What impact does/did depression have on your life?

Depression reduces my energy, drive, and focus. It feels like it changes not just how I feel, or what I can do, but who I am.

When you are in depression or have started to get depressed, you find everything meaningless and even the thing you loved the most seems like a waste. You would start to get detached from the people, friends, family, feelings... There are times when you want to just live, and depression is the opposite of that where you just don't.

It made me stronger. I would have died a long time ago, if I given up, but I didn't, so I'm still alive and I really hope to stay alive as long as possible, even through I'm struggling with a stage IV lung cancer. So I can say, deppression kept me alive, because I didn't give up :)

Depression can be so heavy it's something that can make life feel like it has no point ! Fighting it can feel so hard that it on it's own leaves you feeling like you want to give up ! Depression kept me in a dark corner without words :( no pill fixed me it was the magic of the sun each morning and all the gift from Mother Earth :)

As a person who had to deal with depression in the past, I know that it's hard to conciliate it with everyday life. People expect you to get things done and smile when you feel like staying in your room all day,wanting to die.

I was in university when my depression became too severe to continue. I struggle through a semester, barely passing my classes, and then decided I needed to take some time off. I engaged in harmful behaviours, and I questioned whether it was worth it to continue on. I made the decision to share my struggles with my mother, and she helped me get in touch with multiple mental health care professionals, thus beginning my journey to recovery. This was two years ago, and everyday I'm thankful for how far I've come. I'm back in school, close to graduation, with a fantastic job and wonderful friends and family who have supported me every step of the day. Getting help is absolutely worth it. I was lucky enough to have a mom who cared enough to help me on my way, but even if you don't have that kind of support system, reach out for health. You are worth it.

Depression has taught me how better to understand and relate to others. Depression allowed me to experience things and sort through how to cope and how to better help others going through similar situations.

Suddenly Life seems challenging and kind of dull. You seem to lose interest in your favourite things. Nothing seems to excite you. You seem to constantly be in a cloud of hopelessness. And hence, you feel a little lonely and feel nobody understands you because they are not going through the same things. And so, it affects your interpersonal relationships, efficiency at work or studies. And so, as your performance may go down and you feel you're not doing your best, you start feeling bad about yourself and you seem to lose faith in yourself and it can take a lot of effort to gain that back.

I never realized I had depression until I read that it can just be a feeling of "nothingness" When I read that and looked more into it I realized that I might be Depressed. I had lived most of my life(since around middle school) depressed and somewhat scared of talking about it because I thought I was crazy. Along with depression I also have very mild social anxiety. On a good day it wouldn't really affect me because I could overcome it very easily. However on a normal day with depression I just couldn't find the motivation to overcome it.

Depression once had a large impact on my life. It got to the point where I quit eating and self-harm was my only escape. I blocked out the rest of the world, and stayed awake at night, thinking about every mistake I have ever made. It got so bad that I tried to take my own life away. I was put in the hospital, where I realized my actions were affecting my family, too. I was put on medication and always had someone watching me. Eventually the voices disappeared, and I was myself again. I regret self-harming, but it shows that I fought the battle, and I won. I am reminded by it everyday when I see the scars. But there is no reason to be ashamed. About 350 million people worldwide have depression. You're not alone.

Depression caused me to become more reclusive. I couldn't help but feel that everything was wrong with myself, and that I wouldn't amount to anything in life. It's a terrible feeling, but luckily there are many resources available to help anyone in need.

It made me into a person i never wished to be, angry selfish, not kind and caring, an mean person, i was treated badly, and had bleak outlooks, until i found freinds, and my old soul awoke.

Depression has hindered and in some cases stolen opportunities and as well as damage family and intimate relationships for me.

Depression is and has been a large part of my life for over 3 years. It has caused me to do things I wouldnt usually do, and think irrationally. I urge anyone who thinks they are suffering depression to seek help :)

Depression has had an impact on my life since 2010, when my birth mother died of stage 4 gastric cancer. I was only 13 at the time I think and getting ready to turn 14. I was so devastated and I still am.

