Lifting up heavy weights can be a difficult task. Doing lawn care and yard work in hot weather can be a difficult task. Waking up early for a morning class can be a difficult task. There are many things that tax our bodies to our physical limits. But what about our mental strength? What about things like depression and anxiety? Dealing with depression is not easy. Dealing with anxiety is not easy. Dealing with both? That makes for quite a difficult task. But what happens when one deals with both, alone?

I have recently come to terms (finally) with my struggle and I want everyone that has gone through or that is going through something like depression that you are not alone.

I was involved in a sports related accident in May of my freshman year of high school that left me with a major cranial injury. Over the next several months, I began going through periods of time, usually four to five days out of the week, in which I would separate myself from everyone and everything. I did not want to see friends, I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to laugh. Over time, I thought these feelings would go away, but they ended up intensifying. There were nights on end where I would lay awake in my bed, wondering what happened to me and why I felt this way. As August came to a close, I thought that school, even though I was never fond of it, would help me get back on track, and that having a schedule and a constant stream of friends would help me escape. However, things ended up getting even worse. I was no longer able to learn how I had before. I didn't remember how to study information, I wasn't able to complete semi - complex algebra and trigonometry. A month and half passed by in what felt like a matter of seconds. I had hit rock bottom. The leaves were falling off the trees and I felt about as dead as those leaves. It was during that time that I began to think about ending my life. The stress of failing all my classes and not knowing how or why clouded my true character. Negative thoughts ran rampant through my mind like water through pipes. I felt like I was nothing anymore, just a waste of space and resources. I even had a night, the night before Thanksgiving, for when I was finally going to complete the task. But then something changed,

I met someone. Someone who cared enough to keep asking me why I was not okay even though I had already said I was fine. I barely knew this person. She was a friend of a friend who had recently followed me on Twitter. Somehow we ended up getting each other’s phone numbers. She texted me every day to make sure I was doing okay. She was always there for me to help me talk through my feelings, my anger, my frustration, and my sadness. She became my best friend and still is to this day. I consider her the reason that I am still living today.

I have never said anything about this to anyone in my life except her. But I have come to terms with my past and am finally ready to move on to the next chapter in my life. The whole moral of this piece is to be there for your friends. Be there for your family. Be there for people who you do not even know but look distressed or sad or upset. Just be there. You never know who is struggling. Be kind, be gentle, and be patient. You too might save a life