While we are still on this topic, and I think it is a good one for discussion sake and understanding, there is still unfortunately a lot of misconception about depression and mental illness as a whole. For example a lot of people think being depressed means someone is sitting at home sad and feeling sorry for themself. That's not really true at all. One of the core symptoms of depression is a lack of interest in things that were once enjoyed. Imagine waking up one day and nothing seems interesting or worth doing, nothing seems pleasurable. Okay, only one day no big deal. Now imagine this continues for weeks or months. That would suck, right?
Then there are the feelings of being worthless no matter how much you accomplished. You know what you have achieved but you still feel like you have done nothing and are worth nothing. No matter all the positive feedback from family, friends, co-workers, etc. you can't shake the feeling of being worthless. And no matter how hard you fight those feelings nothing seems to work and you feel nobody cares or can understand. So you feel alone.
I think given Hayden's video these are things he experienced. So I think some may understand when such feelings are so pervasive and continue for a long period of time it can lead to thoughts of self harm and not wanting to go on with life unfortunately.
Living with a mental illness is a very complex issue. There is also a broad spectrum that I think many don't understand when the topic comes up. There seems to be an all or nothing belief, where people seem to think someone has been diagnosed with "this" so they must have all of the symptoms all the time. Some people have just a few symptoms while others exhibit most symptoms and everything in between. Some experience them sometimes and some experience them all the time and everything in between. That makes it much more difficult to diagnose and treat.
I could ramble on about this more but I'm glad the topic came up. I also wish Hayden the best season he has ever had, not just because I am a Bengals fan but because I applaud him for being so open about his struggles with his mental health.
Lastly, for those reading if you are struggling you are not alone and you don't have to be alone. There are free confidential resources that you can go to for help:
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
https://www.nami.org/help
Suicide prevention Lifeline:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Phone: 1-800-273-8255
I know first hand that asking for help is very hard but it is the first step and you are worth it.