Depression: The Movie
	Imagine if you will that your are at a movie complex waiting patiently in line to hand your ticket to the line attendant. Your moment comes and you give the attendant your ticket. The attendant takes it from you, glancing first at the ticket, then up at you. The look you are given is unnerving to you. You are informed that the theater is down at the end of the hall around the corner.
	You say “Thank you”, taking the ticket back and proceed down the hall. Sensing as if someone is staring at you from behind and unable to resist, you turn around to see the ticket taker looking at you with a smirk in a manner that would suggest laughter at you. Unnerved by this, you turn your head forward again and hastily walk down the hall and around the corner.
	The area is dark with an appearance of nonuse, but to one side are doors leading into a theater. You enter and notice that no one else has arrived. It troubles you but you quickly dismiss it and see it as an opportunity to select the seat of your choice. You take a seat in the upper middle part of the theater and make yourself comfortable waiting for the movie to start. You are looking forward to seeing this movie since you intentionally put time aside to see it. You check your watch to see there are only moments left before the movie starts. Once again you are puzzled that no one else has shown up but like your first thought when you entered the theater you dismiss this thought too. Instead you see it as an opportunity to have a whole theater to yourself.
	Suddenly the lights dim, the curtain draws upward and in the background you hear the click of the projector as it begins to roll. Music begins to fill the room, sending a shiver down your spine with its deep melodic almost terror-like sound. As the sound fills the theater, the first image fills the screen, an image of a person. Your apprehension increases for the person you see is the same person who took your ticket and he is staring directly at you. As his eyes burn into you, it utters, “This is Your Worthless Life!” Confused, your mind races to understand what is going on. You try to stand up but are unable. You yell for help, but all that comes back is the sound of laughter. Searching for its source you turn your head around and look up towards the projector booth. Through the window you see that face. The same face you saw in line and on the screen. Yet, this time the face is clearer. The face…is yours!
	You turn quickly forward only to be greeted with ever-greater images. For what is playing, is your LIFE before your very eyes! You become bombarded with images of low self-esteem, self-recrimination, self-abuse, loneliness, emptiness and the unheard cries of your mental anguish.
	This is the movie that so many of us who suffer from depression see. It lives with us, day in and day out, forever running before our very eyes, repeating all our mistakes, and failed opportunities. And the maker of this horror is that part of us that is never satisfied with anything that we do. It is that voice we hear telling us how bad and worthless we are.
	Yet, this does not have to be the movie we witness each and every day. For within all of us lives the ability to stop this horror movie and make a real life movie that is filled with happiness and opportunities taken. We must CHOOSE to get up and leave this theater and move to one that shows the world and especially ourselves what we truly have to offer.
	It starts with recognizing the problem and taking all the necessary steps to create change. This includes seeing your family doctor so he/she can determine if you suffer from depression. Proper diagnosis can include prescribing medication and even getting you into therapy should it be necessary. With time, the knowledge you gain and the help you receive, will allow you to become the writer, director and producer of a more fulfilling life than the one that has been playing. It can be done, but it’s up to you and you alone to take charge of your life. Do not let that despairing person I talked about control your life. Good luck and happy movie making to a better life.