Why This Hairdresser's Post About Her Client's Depression Is Going Viral

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Kayley Olsson, a hairdresser from Waterloo, Iowa, "had one of the hardest experiences" in her career this past week, she wrote in the above Facebook post, which has gone viral. Olsson explained she spent 13 hours working on her 16-year-old client's hair — the teen, who suffers from severe depression, wanted Olsson to cut her mangled hair all off before she took her school picture.

The post reads in full:

She got to the point where she felt so down and so worthless she couldn't even brush her hair, she told me she only got up to use the restroom. She starts back at school in a few weeks but she has her school pictures today. When she walked in she told us just cut it all off I can't deal with the pain of combing it out, she called herself worthless for it. It honestly broke my heart and we tried everything we could to keep this child's hair for her! At the end of the day I want this to be a lesson to people. MENTAL HEALTH is a thing, it effects people all around the world and of all ages! PARENTS take it serious don't just push your kids off and tell them to get over something they legitimately can't. A CHILD should NEVER feel so worthless to not even want to brush their hair.After being here 8 hours yesterday and 5 hours today we finally made this beautiful girl smile and feel like she IS worth something! Her last words to me was "I will actually smile for my schools pictures today, you made me feel like me again."

Since Tuesday, the post has almost 60,000 shares and more than 135,000 reactions. In response to Olsson's post, thousands of commenters have shared their battles with depression and the physical manifestations that come with the devastating unseen ones.