My name is Jim, and I would like to share a story with you. This story will tell you a bit about me and a good friend, but also about a subject that is something that more people need to be aware about: depression. Recently I was diagnosed with major depression. This was something I had struggled with for a long time, but due to being a very private person I was never willing to tell people the feelings I was having. I went on with life, acting like everything was okay even though I didn’t understand why I really didn’t feel happy. As I got older these feelings got more intense until I couldn’t take it anymore and asked my parents if I could go see a counselor. I did that for about a month and my doctor gave me medicine to take but it just didn’t seem to help. I shared with my counselor that I was feeling like I wanted to hurt myself so she and my parents with my input decided that I needed more intensive help. I was then put into a psychiatric hospital for a period of time. This is where I met Charlie and also where the story I want to share with you begins.

A few days after entering the hospital I was in a group counseling session that included people that were in the hospital as well as people that had been discharged but came back weekly for these sessions. During this particular session, we were put in pairs to do an activity. I was paired with Charlie. Our activity was to find out how we were similar and to discuss this. He shared with me that he had been out of the hospital for a few months and also suffered from depression. We discovered that we had many similarities. The first thing that we discovered was that we both are very accepting of things that are different. We are both very open to people that everyone might not accept. Charlie shared that one of his best friends is gay. Many of his other friends like to dress differently and do things like go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show while dressed up like the characters. Some people would think this is weird, but I thought it was interesting and cool. I am also accepting of people that others may think are weird or different. We both like many different types of music, and music is very important in our lives. Charlie told me about how he likes to make mixed tapes for people to listen to so they will hear the types of music he likes. He also thinks music will help to make people happy. I found I like to make mixed tapes too.

As time passed, we figured out we were similar was in the fact that we both like to try new things. This may seem a bit unbelievable because we are also both a little shy. We shared a couple of things with each other. Charlie told me about the time that he dressed up like Rocky during one of the times at the Rocky Horror movie. He thought he would never do that. What surprised him more is that he enjoyed it! He also rode through a tunnel while standing in the back of a pick up truck. He said it was not the safest thing he had ever done, but that it was fun and exciting. One thing that I have tried is rappelling. I am scared of heights so it was scary but it was also very fun.

Finally, we both are very caring people who want to help others. One time Charlie beat up some people who were making fun of his best friend who is gay. He did this when he saw no one else was helping. He also shared how he does anything to help his family. When he saw his sister’s boyfriend slap her he knew he had to tell someone because he knew she should not be going out with him. Many of my friends feel like they can tell me their problems because I am a good listener. Since helping others was something we feel strongly about and we like to try new things and like interacting with different types of people we decided that we could come together and educate people about what brought us together in the first place which would be depression. We both learned a lot about in the past year and decided that it was time to share this with others. We started a blog that was called “Depression, It Is Ok To Share”. On the blog we let people know about symptoms of depression which included apathy, difficulty concentrating, difficulty making decisions, irresponsible behavior, loss of interest, sadness, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness. We shared statistics about depression such as the fact that about 20 percent of teens will experience teen depression before they reach adulthood, between 10 to 15 percent of teenagers have some symptoms of teen depression at any one time, and about 5 percent of teens are suffering from major depression at any one time. We also felt it was important that people knew that there are different causes of depression such as a traumatic life event and social situations, but that it can also be because of genetics and other types of medical conditions. We also shared our stories and allowed others to share their stories too and gave people a place to be honest about depression. Even if only some people ever see the blog hopefully the people that did look at it know they are not alone in the ways they are feeling. Throughout the time we have had this many people have told us how much we have helped them which has been awesome to see and know how we are helping.

So that is the story of Charlie and I and our similarities. It is the story of how we took something that is very difficult to deal with and made something incredible out of it. Even though both of us are still dealing with depression and often have dual feelings of happiness and sadness at the same time our friendship that began through counseling sessions is something that has helped us both and hopefully other teenagers as well.