Reading these i notice you emphasize that joel just witnessed the person he loved die. This seems odd to me just because of the varying relationships. Patrice i'm sure says something like 'oh so you're the Joel Ryan's always talking about', that seems to say that Joel and him have never spoken. So they have like 2 conversations before day 3 and suddenly Joels in love with him? I mean it makes sense for someone like Ryan who has previous history but i cant really see it happening for others. Russ and Clyde have like no relationship with him and Joel doesn't seem all that thrilled with Liam either. So jumping to love is quite something.
As for depression, i find people who have never dealt with it have no real grasp on what it is. You see it alot iwth people declaring that they're mental health professionals but they only say 'think happy thoughts', which is the least useful thing to say. It's why where i'm from when people say ''I'm fine'' it means their not fine but they don't want to talk about it. Pushing the issue is very rude.