The Only Guarantee In This World Is Death

As life continues throughout its normal pattern, humans experience situations that affect their attitude and mood.  A person’s willingness to push forward may break down more and more until they can not handle the life they live.  This, in many cases, is because of the dreadful illness that can cause physical limitations called depression. Depression is a mental illness that affects how you feel, act, and think in an extremely negative and self-harming way. 

The matter is depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the world and it can come to anyone unexpectedly. People who may have the perfect life can suffer from depression. Every person has their own battle and it come with a fight they must be willing to take. As David Foster Wallace explains how people have their own way of thinking in his speech, “It is our default-setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth” (This Is Water). David describes how people have a type of self-centeredness that makes things that only matter to them important. Many people around the world are becoming familiar with the troubles of depression. The reason is because the people around them may be suffering because of it. It takes a different mentality of thinking and an open-mindedness  to truly feel for others.

I myself have never understood the severity of depression and the outcomes that come along with it until I began to become more familiar with the illness. I have friends that suffer from depression and that are fighting  it every day.  This year a fellow student at Troy High had passed away after fighting depression. It takes a strong person to overcome these daily setbacks of depression and many people cannot handle it. David Foster Wallace had committed suicide after dealing with depression on September 12th, 2008. He is one of the many who had dealt with depression. Other celebrities that have suffered are J.K. Rowling, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Abraham Lincoln, Angelina Jolie, Demi Lovato, Anne Hathaway, Sir Isaac Newton, Mark Twain, Halle Berry, Rosie O’Donnell, Kurt Cobain, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Kid Cudi. These people endured the same pain as others that was caused by depression.

KID CUDI

Although depression is very serious, it is taken as a joke. Many individuals poke fun at the idea of people not being strong enough to handle this illness. I myself had been a part of this until I realized how hard it would be to have this problem. Often people forget that it is an illness and they often think others are acting this way for attention.  It is until someone commits suicide that catches the attention a person’s eyes start to open. It is until a loved one is seriously hurt because of this illness. It is until you are the person who suddenly feels a different way because of depression. The joke is not as funny as it seems to be. Death is a deep, dangerous road many have been following. Imagining waking up every day thinking taking your life would be better than living the one you have right now.

Jermaine's Interlude
The famous rapper J. Cole said” Oh, I had so many days of crying. Oh, I had so many days of pain. Have you ever been as sad as I am? Lord, I ask if anything would change? I can see the future that we’re heading. I would say it’s better not to tell. If it’s anything like this in Heaven. Maybe I’d be better off in hell” (Jermaine’s Interlude).

Imagine being a successful rapper and explaining to your fans that you have depression. Some people may show support because there is a larger fan base but place yourself in a “regular” person’s shoes and tie the laces tight. Try standing in front of so-called “friends” who are just a piece of the broken glass in your life and mumbling out the words that barely fall from your tongue explaining how you feel every day. How hard it is to wake up from bed?  How you can only trust them with this and then they turn their back and make fun of you?  With all the love, you have for them and how they took all your warmth during the cold days. How they threw you to the side to rot away and walk off like nothing happen. Then you may understand a part of how it feels. The knife was rigid and every cut to the heart made you feel as if it was easier to end your life instead of bearing with the pain. That is how it must feel for a person who has depression.

You never realize how serious something is until you open your eyes and open your mind. This is exactly what David Foster Wallace expressed in his piece. An open mind is a virtue many people should have. Depression is not easy to understand. Having a life is a beautiful thing but overcoming all the complications it brings is another challenge that comes along. Suicide is just one horror of depression and death if often the way people flee from the pain. The joke is not a laughing matter and death is nothing to mock fun at because it is the only thing that is guaranteed for every person in this world.