\u201cPeople are very strong and resilient,\u201d Jim Galyan, counselor at The ReGroup psychotherapy facility in Searcy, said. \u201cThey\u2019re really good at masking it. Someone can be in a deep depression for a long time before they tell anybody, and on the outside they look good. (But) I think, unfortunately, in our society, people all day long are saying \u2018How are you doing?\u2019 and they\u2019re not answering honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore Olivia Jones, a student with depression, said there are many days she uses such a mask, but it often requires more energy than she has available.<\/p>\n
\u201c(If) I\u2019m in a very social area and people are just trying to chat me up and get me to be that bubbly personality that I really have, (but) I\u2019m just okay that day, it\u2019s really, really draining,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m not giving them the \u2018Me\u2019 that they deserve. Then I end up faking that happy and that just emotionally drains me because I didn\u2019t have the energy to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 battle with anxiety and depression began in the eighth grade, following the death of her uncle and years of relentless bullying at school. Ultimately, Jones said her depression led to five years of self-harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to express happy, but I couldn\u2019t feel it no matter how hard I wanted to try,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnytime I felt overwhelmingly sad, I was made fun of so badly, or if I felt like crap, I would (want) to hurt myself because I thought I deserved it. (I thought) I deserved to be hurt emotionally, physically (and) mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones has been free from self-harm since October 2016; however, she still deals with depression on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
Junior Taylor Kemp, who also has depression, said he believes people misunderstand depression due to the absence of physical symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can seem like the person is not trying to be happy, not putting in any effort, because sometimes it can look like \u2026 they\u2019re just lying around,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cThe basic thing people need to understand is that \u2026 it\u2019s biological. A lot of it can start with your brain being unbalanced. Through that, you\u2019ll see the behavioral effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
ReGroup counselor Jim Galyan said disbelief is one of the biggest challenges people with depression face.<\/p>\n
\u201cDepression is very, very real,\u201d Galyan said. \u201cThey\u2019re not imagining it. It\u2019s not a defect of character. It is a real condition. \u2026 Depression is not just of the mind. There\u2019s a mind body connection. So the whole body goes through a depressive state. \u2026 They lose passion, so things that have always mattered to them or they love are just gone. They have no energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kemp said many of these effects were true for him as he battled with depression.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard to find meaning in a lot of things,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cThings started to deteriorate, the things I enjoyed. I played sports in middle school. I was in the band. I didn\u2019t quit any of those things in my high school career, I just noticed a definite decrease in wanting to do the fun parts of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kemp said his depression began in ninth grade after he switched schools. He said he struggled to break into the cliques already formed at the high school and felt isolated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried different methods to pursue happiness in my own way, which ultimately ended up being futile,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cI was becoming increasingly unhappy in life. \u2026 I was socially isolated enough that I reached a point where I was contemplating suicide fairly often.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was at this time that Kemp reached out to his youth minister for help. Together, they talked with Kemp\u2019s parents, and Kemp was taken to see a therapist. He was diagnosed with depression and, after having blood work done, it was determined he needed medication to correct levels of serotonin in his brain.<\/p>\n
Jones was also placed on medication. Both Jones and Kemp said interacting with people who cared about them was also essential to the healing process.<\/p>\n
Galyan said it is not these people\u2019s job to \u201cfix\u201d their friends with depression, but rather to \u201chold sacred space for them.\u201d Sacred space, according to Galyan, means staying by someone\u2019s side through their hurt.<\/p>\n
Kemp said this could be done in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s as simple as routinely having a meal with that person to make sure they\u2019re getting food,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cGo on walk. Go to the gym with somebody to make sure they\u2019re getting sunlight, exercise. You don\u2019t even have to go out \u2013\u2013 if you see that they\u2019re isolating themselves, don\u2019t let them \u2026 in the nicest way, force (yourself) into their lives so they have someone to talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Jones, her space is created when people sit down and listen to her story without trying to relate or respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we choose to open up about (depression), listen,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd then have a follow up question like, \u2018Well why did you feel like that?\u2019 Just show interest and get us to elaborate on that, because I feel like a lot of us find healing in being able to voice how we\u2019re feeling and feel safe voicing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Galyan, society has begun to show more interest in mental health and has begun to praise people like Kemp and Jones who have been proactive in their mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are changing in our field, and more and more people think about coming to the therapist like they think about coming to the gym,\u201d Galyan said. \u201cHealthy people come for therapy, the mentally ill suffer in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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