Traveling down the stairs in a single file line as the school day was ending, my 7-year-old body was nervous. I knew that my mother was waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase with the other parents and I didn't want my friends to see her. 

Mental wellness is a topic that often gets ignored. As a culture we are quick to speak of the importance of our physical health, but when it comes to our mental state, as a collective, we have given it a back burner to everything else. This realization is unfortunate because depression is the most common mental health phenomenon affecting the post-industrial world.