Ask Me about My Depression by Sarah Kirshner

Ask me about my depression.
Ask me why I look so tired all the time.
Ask me why my smile doesn’t reach my eyes.
And I’ll tell you,
it’s nothing,
I’m fine.

I’m not.
I lie, because let’s face it,
you don’t want me to answer.
Truthfully, you can’t help me.
My depression is not like a broken arm,
I can’t put my brain in a cast.

My broken being is invisible,
and since seeing is believing,
you won’t believe me when I scream that I am sick,
that I’m broken,
that I need help.

You’ll just tell me to smile.
That I have so much to be grateful for,
because there are kids starving in Africa,
and my little demons aren’t really there anyway.

So on second thought,
don’t ask me about my depression.
I’m fine.

Sarah Kirshner is an 18-year-old girl with a love for anything that can make people think. Her favorite classes are Psychology and English. She loves comic books, music, and TV shows based off of comic books. Sarah is always in the middle of a book — whether it be one she is reading or one she is trying to write. Currently, she is co-writing a book with one of her best friends and is stressing about what will be in store for her once she finishes high school.

Photo (top of article) courtesy of Natalie Chyi: an 18-year-old from Hong Kong who has recently moved to London, where she will be studying law for the next three years. She started photography to capture moments and pretty things/people/light/scenes as she sees them, and that idea is what continues to fuel all of her work. Find more of her work on nataliechyi.com, Facebook, or Tumblr.