Remember a time when you were sad, angry, or stressed out.  Now think about how difficult it was for you to focus on everyday tasks such as completing work or school projects, finishing chores, or paying bills.  How did it affect your appetite, energy level, and interpersonal relationships?  There is a reason people say not to drive when you are highly emotional - because you are distracted and often impulsive.    

In addittion, depression, as many people may not realize, often causes hearing and communication problems.  It's like hearing things the equivalent of how you would see things in fun house mirrors - distorted and misunderstood, some times being worse than others.  The more personal it is, the more likely the situation is to become distorted.  The more distorted it is, the less likely anyone is to understand what you are experiencing, because you are the only one perceiving the world through these audible fun house mirrors that defy logic and intellect at every turn.    

Now think about living your life this way, day in and day out, for as long as you can remember.  

This is the struggle that many people with depression face.  And this is precisely the struggle that Delonte faced throughout his life; both before and during his NBA career up to the start of this season.  Every time he struggled during a game he would more than likely doubt himself, and when he succeeded it probably was never good enough.  Self criticism is a key to sustaining depression and to overcome that criticism and doubt usually takes more than someone can muster from within themselves.   

Can you imagine how much dedication, determination, and talent it took for him to overcome this emotional disability to become a starting player on a NBA team which is in contention for the championship?  Not to say that his success as a basketball player in itself would help Delonte overcome the hurdle of depression, as he candidly stated that he was about to walk away from his career before the season started, but it does mean that he can now enjoy himself and his confidence is improving along with his game - both on and off the court.  

Delonte is an inspiration for many struggling with long lasting depression and other mental health problems.  He is taking responsibility for his life and taking care of himself in an appropriate manner.  He is, whether he likes it or not, a role model to many - and he is certainly acting like one.  Delonte, probably for the first time in his life, is finally enjoying himself and his life - and you can see his joy on the court, during interviews, and on the bench.  No wonder he feels like a kid on the court - he's living a childhood dream, and doing so in a very successful manner.

While the Cavs are seeking their own championship ring this year, they have the daunting task of sprinting right out of the starting gate without stumbling as they take on last year's national champions, the Boston Celtics.  For some this could be motivation, a springboard into the new season - do well on opening night and anything is possible.  However, if anything goes wrong, it could be a damper on the season and an excuse maker.  Cleveland knows the Cavaliers are good enough to win, it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together with the right timing.  Avoid major injuries, to the body and ego, and they have a great shot.  We have expert leaders and teachers training one another in every aspect of the game.  Our players have skill, intellect, and compassion.

So why is it, the world may ask, that the Cavaliers do not want to support their colleagues in their celebration of last year's accomplishments?  If they did the same to us, wouldn't we say they were just being poor sports?  I mean, last year is overwith and a new season is upon us.    However, if you take a look at the psychological aspects and social dynamics, it makes sense that the team has made a decision to keep themselves distanced from the ceremony instead of being cheerleaders on the sidelines.

With the ring ceremony preceding the game, the Celtics are undoubtedly going to have a rush of adrenaline that can not be captured by the Cavaliers by the pure essense of the situation.  By watching the ceremony and participating as witnesses, they may in fact be giving some of their energy to the Celtics, in turn taking away from their own game.  However, by making a unified decision to sit out the ceremony, the Cavaliers give themselves a better chance as a team to come out onto the floor focused and determined.

It's going to be a tough game - the Cavaliers really don't have anything going for them on paper - they are on the road going up against the championship team on the night they receive their championship rings; however, the Cavaliers often don't go by the numbers you see on stat sheets, and you can't get the team dynamics off a piece of paper.  I have confidence that the Cavaliers will win and, if for some reason they happen to fall short - there are still eighty-one more games to play during the season.  They'll come through in the end and, no matter how you feel about the ceremony, you need to have faith that the team is making the right decision for them.

