How would you describe depression?

To me, depression is like a black hole of sadness. Once you get sucked in, it's a long and hard journey to find your way back to who you once were.

Depression feels like you're drowning. Like you're constantly struggling to stay above water while the people around you seem perfectly fine. It feels like all of the life, motivation, and energy is drained from you. It makes you feel worthless, like a waste of space. It feels like you're a tree falling in the middle of a forest, and no one chooses to hear you fall, so you don't make a sound.

Having depression like everyone is in a swimming pool and they are having fun, swimming around and treading water easily but the pool for you is an ocean. It's really overwhelming, not fun being there and it's really hard to tread water cause of waves. And that's a normal day. The worst days are like storms have set in and the wind blows, water whips in your face, and the waves pull you under. Those days its really hard to not just give up and drown but if you don't then it's all you can do to keep your head above water long enough to take a breath before it pulls you under again. When you finally decide you've had enough suffering in silence and need help, you call out to the lifeguard aka your doctor. They are there too help you and keep an eye on you. They can prescribe a life jacket that can make treading water not so hard on normal days and a bit more bearable on the worst days. Sometimes it takes a while to find a floatie that works for you. Sometimes it's a life jacket. Sometimes all you need is a pool noodle or water wings. Sometimes it's none of those things and instead you just need someone to teach you how to swim. That's how it feels to me at least.

Depression for me manifested itself in different stages; mild, moderate and severe. Mild is the constant dull headache, dampening my emotions but more bearable when distracted. Moderate was the soundless weeping, energy sucking leech. It gave me bastardized emotions back, and misplaced them to the extreme. Intrusive, self-distructive and sometimes suicidal thoughts were present during this time. Severe depression took my emotions away. At first it seemed like a relief, a freedom to be free from the emotions that plagued me so much on the journey here. I even thought faking emotions to keep interacting with the world would be enough (hint - it wasn't). The apathy became a double-edged sword, saving me from the pain but damning me from any joy. When you get past the apathy then you struggle on at intellectual level of frustration at your inability to just FEEL like other people can, to have what they have. After a while it had been so long I would even crave the anger, the sadness and the pain over joy or love or humour. Bargaining just to have a glimpse of something over the desert that was once my emotional plane of existence. This was at my darkest time with depression.

For me, depression is extreme form of hopelessness. It could be rooted in sadness, anxiety, etc. When the sadness or anxiety became too overwhelming to deal with, those feelings seemed to overflow into depression, which can feel like a "surrender" of sorts to the negativity.

Being depressed feels like drowning in your own mind not being able to find the way out. It takes time to see the surface again but it's always there.

Depression is this feeling of sadness that takes over your whole body. Unlike regular sadness, it makes you feel tired/lethargic and lower your feeling of self-worth, which makes it all the more unfortunate to see happen to someone.

Depression is something that eats away at the soul, slowly over time it manages to change your whole perception and how you act in life. You suddenly lose interest in things you once loved, and the people you love soon get concerned about how you feel, and all you do is push them away. Your relationship struggles and you'll be suprised at how you behave. You aren't the same person, and you let it destroy you, piece by piece, until you're completely broken. Depression is the worst thing that somebody can endure, and I would hope that nobody suffers in silence, It can be beaten, and it will. Take my hand and I'll show you how to overcome it. God bless.

It's something that is lying on the surface, waiting to rise and take over you. Suddenly all the light that you supposedly had in your life feels like it is being sucked out. Your mind has you and only you alone. Crying out for help but never felt like you were being noticed. It feels like you are locked inside a dark room with no keys, nor windows or doors, so there is no way to exit or enter, or even think and feel of the sunlight outside that could be hitting your face because of the loneliness you feel. It is like the void in your life that doesn't seem to want to be filled ever.

Depression is the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. Depression is never being happy with yourself or position in life and always thinking the grass is greener on the other side.

depression is a really hard feeling, and disease. It can make your life harder, and it can make you have other things, like anxiety, insomnia, self-harming, and more.

Depression is not always being sad. It's the constant feeling of emptiness or fear. Being lonely and tired.

I would describe depression as a road everyone goes through at least once. For some its longer and rougher, for others its shorter and smoother. Some go through this journey more than once and the lucky ones would suffer through it only that one time. The journey would differ from one person to another. However there is an end, and we just have to be patient enough to reach it.

Depression is a view of yourself , a darkness that is only hidden within you . A temporary illusion.

