"I've been feeling down for so long it feels like forever. I've been depressed for at least the past 3 years. It's gotten better and worse during that time. At times I feel just dreadful and hopeless. Other times I just feel low. Occasionally I feel okay. Most of the time I feel unhappy with everything in life. I'm doing okay in my courses, but I can't say I'm really enjoying them. Often I feel like I'm running on empty. I think I feel alone a lot of the time. I feel that no one really likes me. But then, I don't blame them. I wouldn't like me either."

"It was really hard to get out of bed in the morning. I just wanted to hide under the covers and not talk to anyone. I didn’t feel much like eating and I lost a lot of weight. Nothing seemed fun anymore. I was tired all the time, yet I wasn’t sleeping well at night. But I knew that I had to keep going because I’ve got kids and a job. It just felt so impossible, like nothing was going to change or get better."

"Depression feels more like a spell than something real to me and it makes nothing feel real except the pain of feeling like the most worthless wretched person on the face of the earth. If only it were a more physical affliction, like a monster in the head, that could be surgically REMOVED FOREVER. I can’t imagine who I would/could be then. There is also an element of anger and frustration. I personally am so angry and frustrated that I have to deal with this thing. It feels ridiculous to have so little control over my own head that it has become my own worst enemy." 

"Things in my life were going all right. I had just graduated and was starting a new job in a week. My family was really proud of me. But inside, I was feeling terrible. At first I was feeling sad all the time, even though I had no reason to be. Then the sadness turned into anger, and I started having fights with my family and friends. I felt really bad about myself, like I wasn’t good enough for anyone. It got so bad that I wished I would go to bed and never wake up."