For someone who has experienced depression on nearly every front, it is refreshing to see someone who is able to take care of themselves - then act as a role model as they share it with the world.  For some, their world might be small, consisting of family, close friends, or coworkers; but for others, it really does mean the world. 

On the forefront, I have suffered from depression my entire life; the difficulty with that is, it becomes difficult to separate the mood disorder from your identity and, the longer it goes untreated, the more intertwined they become.  This also makes the depression very hard to identify as one often begins to believe that there is something inherintely wrong with them or that it is just a normal state of being.  Whether you believe in the argument that depression is a biologically based disorder, one that is learned, or something that is purely situational, for someone who is struggling with depression it really doesn't matter why they're feeling depressed, all that matters is finding a way to treat it.  The more you believe it is learned or situation-based, the more you believe that you should just be able to change or fix it.  If there is a biological underlayment, then the person may not even realize something is wrong, in which case they likely won't buy into the medication based approach.

I always knew I had low self esteem, and I knew that not everyone did.  However, on the back burner I was also aware that depression ran rampant in my family, as did addiction and abuse.  I learned from a very early age the dangers associated with all of these as I had both of my alcoholic grandfather's commit suicide before I turned four years old, and my grandmother literally drank herself to death before my older brother was born.  I vowed that I would never commit suicide because, no matter how sad and worthless and burdensome I might feel, I knew that the waves of depression continued to rage and cause insurmountable pain in the aftermath.  It was never an option, and neither was turning to substances, and that may have saved my life.

Encircling all of this is my professional life, which started before I stepped a day into high school.  Here, I have seen and tried to help others overcome their own pain and the demons that try and distract them from healing.  This includes nearly every kind of mental health issue in a variety of venues including outpatient treatment, emergency department assessments, and prison based counseling.  I have stories that break my heart and enrage me; I have stories that make me want to cry and others that provide glimmers of hope like the evening star in the night sky.  I feel pain and sadness and frustration - but in the end I keep coming back because I hope I can redirect someone and help them save their own life - just one.  This does not always have be a literal translation and, as long as I can help someone pick up their tattered soul and worn out spirit off the ground and see signs of life coming back into them, that is all I ask.

Sometimes the biggest battle is getting someone to understand that there isn't something right with them emotionally and that, once they do accept that, they don't give up with the belief they are weak or untreatable.  The worst thing a person can do is give up on themselves, and that is one reason why faith is so strong and so important, particularly in recovery.  You wouldn't expect an insulin dependent diabetic to just "suck it up", change their diet, and move on would you?  In the same faction you can't expect most people with severe, ongoing mood or anxiety disorders to find it within themselves to just change and bury it in the past.  It's like trying to pick yourself up off the ground with a safety net when, inevitabely, you would be standing on.  The safety net would have to be directly underneath you; you need someone, something else to help you from the outside to get back on your feet and stabilize so you don't fall back down.

Just like everything else in life, treating depression is matter of finding balance within a person.  By this I mean that the depression can not define the person, nor can it be ignored.  Depression can not override, but it also can not be treated as irrelevant or meaningless.  It has to be a part of you without becoming you.  It has to be remembered without being dwelled upon.  Just as people with addicitons have to remember who they are and how they got there, they also can not let their recovery become and overwhelm them, for then it often leads them right back to the place they were trying to leave.

Change is difficult.  People are hesitant to venture into the unknown or undiscovered, even if they are certain it will improve their lives and make them a better person.  There is hesitation because there is comfort in familiarility - no matter how chaotic or painful those actions and reactions have become.  But some, some venture into the unknown and take their world with them.  They break the chains of stigma and the expectation of routine.  And every time this happens, there is a gravitational pull that draws people's attention.  As long as there is candidness and balance, there is a profound positive effect on those around them, breaking out of silence and into a world of normalcy. 

I will never be in a position to touch the lives of others with my story as Delonte West and Casey Coleman have touched our local world.  They are Hero's in their own right and, while battling their own demons, have undoubtedly helped others identify and defeat their own.