In order to love who you are, you cannot hate the experiences that shaped you. To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the positive - to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy, fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was possible before.

Depression is hard to describe but I'll try and put it into words: I suppose I always link my depression as though you're trying to run up a mud hill, every bit of progress you make you just slide right back down and every single thing you do seems to take an enormous amount of energy that you really do not have. It's like you're trapped in a cage in the middle of no where, you're scared, frightened and after so long of feeling this that worry that you once felt subsides and the pain is just something you gradually become used to. Although not nice, you're used to it.

Depression is a feeling of overwhelming numbness and apathy which makes it difficult to function. The emotions you are able to feel are usually negative, and when you feel positive emotions, you are unable to fully enjoy them because you know eventually you'll go back to the baseline state of numbness. You lose interest in everything from eating to hobbies you usually love, and you have trouble clearing the fog in your mind enough to be productive. This in turn can lead to feelings of self-loathing and frustration.

Know that the emotional pain gives way to literal pain. Know that this pain -- mental and physical -- makes it hard to move.

Feeling of getting trapped in a colorless zone. Surrounded by joy and laugh but can't feel them as how others feel, losing emotion and passion on most of the things in life. It's really bad

Stepping into a tiny hole that looks like nothing. Unexpectedly the hole starts to get bigger and deeper and you begin to fall into it and -trying to stop falling and get up but eventually waiting to find the bottom thinking it close- you continue to fall. It seems endless and that's when you realise it's a black hole and it sucking away your happiness. The longer you stay the more happiness it drains and the more difficult it becomes to escape (?) lmao what the hell did I just write XD don't listen to my randomness 😂😂

Depression is a real illness that impacts the brain. Anyone suffering from depression will tell you, it’s not imaginary or “all in your head.” Depression is more than just feeling “down.” It is a serious illness caused by changes in brain chemistry. Research tells us that other factors contribute to the onset of depression, including genetics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical conditions, stress, grief or difficult life circumstances. Any of these factors alone or in combination can precipitate changes in brain chemistry that lead to depression’s many symptoms. Depression is a serious condition. It’s also, unfortunately, a common one. The World Health Organization characterizes depression as one of the most disabling disorders in the world, affecting roughly one in five women and one in ten men at some point in their lifetime. It is estimated that 21% of women and 12% of men in the U.S will experience an episode of depression at some point in their lifetime. Depression does not discriminate. Men and women of every age, educational level, and social and economic background suffer from depression. There is no area of life that does not suffer when depression is present. Marriage, parenting, friendships, careers, finances – every aspect of daily living is compromised by this disease. Once an episode of depression occurs, it is also quite likely that it will recur. And the impact of depression can be even more severe when it occurs in combination with other medical illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, or cardiovascular disease, or with related disorders such as anxiety or substance abuse. The problems caused by depression are made worse by the fact that most people suffering from the disease are never diagnosed, let alone treated. The good news is that when depression is promptly identified and treated, its symptoms are manageable and there are many effective strategies for living with the disease. Depression and bipolar disorder are both treated most effectively in their earliest stages when symptoms are less severe.

Depression is the back-stabbing frenemy that no one wants. For some of us, it can be a familiar place that gives a false illusion of comfort because it is SO familiar. However, it's a place of struggle that can be draining and trying. It can also become a thing of the past with the right amount of love and support.

a feeling of not caring about anyone or anything. Not eating well. Don't want any one cone to my house, call me, or send me an email. A feeling like I want to hurt myself but don"t have the courage to do it.

I think Depression can be different for different people. Different people deal with it differently. There could be a lot of anger, guilt, extreme sadness, detachment, and maybe some anxiety. It can be scary... but eventually you will make it through. So keep on fighting.

I would say that it feels like you're stuck in the same place never being able to feel happy and really enjoy things

Depression is a Jail where YOU are both the PRISONER and the JAILER.

A heavy weight just sitting on your chest. It prevents you from getting out of bed, taking care of yourself, even doing the things you love.

Depression makes you feel like you're drowning in a sea of sorrow, maybe even drowning. It is actually a lot like sinking. You need help from others to make it back up. although help from others could just make you sink even further down.

Depression can be like a having your clothes drenched in water at all times, but no one can see it. It's always uncomfortable in different ways, and a great burden from when you get up in the morning until you go to bed in the evening.

Being surrounded in a black hole that I cant get out , that drives away all the positive things in life