“My mom passed away from cancer, and three months later, I lost my grandma, who I took care of. And then, three months after losing my grandma, my wife and I had a stillborn son. The depression didn’t come right away. All of that happened in 2012, and it was 2014 when it really hit me. It was constant overthinking. The depression kind of set the stage for the initial downfall of where my health just didn’t get thought about. It’s surprising how exhausting and draining depression can be, especially when you’re trying to avoid it, and trying to label it as anything else. That went on for a year and a half before I really realized and addressed it. I had never been depressed, up until then. Depression is crazy. I imagine it feels different for everybody. For me, I felt like I was doing everything wrong, and that it would be better for everyone if I just wasn’t around. I was frustrated with myself. When I started realizing I was not well mentally, I was mad that I couldn’t fix myself, because one of the things I’ve always been good at, is fixing things. From the outside looking in, it might be easy to just say stop thinking that way, but I couldn’t turn it off. Eventually, I sought medical advice. The medicine certainly helped. Acknowledging it helped. Time helped. It all sort of helped reverse some of those thoughts. I’m feeling a lot better now. I know that negative mental health definitely impacts physical health. It has yet to be proven that the physical activity works for me, but that doesn’t mean it can’t. I know that if I workout on my own, my mind wanders and gives me too much time alone in my own head. When I’m walking with my wife, my friends, or coworkers, it makes the time go by faster and I actually enjoy it. I just haven’t found the perfect outlet yet.”