For someone who never had a personal encounter with someone battling depression, that was my first opinion when I met Frank. I hastily drew the conclusion that he didn’t get enough attention from his close relatives and therefore used depression to court attention from his friends. But after years of knowing him, I still find it hard to draw the link between this smart, intelligent guy who inspires me a lot and the guy battling depression.

Frank is a typical example of a smart person. He knows his stuff and you could never give him falsified information because he was always quick to challenge the authenticity of things you tell him. You need to be on top of your game to have a level-headed conversation with him. But on days, when he talks to me about his episodes, he is an entirely different person, it is like I never know who this person is.

For a smart person like him, his constant fear is what people think of him, and that, in my opinion, is the cause of his distress. He believes more in what others think of him than what he thinks of himself. Only if he believed in himself. I may never come to fully comprehend his condition, but I am glad he has a friend in me he could talk to.