Column: Depression more than just sadness

After being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers, Lamar Odom was roundly criticized for his lackluster performance with the Dallas Mavericks this year.

During the off-season, Odom's very close 24-year-old cousin died, and he was a passenger in an SUV that killed a teenage cyclist.

Odom partly attributed his sub-par performance to depression. Although his claims were generally ignored, I paid attention.

Even with an $8.9 million salary, depression makes everything meaningless — including professional basketball.

At times, everyone feels sad, blue or discouraged, but clinical depression makes one feel hopeless, even suicidal, for weeks, months or years.

Those who have never experienced it cannot empathize with how it drains the optimism, energy and motivation that propel most of us through life.

As a teenager, I was often depressed.

Although basically an optimistic person, as the result of several deaths, I have also had visits from it in adulthood.

At 15, I wrote the following poem (along with dozens of others much darker):

"Bright Star"

Bright star whose home is the evening sky,

Forever remaining the mysterious passerby.

And when people breathe their last breath,

You will travel on defying death.

I never revealed my teenage depression to anyone, but these poetic death themes were a red flag.

If someone seems or tells you that they are depressed, don't tell them to cheer up or pick themselves up by their bootstraps.

Take them seriously, and be there.

Contact Wendel Sloan at [email protected]