Member-only story
Stella stood looking over the edge of the famous ‘The Gap’ cliffs in Sydney Harbor. A plunge of about 300 feet down onto flat rocks peeping above the splashing waves. A bone shattering death.
She’s 27. Beautiful and smart. Lawyer. Loving family. Great boyfriend. She left a note saying, “If this is all there is, then I can’t bear it any longer.”
Stella isn’t her real name but that’s a true story. A friend in Sydney who knew her told me the story. He was showing me around the cliffs and I was wondering why people left flowers on the fence.
What a way to go, I thought to myself then, looking at the rocks below.
No one guessed. Everyone thought she was happy. Friends envied her. The shock to her family was jarring.
300 million adults, or 4% of the world’s population, has depression. Close to 800,000 people die from suicide every year.
For the last 20 years, I too had friends and family around me, close to me, who are clinically depressed. They struggle and rely on drugs every day to stay…
