With haunting thoughts juxtaposing the incoming sunlight, she woke up with the uncontrollable desire to stay in bed and maybe never arise. This was a bad day, but she was all too familiar with these types of bad days. Still, it was no regular bad day.

She was in the midst of an internal storm – a depression episode. It was no regular bad day.

It all started with an email.

Second semester of freshman year, she fell into a familiar whirlwind of depression. Crippled by this encapsulating darkness, she courageously and reluctantly communicated her state of mind to her professor. After emailing, the professor replied he would only give half credit for all in-class assignments turned in late.

This would not suffice.

“Depression is just as valid as food poisoning, but it’s not treated the same way,” she frustratingly says, with indignation in her tone. The problem? Lack of standards because mental illness is different for every person. The solution? Talking.

Time is of the essence. According to the TCU Counseling Center, one in nine students struggle with anxiety disorders alone, with similar figures accounting for depression.

“How can I explain my sort of ‘bad day’? So many students deal with this extra pressure but are trained not to talk about it,” she says, brushing her long hair out of her face, revealing small glistening puddles in the corners of her eyes. The broken part of her brain needs healing, just like any broken bone.

From this point, she aspires to send the message that it’s okay not to be okay, and people actually care. “It sucks to deal with this, but I am grateful for the experience, because I can relate to others going through the same thing,” she says with an emerging grin on her face. “She” could be the guy next door, the club president, or even the star of the soccer team.

The battle is fierce, and it’s time to arm the warriors. This is a call to arms for family, friends, sorority sisters, and strangers alike - and it’s no drill. It’s time to see mental illness for what is it and what it isn’t. There is healing in sight by bringing it to the light.

With haunting thoughts juxtaposing the incoming sunlight, she wakes up with the uncontrollable desire to stay in bed and maybe never arise. This is a bad day. But all too familiar with these types of bad days, she knows what to do. It is a “good” bad day to emerge from the cloud to use her voice to disarm the mental illness stigma.

Written on behalf of dear friends.