Beauty Queen Talks Depression

Allyson Tolbert recently won fourth runner-up in the Miss Florida pageant. The University of Florida theater major has held many other titles including Miss Black and Gold for her university’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and she was the first African American female to be crowned the Festival of States Sungoddess. In 2006, she was Miss St. Petersburg. With all the demands that come with pageant competitions, Tolbert is the last candidate people would think of when depression is mentioned. Yet Tolbert says she has been dealing with depression since she was about 13 years old.

Rather than hide her condition, Tolbert has chosen to speak out about depression. She is a spokesperson for Families for Depression Awareness, and she stresses that depression can affect people of all walks of life, at any time. By being a spokesperson, she hopes she can help others find depression treatment and better understand the condition.

Does it help to hear public figures talk about their experience with depression? Do you think people are more sympathetic to depression when they hear someone like Allyson describe her battle with the condition? [St. Petersburg Times]