Introduce yourself.

Hi, my name is Sam. I'm 16 years old and an active listener/intern here.

I've been struggling with depression for a while now, but if any of you ever need a listener to talk to I'm always here.

Hey guys,

My name is Jelle, I'm 16 and from the Netherlands. I am a listener on this website and I am really passionate about the topic ''depression''.

I've had a lot of friends and family members suffering from it, and I think it's one of the most common things in people's lives.

I'm here to help you guys, and to make sure everyone realizes how amazing they are :)

Hi, my name is Jonathan. Been depressed for 12 years or so but only reccentely admitted it to myself. Looking back I can see how blinded I was and how resistant I was to even consider the possibility that I was suffering from depression. My struggle is getting worse, more frequency and duration as well as intensity. The shame is there too, but I'm not sure why. Anyway, my hope is that all of us recover at least to the point where we can live a good life and help others who are suffering.

Hey, I'm Alien. I'm 15, I'm not diagnosed yet. I want to go talk to someone about how I'm feeling or something, but every time I try to get help I end up chickening out at the last second before I can ask for it. I want to get better, and I'm working on doing what I can. Most of this started around two years ago, and it's been almost nonstop since. But I'm not going to give up, though I've come close.

hi, I'm Alexis and I've struggled with depression since I turned 12. At that time I started starving myself, and at the age of 13 I was no stranger to self harm. I'm now 17 and i am 5 months clean from self harm and two years clean from starving myself. The battle is hard, because each day I want to self harm but I stay strong for my family, because if i didn't my mom would be so mad. I've just recently developed anxiety, simply because of family problems and I'm trying to keep all of this from my mother, she has no idea about most of this and if she did she'd be soo angry. Sorry for that rant.

(Sorry in advance if this is too long / wrong topic / has possible triggers.)

Going by Forge, turning 21 in a few months, and in a usual substate of being out of my mind. There's mental illness throughout my family (oh that fun conversation when your mom tells you that she also self-harmed when she was your age...), most prominently schizophrenia. Result: two super-depressed parents, one bipolar sib working his butt off to support us, one borderline sib who helped wreck the employability of said parents, and me.

I don't like self-diagnosis, but you kinda need to put two and two together to get four when you find yourself body-slamming the dorm guard rail as an alternative to chucking yourself out the window. I've been struggling with depression... pretty much since fifth grade. It got bad in college - hs (uff, long story there), was the worst in university (yay hypercompetitive school plus antisocial field of study), and leveled out after I graduated (minus a few bumps where I would surreptitiously peel off skin from between my fingers when I'd end up mediating a family conflict; good idea until the exposed skin started feeling like it was burning as it healed).

I try dealing with my problems with humor. Funny videos, deadpan statements, etc. Keeps the monsters at bay for a while. When it becomes overwhelming, I load up the word processor and transfer all the ill feelings to a character in a story I'm writing, and then have the fictional world beat up that character for a bit. I do this until I get bored.

I feel like I've excessively used those coping mechanisms and am finding it difficult to engage my real world work: research (two papers in two fields ahoy), classes (only two but they're physics), and business (did I mention I'm doing a start-up?). I find it difficult to even start, although once I begin it's hard to stop.

Hi, I found this place and after using the chat, decided to join up. I have PTSD with anxiety and depression, I've had the diagnosis for about six years. I'm married and going to college, I'm also lesbian, if that really matters. I have issues with self harm, but I've been able to keep that at bay for almost a month. Not sure what else I would be able to say.

Hello everyone!

My name Caroline and I have been living with depression since I was about 10 years old. Since then I have gotten the help I've needed to live a semi-normal life and am happier than I have ever been. It is one of the main reasons that I have become a listener, as I wanted to be able to be there for those who are suffering much like I have.

Hi, I'm Jack/Leah/Jay, I'm 13 and gender fluid. I've suffered from depression for 2 years and am a recovered self harmer. I also have severe anxiety and selective mutism.

Hello my name is murad, I haven't been struggling with anything really. It all started the summer of 2014. I had always felt this gap that couldn't be filled then I met someone who I fell head over heels with, but being the shy person that I am I let her go without the chance of meeting her again. Since February I got a girlfriend whom up until our breakup in April I really loved, and to a large extent still do. I still talk with her every day but I feel like that hole inside just keeps getting bigger and bigger and today was the first day I decided to seek help. I was diagnosed with irritable depression and I am 16 at the time