I shut down completely. I always broke down into tears, and became very rebellious. The reason I wanted to be a listener is so I could help people with an issue like mine, or prevent it from happening to them

Depression had a huge impact on my life. Depression made me want to be alone and away from everyone all of the time. It makes you want to be isolated but the more you are isolated, the worse you feel, eventually you are pulled into the cycle in which you feel like you can't escape from.

Depression made me appreciate what I had in life. Not in terms of material possessions, but it made me see that the people around me and my environment overall is something that, no matter how bad, can be interpreted as good. Optimism is a very difficult state of mind to be in when depressed, but it's exactly what shines the light on many things in our lives that we might have taken for granted.

I was depressed when I was back in primary school. I felt like I was just not a good daughter to my parents. I hadn't friends, and was always alone, because I didn't want to have people around me, because I thougzt I was a loser, a fail. That actually made me very sad. It was hard to get out of this phase, but my primary teacher gave me a lot of support and had always an open ear for me. That helped me a lot. That showed me that the best thing to fight depression, is to let people help you and that is what I try to do. Because I know how it feels to be like all alone by yourself.

To some extent, depression has an impact on pretty much every part of my life. It's a filter that everything I see, think, hear, or feel passes through. It blocks out the good and emphasizes the bad. Mostly, being depressed just makes it really hard to gather up the energy to do anything.

Struggling with depression led me to seek out way to change the way I feel--first cutting, then drugs and alcohol as I got older. Once I suffered enough to become willing to change, I turned to AA, and have been sober for 1-1/2 years. Being free from the snare of substance abuse has allowed me to pursue healthier means for dealing with my depression.

Depression has not been an easy thing to overcome. After 5 years of "dealing with it" I can still say I have not over come it, and I do not see myself doing so in the next few years. Though it is not as bad as it was. It just made me realize how strong I have to be and gave me a new obstacle to get through. It is different for everyone, and it changed my life completely.

Depression used to have a huge impact on my life. I used to use depression as an "excuse" to not do things. I would always say things like "I don't want to because I have depression." Now I have learned that yes I have a mental illness but no it is not an excuse. I may feel like I want to lay in bed all day but I can't let those feelings of worthlessness and sadness stop me from going out into the world and doing good.

well its not the best feeling in the world and all it did for me was just keep me back from the world and well being depressed isnt fun and it did a pretty be number on me when i lost my mother and sister and it just made me want to end it all but i found a better purpose in life to overcome the feeling of depressiion

I was a mess for a long time. I was not functional on an emotional level. I was verbally and emotionally abused at home growing up and then bullied at school and so had no self-esteem. It affected my work and personal life because anytime something happened I took it personally - I perceived it as evidence that I was inherently screwed up and would cycle through catatonia and crying all the time. It was difficult to concentrate on anything or find enjoyment in anything. I wasn't motivated to do anything. I decided I didn't want to live like that anymore about 7 years ago and it's taken me a lot of time and work to get to where I am now but I can say I am a lot more functional on an emotional level now. When things happen I no longer let them destroy me emotionally and am much more calmer. It's not easy, but it's possible if you stay persistent and are determined.

When I was heavily depressed I didn't see anything else. Just the small dark world I was living in. I have almost won the battle and those past years have made me into a strong person, who is also capable of understanding others. Everyone can win depression.

Depression makes it difficult to interact with others as I would want to and to live my life with less pain...

It may take a toll in the relationship with other and also it may hamper your career and may lead to many physical problems

It can vary from person to person but for me I really lost motivation, like I couldn't start assignments and I really just didn't want to go anywhere. Also I was isolating myself from my friends, not because I didn't want them around but i couldn't find the motivation to go out and meet. it wasn't until I had a complete breakdown in my biology class where my teacher became really concerned and I realised that I needed help to change the way i was reacting.

I never wanted to go outside or eat or talk to anybody. I wanted to limit human contact as much as possible.