Kindy Anderson had to give her mom a hug after she shared her lifelong depression struggle.

The Midland senior had just watched her mother, Joanie Anderson, spill details to a room full of strangers.

Sometimes there were moments where she was tempted to end all of her pain, she said, but Kindy was the reason she did not.

“All I honestly wanted to do was die,” she said.

“I reached a point in my illness where I said ‘that’s it, I’m done,’ – but I had a 16-year-old daughter.”

Joanie Anderson, a 47-year-old Midland resident, was one of four speakers on the panel entitled “Depression Among College Students” Wednesday night in the Bovee University Center Maroon Room.

Its aim was to inform students of the dangers of depression and other related mental illnesses.

Sponsored by Active Minds, the panel was part of a week-long event series called “Beat the Blues,” sponsored by mental health awareness student group Active Minds.

The panel speakers each took turns sharing their own personal experiences with depression and offering advice to students on how to deal with and treat the disease.

The speakers shared life experiences which dealt not only with mental illness, but also with domestic violence, rape, drug abuse, isolation and attempted suicide.

Lynn Morrow, a 38-year-old Mount Pleasant resident, told the audience about her father’s attempt to commit suicide in front of her and her family when she was 10 years old.

Morrow also was the victim of an abusive husband who would call her a “lazy psycho,” and on one occasion beat her to the point of fracturing her spine.

A dependency on drugs also has plagued much of her life.

“I became a drug addict at 13,” Morrow said. “I was a drug addict for 24 years and very addicted to crack cocaine.”

Midland resident Dixie Keane, 47, has taken between 75 and 100 different combinations of medicine. She spoke of an instance when she desperately needed medical attention and her husband told her to crawl to the doctor’s office because he refused to take her.

“Being in depression is like being in a pit in hell you can’t get out of,” Keane said.

The panel also answered questions for audience members.

Grand Rapids senior Brittany Vanspronsen, a member of Active Minds, said the panel delivered an outstanding lecture.

“(The panel) was very impressive, powerful and moving,” Vanspronsen said. “Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. People need to be aware, this affects everyone.

studentlife@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Joe Borlik