Depression affects 6.8 million adults worldwide. Everyday activities like work and relationships can have an influence on mental health. Why is depression a plague, harvesting it’s disease on the minds of many Americans? We live in a fast paced economic environment that creates a sense of worry. We ruminate about loss of income and when the next season of Empire will be released, all while giving updates on social media. We consume are everyday lives with what is going on around us, we distract away from what happiness is.

I got diagnosed with Antidepressant medication in 2015. Me and my family finally moved out the “hood”, as some would like to call it, only to still face the struggles of our reality. During this time I was attending Oakland Community College, not having the money to support myself, I came to school looking like a scene out of thriller. I still was able to project confidence, burying away the insecurities of what I was faced with, only too give myself and others around me strength. Some would describe me as a happy-go-lucky shy type of nerd. But through the smile, I had a deep sense of worry for myself and those around me. How is my mom going to pay the rent ? My little sisters seem really happy here, they finally have the opportunity to feel what it is like living in an environment that is not affected with misery, misunderstanding and crime. My mom can go to work and not feel a burden or stress.  She feels a sense of peace coming home to a place with no worry around her. All these things that are on my mind created depression. I did not realize I was having depression. I had a constant fear of paranoia and not trusting others. Trouble with breathing and irregular heartbeats three times throughout my day. Each and every time I would ask for help, no one around me knew what to do. Until one day I schedule a doctor’s appointment. I explained the situation, only for them too suggest that I may suffer from Bipolar disorder, Manic Depression and even Sleep Apnea. They gave me a number too see a psychiatrist an anti depressants to cope with what I was dealing with. As I took the medicine, it did not have a positive affect. It actually made things worse in how I dealt with life. I had a hard time picking up the phone to talk to my brother and then girlfriend. It even caused me to lose the motivation to write another song. I woke up one morning hallucinating my baby sister was an octopus. I immediately discontinued use from that point on. I think serotonin is a precious chemical that is not to be played with. I learned how to find inner peace. I did that on thinking about brighter tomorrows. Achieving something positive everyday.

By taking the focus off ourselves, we can wash away the worries that we allow society too give to us. Join the cause and donate too FAST, it is a program to help the youth stay on the right track. Let’s end this plague of depression together by helping the hearts of the children. Human healing has to come from within before it manifest to reality.