Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of Speak, who uses the first person to write this novel to show readers the real situation and emotions that Melinda faces and how she he is recovering from school. Depression, known as major depressive disorder, is a common and serious disorder that can affect a person's feelings, thoughts, and management of daily activities. Melinda Sordino, high school freshman invited to the end of summer party. At the party she met Andy Evans, a handsome and attractive older boy who invited Melinda to dance with him. Melinda thought her dream of living in high school was coming true, she would have a boyfriend and meet everyone at school. But it had all started horribly. Melinda was raped by Andy Evans, the boy she just met at the party. He didn't know what he could do, so he called the police. Everyone turned to hate her as she ruined the party. After being raped, Melinda suffered from depression with “guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness,” “thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts,” and “difficulty sleeping, waking up in the morning, or sleeping excessively.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOne of the main symptoms of depression refers to "feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness." People who experience this symptom feel a sense of guilt for the traumatic event, they believe that it happened because of them. And they think that they are not useful or important in any way and feel helpless because their physical and mental are not protected and do not support them. “Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I stutter or freeze. What do I have? It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis. I know my head isn't firmly planted. I want to leave, move, teleport to another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the blame and mistake and anger to someone else… My closet is a good thing, a quiet place that helps me keep these thoughts in my head where no one can hear them. Every time, when Melinda tries to talk to her parents and teacher about the truth that is really happening to her, she can't say anything, she just wants to admit the crime and lets the nightmares, the flashbacks always be in her mind. The quote shows that Melinda suffers from depression because she is helpless, she has no one she can trust to talk about it, no one can give her a comfortable zone to talk to herself, she has nowhere to go where everything doesn't belong. his. Melinda can only go to her closet, where she can express all her feelings and no one can find her and know the secret she has hidden. “I can see us, living in the woods, her with that A, me with an S maybe, S for silent, for stupid, for scared. S for silly. Out of shame." In Melinda's English class, she indulges in a few S words that are silent, stupid, scared, foolish and shameful for symbolism. These words are derogatory terms that show negative meanings. It shows that Melinda is depressed and she doesn't believe in her worth, she thinks she's the worst person in the world ever And she proves that she's guilty of keeping quiet so as not to say anything to anyone, stupid for keeping quiet and getting raped by a guy she just met, and. shame for having raped. Also, she is afraid that no one can help her out of the situation. The other main symptoms of depression refer to "thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts" that people have a thought of self-harm or behavior. suicidal “I open a paper clip and scratch it on the inside of my left wrist.