Photo taken by first-time contributor MacKenzie R., a 17-year-old who has suffered from depression since she was nine. She tried to pull the “tough guy” act, and fight through it by herself, but she couldn’t. She was diagnosed with depression when she was fifteen, and was put on an antidepressant. She made the decision to move in with her dad, (away from her little brother), two states away. Since the move, she has been able to get off of her medication. Depression still affects her every so often, but she is feeling better now than she can ever remember feeling.

About this photo: “This photo is of the most important person in my world. He’s my baby brother, but, since I raised him until he was four, (he’s six now), I feel about him like a mother would. This little boy holds my entire heart in his hands, and he doesn’t know it. He’s my world, my love, my sunshine. He’s the only person who kept me from being suicidal all those years. He doesn’t know it, but he saved my life.”

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