I'm so depressed, I've given up on life, nothing excites me anymore. What should I do?

When we are depressed, we feel that everything is hopeless and that a certain spark has gone out in our life, this can apply to our personal lives as well as relationships and career. Everyone has their own way of handling grief and depression, and the one thing to always remember is that the world is a beautiful place, and its how you see it that really defines how you live your life. When depressed, try to reflect on all the things in your life that have ever made you happy, or still do, try to remember those things, and being outside with nature and doing the things you truly love to do, being around friends and family who care about you, can be good consolation and a good way to get through depression phases in our life. Though, the number 1 thing to remember is that to be truly happy with life, we must first be happy with ourselves.

Do something absolutely crazy. Go to Europe; buy a boat; climb a mountain; go skinny dipping. Just find a reason. There is so much more out there for you to see.

See what happens tomorrow and just keep saying that. One of those tomorrows will make you smile. None of them will hurt as much as the one previously, so why not let another tomorrow happen?

sit in a room alone, stop thinking negative, start planning the future and put goals to achieve, think about life as a journey you have to achieve certain goal to be happy.

Relax and take some time out for yourself. Re-evaluate all the things you've done and calmly go through the options.

Go see your local GP, they'll likely prescribe you with an anti-depressant or refer you to a psychologist. Do not give up, the path may be a long and rocky journey but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

This realisation can be the first step of improvement! Analyze in which way your situation can be changed - consider drastic change as well. Remind yourself of the dreams and goals you had or make new ones. Well because, if you can choose between being miserable in your old life or being miserable on let's say Hawaii breeding dogs like you always wanted to, what do you have to lose? Don't think of it as giving up, think of it as a new start. It's not your fault you feel this way, but that doesn't mean is has to stay like this.

Reaching out for professional help is always the right and mature choice when you've already tried every other option.

Don't give up! If you are going through a rough patch in life (which all of us do), things can only get better!

Are there any things in your life that still bring you happiness? Maybe start up a board or scrap book with things like flowers, photos, colours- things that make you feel good. There are a number of counselling services available to access as well.

I think the most important thing you can do is to express these feelings to someone close to you and to talk to a professional. your recovery begins with you

its okay to admit you need help, I think you should find someone to talk to, a close friend, parent or other family member, maybe a trusted teacher, or a school counsellor ?

It's good if you could set near future goals that you can achieve it and work towards achieving it. You can start with near future goals then work towards far future goals.

Start small. Feeling this low can be so crushing and can feel like you're at the bottom of a pit looking up to see how hopeless and far the surface looks. Everyone is different and your pain is unique to you. The most important thing to remember is that you matter. Start with baby steps, after feeling so low for so long you may have to manually restart a few things to get things in motion for yourself. Start with reaching out to someone you trust, talking connecting getting it off your shoulders. It may take a while to get back to feeling things that you describe as "exciting" but to gauge your progress with being little better than yesterday. Depression and healing can be a journey but it starts with asking for help and really believing in yourself enough to put yourself first.

Its hard to say what to do because depression can be a little bit different for everyone, but seeking professional/ medical and or mental health help might be a good way to start working on getting on a road to better managing your depression. Best of luck and always know that the 7 cups community is here to support you whenever we can.

Talk to someone, and seek help whether it comes from family, friends, your GP or a counsellor/therapist.