. . . so you have Depression

My first real education on depression happened with my best friend.

Before this, depression was quite difficult for me to understand.

"I know you're sad, but you can get over it."

I tried desperately to snap my best friend out of it.

It wouldn't budge.

She would pull bitch fits on me; where before, I was the one throwing the hissy fits.

Out of this, I learned to be patient with others and not hold things against them.

I knew the real her; I knew she wasn't made of terror, anger, and frustration.

It was the d-e-p-r-e-s-s-i-o-n talking.

From personal experience, I can confidently say, you need to deal with someone with depression first hand to understand the impact. I feel like there is so much literature to self-identify depression within yourself or others, but never how to deal with it. Other than the proverbial, "s-e-e-k help."

Again, this is something that is learned from experience, and it's something that arises more than once in you life. Then you ponder it for a while, and you realize that on top of being thankful for your physical healthy "Thank god I can walk and am cancer free," you should also be thankful for mental health.

"Thank god you aren't trapped in a mental hell."