I've been perfecting the mask since I was a teen. I've dealt with depression almost my entire life. You don't want your family to worry so you pretend to be okay and eventually they get used to it and think you're fine. Once the mask is on it's hard to take it off.

One of the hardest sentences for me to say is, "I'm depressed." Even writing the title of this post made me twitchy. It's hard to let down the walls that surround me and let people into the crazy in my head. The walls are there to protect them and me.

Makes no sense but that's how it is.