Wil Wheaton Opens Up On Depression

Wil Wheaton image from Wikipedia

"I haven’t ever talked about this in public, but today’s a good day to start."

Inspired by a post on suicide by Jenny Lawson,  actor and blogger Wil Wheaton opened up on his own thoughts about -- and experiences with -- depression. What followed was a frank and inspirational snapshot of his own struggles and triumphs:

"I haven’t ever felt suicidal, but I do have Depression and Anxiety. I suffered for no good reason for decades, until I couldn’t reconcile my awesome life with feeling terrible all the time. Talking therapy wasn’t ever enough for me, and I was very resistant to medication, because I believed (and continue to believe) that we are an over-medicated culture.

But, still, I wouldn’t just sit around and suffer if I had a treatable non-mental illness, so I went to a doctor, and I got better. Now, I take some medication every morning, and it has made all the difference in my life."

In a society where there is still such a stigma around admitting you have such issues -- much less are getting treated for them by a doctor -- I think a public figure with a large audience like Wheaton writing this post is really important. He went on to write that there is always hope:

"That was about four years ago, and I’m happy to say that I’ve stayed out of the room. I can actually enjoy my friends, my family, and my life. I have bad days from time to time, but I know they’ll pass, and — most important of all — I may have Depression, but Depression doesn’t have me. I know that’s sort of corny, but it’s pretty accurate, too."