Please welcome a first-time contributor from Missouri in her early thirties who has suffered in silence from severe, recurrent major depression for over ten years. She was able to live a mostly successful life (from an outside perspective) until recently when her once-infrequent migraines became chronic and caused her depression to worsen, forcing her to go on disability. She is often isolated now and struggles to find hope, but she is trying to improve and starting to get the courage to tell her story through writing and photography.

About this photo: “This photo was taken in an abandoned mansion in Missouri this year and is titled ‘Sky Break.’ I took this photo on the spur of the moment and only later realized what it represented to me. As I walked through a dark, decrepit mansion, I looked up through the broken boards and saw a bit of sky. Depression often leads me to hide away and only wish for the bright life I see outside. With my migraines, too, I want to stay in the darkness, but I realize this only promotes the cycle of isolation. I hope to break through the ‘boards’ soon and reach a better place, even for just a while.”

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