There was a hot pink suitcase on the floor of Shariah Vroman-Nagy’s bedroom. The 18-year-old was packing for a trip to Disneyland, one of several she takes with her family every year.
“Let’s see, I need a hairbrush,” she said, moving past the collection of Mickey Mouse ears on her dresser and glancing at the inspirational quotes from Marilyn Monroe on the wall.
The lyrics to a song called “Smile” hang in a frame over her bed.
“My mom made me that when I was struggling,” said Vroman-Nagy, “because that’s the song that I would listen to. Michael Jackson did a version of it, which I love.”
When she feels her depression creeping in, she sings it to herself.
Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it’s breaking
If you smile through your tears and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through, for you.
Three years ago, it was in this room, filled with porcelain dolls and stuffed animals, that Vroman-Nagy tried to kill herself. She was 15, a freshman in high school.
“Everything piled up, piled up, piled up until I just couldn’t handle it anymore,” she said. “So I had my antidepressants and I took a handful of those. But then I thought better of it, and I told my mom. She took me to the emergency room.”
[For more of this story, written by April Dembosky, go to http://khn.org/news/depressed-...in-rural-california/]
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