At the age of 13, Naomi Bevill, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University, attempted to take her own life.

"At the time, I felt like I just didn't want to be there anymore," Bevill said. "There really wasn't anything going on, I just felt too tired and just too exhausted to just even want to be in the world anymore basically."

Like many who experience depression, Bevill concealed her feelings from those around her.

"I didn't really want to talk to anybody about it," Bevill said. "It was kind of just something that was there and lingering in the back of my mind."

Bevill suffered through years of depression until she reached college, met lifelong friends and decided it was time to discuss what she goes through every day.

"I had a wonderful person by my side, it was my boyfriend who is currently my fiance," Bevill said. "I really talked to him about it, and he was really supportive. He told me, 'Hey, maybe we should go to the counseling services and maybe you should get some help and talk about this.' So I decided to go to counseling services and talk to them about it for quite a bit."

Bevill said she has days where she just does not want to get out of bed because her depression is so controlling, but that talking with someone helps. Bevill said if talking to a counselor is something a person doesn't want to do, then finding a close friend or someone he or she trusts to talk to makes all the difference.

The concealment is typical of these struggles because of the stigma that can often be associated with them and the idea that mental health problems are not commonplace among others.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2011 mental health issues plagued one-fifth of American adults, and one-tenth of youth struggled from major depression.

"There definitely is a stigma revolving around mental illness or seeking help," Tim Hakenewerth, graduate assistant for Counseling and Disability Services, said. "The first thing I would say is that it's not as scary as a lot of people think that it is, you know. It's really just going in and talking to somebody about your problem."

Hakenewerth said some people worry others around them may judge them if they share their feelings, but that people should not fear this with counseling.

"When you go into counseling it's completely non-judgemental, they don't care what you've done, they accept you, and they just talk to you," Hakenewerth said.

A training clinic is located in Scully Building room 318 and operates between the hours of 1 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. The clinic was designed to assist students seeking guidance about things like adjusting or being away from home, depression and anxiety, while more severe issues are addressed at Counseling and Disability Services. The services are completely free and confidential.

"Currently the training clinic is an extension of Counseling and Disability Services," Hakenewerth said. "It's set up so to where we can have graduate students in practicum and internship that are training to become counselors, with supervision, to pretty much continue counseling into evening hours. Ideally we would like to expand it into community involvement, but currently it's just for students."

Those who love someone dealing with the hardship of mental illness can also feel the agony.

Andrea Statler, a senior communications studies student at Southeast, knows someone who attempted suicide.

"The person in my life was in a position that she felt that she wasn't loved, wasn't cared for," Statler said. "As a whole, none of us really saw that there was any huge issue going on. She seemed relatively like herself, but she is a very good actress."

Statler said knowing someone who has tried to take their own life touched her and made her think about how she treats other people and how her interaction can affect them.

"Whenever somebody so close to you attempts that [suicide] and is successful or isn't successful I think it takes a toll on you that death is a real thing," Statler said.