Over the last seven to eight years I have struggled with depression. I have been to the darkest place possible and now I am at a point that I do not even remember ever being at. Mental Illness has a negative stigma which in reality does not help the person with that mental illness. People like to brush depression off as if the person is just sad, when in reality that person has a lot more going on in their life then just being sad. To me, I am a survivor and no longer a victim.
In middle school, I was bullied really bad and had a lot going on that I was beginning to become depressed. I talked to my parents about what was going on I sought help from a professional. I began to get better but then I found myself in the middle of my freshmen year of high school at my darkest point. Freshmen year was a struggle but I had the support of my family, school counselors, and my friends. I also sought help once again when I was at my darkest point. Honestly, I have not been back to that darkest place since then. Now here I am five years later at the happiest point in my life. In these last five years, I have definitely battled my depression and anxiety.
Things got better in high school until I lost a parent. I was depressed but I was nowhere near where I had been a year and a half before this point. I had more support now than ever before, which definitely helped keep me from being my depressed self. After that, I was ok for a long time. I became slightly depressed again when I was a freshman in college but that is normal and I was able to fight it off with the help of my mom and my friends. Now I find myself just pulling out of another spell of depression from my first semester of sophomore year. That semester was just a really bad semester as I had a lot going on in my personal life. Now I sit here as happy as I could ever be. I have an amazing group of friends that support me, I have professors that are always willing to listen, and I have a wonderful family that is always willing to help me. I have also realized that through this battle with depression I have been doing things that make other people happy and not really focusing on myself.
So here's what I have to say to anyone battling with depression, find your biggest supporters, trust me they help a lot. Second, do not be afraid to talk about it with someone. Third, do what is best for you. The last one is the most important because as soon as I realized that I was not doing anything for me I changed and now I am doing what makes me happy and I am changing some things around in my life that are also making me happier. I have defied an illness that I thought would always plague. I am not sayingI will not battle this disease in the future but for now, I am a survivor and not a victim.