Mike was nine when he began to experience feelings that were new to him. He was bright, but started failing school. His teachers chastised him for daydreaming and his unfinished schoolwork. He started losing friends. He just didn’t care – the whole world totally overwhelmed him. He withdrew from life to his bedroom where he played video games for hours and struggled alone with the “demons sitting on his shoulders.” Everyone thought he would “just snap” out of it. He couldn’t - he was a very troubled boy suffering from severe depression.

Through several years of intensive individual and family counseling at Relate, Mike’s “demons” seemed to diminish. His parents learned new ways to cope with their life situation. Each member of the family was willing to adapt, make compromises, and do their own internal work to help Mike through the “dark days.”

Today Mike is doing well academically, is socially active and enjoys a healthier relationship with his parents and younger siblings. He plans to go to college to pursue a career helping people with emotional struggles. By sharing his story Mike hopes that perhaps even just one friend, teacher, or parent will learn about and be able to recognize the symptoms of depression, in order to help someone they may know that is struggling with depression.