I remember when i got my first car. Driving around I noticed how many other people had the same car. So I got another car and realised how many had the same again. I never took notice before i had one on how many out there are the same.

It was the same with depression and anxiety. My wife was diagnosed with anxiety. She seemed ok to me, a little stressed maybe but really, did she need meds for it? Then my world changed. I flipped. I flipped chairs, yelled at loved ones and locked myself in a cupboard with a gun in my mouth. I laugh now but I obviously wasn’t serious because I thought of the mess this would make over all our clothes and put the gun away. Five hours later i came to realise i need help. I went to a doctor and was told I have depression and anxiety. Wow, this shit is real. My wife’s anxiety was treated well with just meds. They calmed her down and she functioned normally. Thank goodness she did too because mine was a little different. It has been nine months of meds, doctors, therapists and psychiatrists and i still wake up wondering why somedays.

Today I woke up and felt something was wrong. Something was not right in the world. Then the news came on. Robin Williams is dead, suicide because of on going battle with depression. The funniest man on earth had depression. Wonder if this will show people that this is a serious disease. Charlotte Dawson killed herself earlier in the year and there was a bit of a outcry then but with in a couple days all was forgotten. Maybe it will take someone who always seemed to be laughing and making us laugh to shine light on this darkness that is infecting so many lives.

If you know someone with depression or think someone might just be a little off, ask them “R U OK?”. There are always campaigns promoting this question but do we really need to be reminded to be human? R U OK? You can change a life.