Isn’t “Depression” a word very lightly used nowadays? “Oh! I’m drowning in work I have depression!” “I'm so bored, it's depressing”. The “D” word is so normalized that you can’t really acknowledge someone who is really suffering from depression. People use this term so lightly that the real essence of the word has vanished into thin air. Depression eats you from the inside and leaves you hollow making you numb to certain situations. The morbid word depression is one extreme end to another, making you happy in one moment and sad in another. Depression is becoming a new trend but not a fancy one; it is being used in our day-to-day conversations so easily that it has become a casual term.

To put depression in an undecorated manner and to corroborate the symptoms of depression we have Kanika and her unglazed story:

Kanika always dreamt of going to Canada for her higher studies. After her 12^th board, she started the process knowing that the transition to settle into a whole new country would be difficult. Well, the process was certainly not easy. After getting to Canada, she realized this isn’t what she had dreamed of.  New faces everywhere, not one person she knows or can trust, it was A LOT altogether. The pressure of fitting into a new community and culture stressed her out. As a person who is very close to her family, it was hard for her to settle in a new country. She had social anxiety hence it was very hard for her to talk to new people so she could not make any new friends at the beginning and the only people she had a little interaction with were her roommates. On top of college, and assignments she also had to work to survive on her own. Every moment that passed made her so anxious that she felt like her life was starting to fall apart. This made her lose interest in her academics; she started to stay within herself, lost her appetite, and had trouble sleeping. One of her roommates noticed her dull appearance and tried talking to her but Kanika wasn’t concentrating on the conversation and kept avoiding the serious issue at hand. Days went by and Kanika’s health kept deteriorating, it was to the point she one day collapsed. After getting Kanika admitted to the hospital, her roommate once again initiated the conversation, and this time she firmly suggested Kanika to seek professional help. After realizing that her mental health was gravely affecting her day-to-day life and the evident severity of the issue, she decided to seek the help of a therapist, and, ultimately, she was diagnosed with the big D word; DEPRESSION.  

In the END, it’s not always easy to voice out your feelings and emotions or have an easy way out of certain situations that life throws at you but instead of giving up try reaching out because there will always be someone out there who cares and is willing to listen to you, just like for Kanika, she had her roommate who was worried for her. If you feel like you can relate to Kanika’s feelings and her behavior then don’t avoid it and SEEK HELP; or if you are someone who knows another person going through a similar phase then reach out to them because sometimes all a person needs is just a good heartfelt conversation with a friend.