Conquering depression: how I became my own hero | Hunter Kent | TEDxYouth@CEHS

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

Hunter Kent, a senior at Cape Elizabeth High School, spent many of her teen years battling depression, a devastating condition that is often easy to hide and difficult to acknowledge. She courageously shares her profound journey from despair to peace, and how she now uses her past suffering to connect and empathize with her fellow students in need of encouragement and hope.

[eryk]

"I don't necessary want to kill myself, I just want to stop existing"

[icecreamtruck]

Shoutout to anyone who's battling with their mental health, stay well. If you're not well, that's ok, keep going.

[noorhingorani]

Sucks when parents think you're trying to hurt them through your depression

[yt-kruf]

If anyone's reading.. Just wanna tell you I'm 20 years old and I had depression since I was a kid... Went through a lot of hospitalizations and all, ...but now, in this age, I'M MOSTLY FREE OF DEPRESSION. There's always hope. Never lose it

[michaelcollins]

To all those watching this video for their mental health, in case no one tells you today, just know you’re not alone (a lot of us are here for the same reasons) and you’re doing an amazing job getting on top of your mental health. And you should be proud of yourself for doing so. I hope you have an amazing day, and know we’re all here with you :)

[debbiedebdeb]

"I was sent to see a therapist, she didn't help me at all though in fact she made me feel worse" This is exactly what I've been saying therapist, counselors and so are not for everybody, they don't help everybody.

[GODMODE]

She has great confidence to speak in front of an audience.

[livg]

My depression is so bad that I lost some emotions like crying and happiness.

[timbersarmy]

"I had no interest in getting better, I just didnt care."

[exhibitjean]

I'm glad making friends helped you get over your depression, but some ppl cannot make friends or even find positive friends. And that keeps us depressed.

[vparakhin]

I got my first bout with depression when I was 52. It's hard to imagine that some folks are battling depression since they're young.

[MeditationalState]

What a beautiful story. You know when she said I felt better, I am not judging people - anymore. Thats part of the secret - when you judge other people - you are judging yourself.

[MaybeFuentas]

It brings hope to hear from someone that they are no longer depressed.

[wb]

For me depression is the constant search for reasons to continue living. I think of my family with whom I have few contacts and I cling to wanting to help them and that gives me a reason. I think about the suffering I will cause and it gives me one more reason to continue living, I look for external motivations that are strong enough because my own simply do not matter to me. I don't care about wanting to be an opera singer anymore, I don't care about becoming a millionaire anymore, I don't care about wanting to become a translator or a chef, I don't care about anything anymore. I do things just to keep myself distracted from the flood of thoughts that constantly torments me. My biggest enemy is time, the more time I have, the more I think and the more I sink. I marvel that people live life without ever thinking that everything is a gigantic nonsense and I wonder what for?!!!

[mard]

I used to have depression. In fact, I had it for most of my life until I couldn't stand it anymore. I had the time/ space to work on it for a few months (I was unemployed at the time). And I beat it. This is what I did to beat it. Everyday I did the following and ONLY the following > keep a journal, go to yoga class, walk in a park to be in nature, meditate, eat only real food (no junk food) and read some spiritual books I found inspiring. I stayed away from socializing - no night life. My journal consisted of me observing my mind and what it does/ thinks. To be clear, I did not feel any improvement until the third month when after all that I could see clearly a pattern of thinking that, frankly, was a load of negative crap that was fed to me since I was a child. To be clear, I felt much worse before it left; I thought I was dying. I was sure I had some deadly disease and went to doctors all of whom found nothing wrong with me. I came to a moment in which I saw clearly that the depressing thought patterns were not mine but were living in me that I took to be 'me'. In that moment I did not know how to get 'them' to leave my head and in total surrender and with a genuine heart I asked God to take it. I'm not really that religious but when you're in a fox hole and desperate... And it all unraveled like a falling deck of cards. Initially, it felt strange to have that thing gone but now it's my new normal. If anyone decides to follow this route, stay determined and keep going. I hope this helps someone out there.

[ava_louise_xo]

This is scary how she is describing me

[prakerr]

What a brave girl she is. I have nothing but appreciation for her.

When u get depressed after ur twenties, atleast u know what a "normal" feeling is. But if ur depressed since childhood, u don't know how that normal feeling feels... U get into believing that ur constant sad feeling is normal.

[Stitchyyz]

I've been depressed since i was around 11 or 12 and I'm 22 now and it's still here. Honestly don't think it'll ever be fully gone it's just kinda always there. Don't care about anything not passionate about anything I feel lost and just wanting to leave earth tbh haha it's a really weird feeling if you e never felt it before but its also so hard to help people with it and when you tell people you have it they don't believe you or tell you to just not be sad but it isn't being sad at all.

[ulvhund]

Question is what do you do after you have lost all your friends due to depression after isolating yourself for over a year due and even lacking "motivation" to even get out of bed in the morning? Depression is an mental illness, but it differs as much as people do. It's not math. I'm happy for her, but there's so much more.

[vishnurasaya]

I have been through depression from the age of 15 to 18. Now, I'm 19. I'm not fully out of it but I've been coping with it better. I come from a family where grades mean everything. I changed myself as much as possible to fit in and make my family proud, but little did I know that I will face a greater backlash. There were days when I didn't feel like getting out of bed and the worse part was when other people, especially family gave advices that was insignificant without really understanding what I was going through and made me feel worse. I felt myself slowly coming out of it when I left home to pursue higher education. I had a better sense of who I really was. Now, I only focus on the things that is within my control rather than pondering over the things that I can't control. To those suffering from depression, it takes time to heal and give yourself ample of time to do so. Don't expect anything from yourself and from anyone else. You are the most important person in your life. Make your well-being your first priority.