Depression. It’s a dark rolling cloud that creeps over a person, eventually consuming the individual to the point of despair, dragging them into a darkness from which the person believes there is no escape. Sometimes depression comes unannounced, overtaking an individual like a sudden unexplained extinguishing of light. Those who suffer from the illness of depression are not alone in their pain. The family suffers, the community suffers in that the depressed person loses the ability to function, or at least, loses the desire to perform at his or her level of capabilities. Depression is a real illness that impacts the brain.
She was a little girl who grew up happy in a upper middle class family. She achieved her educational goals and was moving right along in her life. Then one day she grew quiet. She began to isolate herself and withdraw into a world where she believed she could find relief from the storm raging inside her head. The illness grew stronger and threatening. Hot flashes of anger, gut-wrenching tears, and talk of suicide poured out of her soul. Her frightened parents insisted on her receiving professional help. She fought against this. There was the stigma. Fear of being locked up escalated in her mind. In the end the cold helplessness and the tears and determination of her mother pushed her toward the light. The road to recovery was long and on-going but the light at the end of that dark tunnel gradually grew brighter. She thought of that light as a beacon coming from a far shore, showing her the way through terrible seas. The journey was frightening. The journey was difficult. For everyone. God was by her side, although many times she did not feel His presence. Her mother, her family, and her closest friends stayed with her, speaking words of encouragement, fighting for her, fighting to keep her here.
The same went for a young man who turned to alcohol to chase away the demons and the overwhelming hopelessness that depression brings. Depression is an insidious illness, an illness that can paralyze, a mental illness that encourages death just to end the pain and have peace.
Depression does not discriminate. Robert Mirabal–a Native American GRAMMY Award winning musician and performer –wrote a song about the problem of hopelessness and despair among Native American youth. He titled it “Little Indians.” The song is sad, haunting, and beautifully sung. The lyrics speak of the high rate of suicide among young Native Americans. I have included his video in this blog. You can find Mirabal’s music on iTunes.
Lyrics of the first verse:
Little Indians walking two by two,
Three girls one boy losing faith with The world.
One by one moving toward the front,
One by one moving towards the death.
Depression is, sadly, a common condition. But there is help out there. Start small and ask for help. Keep in mind, isolation fuels depression. Reach out to others.
