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He Figured Out a Powerful Way to Explain What Depression Feels Like

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People experience depression differently. Others are completely unfamiliar with it. This makes it an often hard-to-understand condition.

But in the powerful video below, poet Dan Roman describes the reality of having depression through a metaphor a lot of people can relate to — living in an apartment, paying rent and dealing with a roommate. “My body is an apartment I can no longer afford because of the location,” he says in the beginning of his performance at the 2015 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.

About halfway through the video, Roman introduces the character of his roommate, depression. “I have a roommate now — or maybe I always have,” he says. “Someone who started out as a silhouette stranger on the other end of the bedroom.”

Watch the full video from Button Poetry below to see how Roman beautifully explains what depression feels like for him.

h/t –>

For more resources on depression, –>.

If you or someone you know needs help, see our suicide prevention resources.

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Originally published: May 13, 2015
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