For those of you who think that “depressed” is equivalent to being “sad,” my intent here is to show you just how wrong you are. If you fail an exam, you’re sad. If someone doesn’t call you back after a first date, you’re SAD. When you have to physically resist the urge to throw yourself in front of a moving vehicle or swallow an entire bottle of pills, you are depressed. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. When a depressed person says, “I want to die.” or “I want to kill myself.” WE GENUINELY DO, we mean it wholeheartedly. Our brains tell us that taking our lives is a logical way to end our suffering. Depression swallows you whole, it sucks the life right out of you. It alienates you from the entire world around you. You feel empty, hollow and alone. Your existence seems meaningless. It’s as if everyone else on Earth has the script to the play of life while you walk around, hoping to catch on to some of the lines and fall in line with everyone else. For those of you who romanticize mental illness, tell me this. What’s romantic about me screaming out and smashing at walls for someone to save me, because I can’t breathe during a panic attack? What’s ROMANTIC about a significant other leaving because they don’t have the patience to deal with a flat mood and negativity? Fuck any of you who fake mental disorders for attention. I do everything in my power to HIDE mine. I speak for every mentally ill person when I say that we don’t want attention, all we want is to be NORMAL, full functioning human beings. People who mock or disregard our REAL struggle are the reason why society doesn’t take us seriously. Depression is a silent demon, an overwhelming wave of absolute dread. It is a debilitating, life ruining BATTLE that I would not wish on my very worst enemy. Never treat it as anything less.