It’s Not Just Beating the Blues: Anna’s* Story

September 1, 2015

Major depression disorder affects about 14.8 million adults (6.7%) in the United States as reported by NAMI.

Anna’s* story is one of the 14.8 million stories in America. Anna was happily married, with four children, and working a steady job. Her life was going well, until one day she began to have feelings of depression, such as loss of motivation, a decrease in energy, and thoughts of suicide. These powerful feelings began to take over her life and changed things for the worse. She lost her job, her marriage, and even the relationship with her children. This was Anna’s lowest point, but it was from here that she began to recover through hospitalization and therapy. And today with the help of Hillcrest IHH (Integrated Health Home) Services, Anna is putting her life back together one step at a time. She now has her own apartment, is repairing her relationship with her children, and becoming an active member in the community.

Anna was living a great life until it was slowly torn apart by depression and she had to fight to regain everything. This is a challenging, life-threatening battle that all too many American’s are forced to face. Depression and other mental health issues are becoming a public health issue for our country and we need to address this public health concern before it becomes an even bigger issue. 14.8 million Adults in America are already affected by depression alone, how high does this number need to get to get our attention? Let’s address depression and mental health before the number gets higher.

To learn more about depression .

– Erica Borgerding, LMSW, Director of Mental Health Services and IHH

*Name has been changed to protect the individual’s identity