de·pres·sion

dəˈpreSH(ə)n/

noun

noun: depression; plural noun: depressions

a mental condition characterized by feelings of severe despondency and dejection, typically also with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, often accompanied by lack of energy and disturbance of appetite and sleep.

Depression is one of the most common disorders in the world. But what most people don't seem to understand, is that it's "not just sadness." Depression is not being able to get out of bed for a week. It's trying so damn hard to hide the fact you just want to curl up and cry for hours about nothing. It's wanting to drink when you know damn well and sure you shouldn't.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) over 40 million people alone are suffering from depression and 18 percent of those people are in the national population. 40 million people. That is an insane amount of people to just "be sad" right?

Depression isn't just being sad while staring at the rain and listening to sad music. No it's so much more than that. It's hard enough to try and act like nothing is wrong. Oh and adding anxiety into the loop is even worse. Depression is a mental battle with your happiness.

Depression is like a light switch. You can go from being perfectly happy and upbeat, and then suddenly you sink into this unbearable sadness. And no you can't just pull yourself out of it either. It's tough to get through the day. It feels like this heavy weight literally on your chest and it won't give you any relief.

Not everyone who is depressed is suicidal either. It's a common misconception to think that because a person is depressed, they're automatically labeled suicidal.

One thing this generation needs to quit doing, is glamorizing depression. Social media outlets such as Reddit and Tumblr often show photos of people who look as if they are depressed.

Depression isn't the person who is really sad all the time. Quite often depression is the person everyone loves to be around. The person who's light only shines to others. Depression isn't the one screaming out for help. It's the person fighting inner battles that they don't even understand.

Sometimes people will show it, but quite often you can't tell. Explaining depression to your loved ones is hard. I know personally. I was with my friend one night and was fine and then all of a sudden I got down. No rhyme or reason. The switch just turned off. He sensed something was up, however explaining it was way too hard at the time, so I answered with the familiar words "I'm fine just tired." He knows me well enough to know I wasn't "just tired" but also knew pushing me to open up would result in me getting more upset.

Medication helps a lot. Depression is a chemical imbalance. Meaning you shouldn't just tell someone to go "take a walk" when depressed. Yes, yoga will relieve some symptoms, and so will walking in the woods or on a beach, however, it doesn't always work and taking medication shouldn't be something to be ashamed of.

But unfortunately, there are those asshole type people who actually shame people like myself and millions of others for taking medication to help. Susan, we can't all be happy. Medication isn't "taking the easy way out." It's helping yourself have some type of normal. So shaming someone for keeping their mental health intact is like shaming a mother for feeding their child.

Depression isn't something you can cure, but with the right help, good people, and even for some people medication, it can relieve some symptoms. Writing for me personally has always been the right type of "therapy" for me.

Just remember never to give up. "Keep holding on" because tomorrow is a new day.