Here is something that I have composed to help people that do not have depression, to understand the mind of someone who is mentally ill. Share it everywhere you can. Here it is:

An Allegory on Depression

It was dark and sinister in the Dungeon of Mind. There was no escape except for one, and it was a mile-high drop that no human could ever survive. I was tied to a sturdy pole, secured by heavy black chains, that would only loosen if I told “him” that I was ready to meet his demands. The only light was a single bulb above my head, and it only made the room much more frightening. I heard a slight rustle and tensed. I could sense that “he” was coming. And I was right, for out of the pitch shadows came Count Depression himself, who eerily resembled the grim reaper. He paced about me like a panther stalking a fawn. I knew it was coming. He ceased his movement and stopped unmoving directly in front of me. His breath was hot on my face, leaving me shrinking within myself, unable to bear it. Suddenly, he produced a cord and shrieked with a voice that weaken the bravest of men, “Recognize this?!” I knew it all too well. A thick cord, woven of all the insults and negative comments ever made about me, whether true or false. I simply quaked in answer. With a battle cry, he swung the cord, striking blow after blow to my body, cutting and bruising me mightily. This went on for quite some time, all the while I felt my strength and resolve fading. Finally, he stopped leaving me more dead than alive. As he turned to leave, I used the last of my strength to cry out, “Why don’t you simply kill me now?!” His head slowly rotated toward me, revealing a fiendish smile that made my spirit within me faint. “I leave you alive to heal, oh human. So, when you are once again ready, I will come and repeat the process. Another beating. And I will not stop, I will not relent, until you tell me that you will leap off that exit and be done.” His sneer widened. “Or we can keep doing this…. forever.”