Irish Lad's Incredibly Moving Video About Depression Goes Viral
By Abby Williams
Singer-songwriter Sean Rooney battled with undiagnosed depression for most of his life but now he's revealed how writing music has helped him to finally chase his dream of having a successful singing career.
The songwriter, 25, from Longford, Ireland has released acoustic versions of his own original material and his first YouTube video, Everest High (That’s not how it works) has now gone viral.
And although he's flying high on it's success so far, the musician says it's been a hard journey to get to this point.
Sean said: “I figured it was time to try and put myself out there, a concept that I have really struggled with until now because depression robbed me of any self-confidence for a long time.”
Suffering in silence for many years, Sean wasn't diagnosed until his father had a nervous breakdown due to his own depression and he began to learn and identify with the symptoms. This started him off on the road to recovery and one that he is still on.
“I thought that it was just the way people felt and that I just had to get on with it, so I was just passing the time in all aspects of my life for several years.” he said.
“Just having a diagnosis lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, because now when I have a particularly bad day I know its just the condition and can be improved over time. As opposed to thinking that it's just the way life is and that it'll never get any better.”
Everest High (That’s not how it works) is a beautifully written track that shows off not only Sean’s incredible vocal and guitar skills, but his unique songwriting talent. After four years of writer’s block and shortly after his diagnosis, the song developed naturally from his experiences.
He said: “It became apparent to me that a lot of people don’t really understand the problem of depression. It's often reasoned that because you live in a modern First World society, you should automatically feel content in some way. And while it's true that I am very lucky in many ways, that doesn’t mean I am immune to mental illness. Nobody is.”
And the lyrics in Everest High (That’s not how it works) authentically express Sean’s frustration: "My mouth is on fire. Tongue is a flame. I'm spitting out sparks but still can't say what I want to. Vision is clouded, mind in the rain. Precipitating self-doubt, Raining shame."
“I now realise that because my confidence was so low I was second guessing every single thing I ever created in an unhealthy way. It's a vicious cycle of making yourself feel worse and worse through your own perceived failings.” he explained.
“Depression doesn’t choose it's victims. It doesn't take into account how wealthy or poor you are, what nationality you are or anything like that. It can affect anyone. In writing the song I felt it was important to try and get this point across.”
The chorus points out that there can be many reasons to be happy with your life, but if you suffer from depression these reasons become irrelevant: "That’s not how it works, when the things on your mind are an Everest high...That’s not how it works, there are no distinctions only the feelings.."
Thankfully, Sean has now managed to get past these creative barriers and is putting his music out for the world to hear.
“It hasn't been easy but you reach a certain point when dealing with depression, or at least I have, where you come to certain realisations. The big one for me is that I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” he said.
After receiving a lot of help and actively working to create a better quality of life for himself, Sean has proven that there is hope even in the darkest of times. His efforts are paying off and he hopes to encourage others to speak out.
“If you don't feel well, talk to someone.” Sean said. “A problem shared truly is a problem halved. I only wish I knew this sooner as I could have spared myself a couple of years of misery. Believe me, if I can do this then anyone can.”
While it may still be early days, Sean’s life has improved immeasurably since he began dealing with his depression and he has a lot more original material in the pipeline.
Check out Sean’s Facebook page at .