Depression...

Did you know that anti-depressants are the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical drug in America? Elizabeth Wurtzel described our nation as a Prozac nation, the united states of depression. Why then is it such a misunderstood thing? Sort of a stigma attached to being depressed, that its your own fault. Or that you are just a dramatic person who plays on their sadness for attention. If you live with depression, clinical depression, chronic depression, then you must know what i mean. "Oh everybody gets depressed every now and then, you'll be fine". "Every teenager goes through this." People like to pretend they can relate, but the truth is that most people never experience true crippling depression in their lifetimes. Most people don't have a genetic brain disorder that's practically unavoidable. Maybe if you're an ex junky you know what i mean too. How often have you been incapable of looking anybody, stranger or best friend, in the eye, let alone hold a conversation? How often have you been physically incapable of exiting your bed, let alone your house? How often have you woken up and prayed to whatever might be listening above for a quiet and peaceful death? Overdosed on benadryl just to escape reality for a few days, despite the repercussions? How often have you entered a catatonic state in which you are completely unresponsive to anything outside of you? Been incapable of feeling even the most basic of emotions? Even sadness? Lost a job because your boss thought you were on drugs? And then maybe, after weeks on end of it, feel just fine for a while. This is my reality. This is depression.