Major Depressive Disorder, more commonly known as depression, can usually be attributed to a major loss, past or current. People with depression tend to move slowly, feel worthless, and lose interest in everything around them (Wede Lecture 17).  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone, 1 in 10 adults suffers from depression. That means that out of over 300 million people living in the U.S., at least 30 million are suffering from this debilitating disorder—including one of my best friends.

For the purposes of this post, I am going to refer to my friend as Jane. Jane grew up in a great home, surrounded by plenty of friends and family. Jane played soccer, volleyball, and basketball and never had any trouble making friends or finding activities to do. She was actively involved in school and church, and no one ever thought anything would be wrong with such a bubbly, bright young girl. When Jane reached middle school, things changed. She started to gain some weight, and people didn’t treat her the same way they used to. As she started to realize this, she began to turn to food to cope with the hurtful things she “knew” everyone, including her friends, was thinking about her—most of which was nowhere near true. Jane began gaining more and more weight, and quit volleyball and basketball. The only reason she didn’t quit soccer was because we as a team refused to let her. Even though we were somewhat forcing her to participate, it was keeping her from being completely inactive and alone all the time. We thought if we kept her involved in soccer, she’d start to realize how much we all cared about her and wanted her around. By our sophomore year of high school, Jane had gained around 70 pounds, and was considered overweight. She had been on antidepressants for two years now, and she wasn’t afraid to voice how she felt to a few others and myself. She told us how worthless she felt all the time and how she never wanted to do anything. She even went as far as to tell us she wanted to commit suicide. This isn’t something you can ever prepare to hear. One of my best friends was telling me they think suicide is their only way out, while I’m sitting right next to her trying to help her. She went on to say how she had stopped taking her medication, which was the last straw. We told her parents how serious her depression had gotten, and the doctors responded by changing her medication. Her parents made sure she took it every single day, like she was a child. I think this is ultimately what drove her to recovery. As depressed and worthless as Jane felt, she didn’t want help—especially theirs. All of her friends (including myself) did our best to be supportive, and she continued to play on the soccer team with us, which I also think was a great help. Every single girl on the team went out of their way to include her and make her feel a part of the group. Since then, she has gotten a lot better, but every once in a while she still feels depressed.

As far as I know, there were no triggers for her original depression other than her weight gain, though over the years each episode has been triggered by various other events. Watching Jane go through this has taught me a lot about depression, how it works, and people who suffer from it. Speaking out of my own personal experience, I can honestly say depression is an incredibly awful disorder that not only affects those suffering from it, but all those around them.

“An Estimated 1 in 10 U.S. Adults Report Depression.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 Mar. 2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsdepression/>.