Today many people will be waking up talking about Robin Williams. The details of his passing are still being pieced together but it appears as if he took his own life. Williams' had his demons in his  lifetime.

He had issues with drugs, booze, and depression.  If I might play amateur therapist, he had an issue with depression that led to misuse of drugs and alcohol. His story is a tragic one, but it's not a stand alone story.

Depression is sneaky. Chances are you know someone who fights depression everyday. That person may appear to be cheerful and outgoing on the outside but on the inside they are living in a private, usually self-induced hell.

Where does it come from and how come some people can just be sad and get over it while others are constantly fighting a battle to get out of the darkness and into the light? I hope the following video can share a little more light on a subject that I know way too much about.

Depression, if you know it personally I don't need to tell you anything more. If you love someone who suffers this tragically unfair malady there is more you need to know than what you can see and hear.

To This Day is a project to help all of us understand that depression doesn't just happen. It is not something we can just turn off and start being happy. It isn't like a cut that a few days with a band-aid can heal. These very real grownup pains often are the result of childhood bullies. The mean spirited tormentors that stole our innocence and childhood away from us.

Depression is real. Just like those bullies from our past were real. The effects we feel today still hurt, they still haunt, they still send shivers up our spines. We want to get better, we want to be happy, but right now we'd be very grateful if you'd just try to understand.

More From 97.3 The Dawg