illness, and it truly is demeaning to hear others speak about it in a joking manner.” (Matthew Gentile, Junior at NASH)

“I’m not really that bothered by it, because at this point you can’t really be sure that they don’t have it because so many people have it these days, that you think ‘Oh this person joking about it doesn’t actually have it’ but then they do. I remember one time my friend was joking about OCD and I was like ‘Hey you shouldn’t joke about that’ and then he was like ‘I have OCD’ and I felt like an idiot. I don’t really try and be like ‘Oh you can’t say that’ because it’s not that big of a deal to me. (When asked follow-up question) No, I don’t think that.” (Sophomore at NAI)

It seems as if some people think of mental illnesses as a “trend”. What is your personal opinion on this?

“There definitely seems to be a ‘depression culture’ in America. I often hear from my peers that a particular musical artist ‘cured my depression’. While music helps many people with mental illness, music alone is certainly no cure. I find it demoralizing that others think depression is a sadness that you can get rid of simply by listening to a particular artist. It is a constant and brutal battle, and it saddens me that so many people have so little respect for that fight.” (Matthew Gentile, Junior at NASH)

“That’s annoying…People that say ‘Oh I have depression’ and post themselves crying like ‘Look at me be sad. Give me attention because I’m sad.’” (Sophomore at NAI)

Are you less willing to open up about it now?

“Actually, these misconceptions have provided more incentive for me to open up. I want people to be more educated about mental illness as a whole. I can’t stand hearing my struggles minimized and joked about, and I try to take the opportunity to stop it whenever I can.” (Matthew Gentile, Junior at NASH)

“I’m more willing to tell people about it. I can joke about it, but it would still be uncomfortable talking about my personal issues. I wouldn’t be like ‘I have depression because of my reasons.’” (Sophomore at NAI)