How do you explain depression to people who have never experienced it?

I would tell them it's like having a black cloud over you. It's a cloud that never goes away no matter how much you want it to. You want to be happy, but you can't be because your head is clouded and you feel sad and don't know why.

Hyperbole and a Half has some great comics on depression that I feel are very accessible for people who aren't clear on what it is like: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/10/adventures-in-depression.html http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html The Bloggess is another funny person online who writes about and deals with depression, though her stuff tends to be more long-format. I find that humor can be very effective in disarming the tension surrounding trying to explain something that is often difficult to explain!

Its like being stuck in a really dark whole that you can't see the light from. You can't see anything positive from it and its just horrible.

It's something that has many forms and can impact on people in diffrent ways ! It can feel like the person with depression has no goals , motivation , will to live or any involvement with the community ...

Depression usually starts with even the smallest problems. Then after experiencing these problems, you will feel sad. And then all of the problems get on top of the other and you can't stop your emotions and it's driving you insane and you feel more and more sad. And at night, you can't help but to think of it over and over again and you feel worse. That's how it felt for me.. And sometimes, it get's too much and it's hard for me to handle it.

It is a feeling of loneliness, sadness lasting for more than a few hours, and a feeling of weakness.

Depression seems like a pit, it surrounds you and swallows you whole. It's the feeling of numbness where you don't feel happy or sad you just feel nothing. It makes you feel like there is something wrong with you and like nothing can be done. When really it can be helped, you just need to reach out.

I normally say to keep it simple: A constant feeling of sadness or void, as if you were grieving, but permanently, sometimes without a explainable reason. Some days will be worse than others, but you always feel upset over something, with no clear way to solve it..

Try to tell them that depression is like feeling sad all the time. It's like you just feel sad and cannot stop the feeling.

Depression is being stuck inside a glass container where you're drowning and there are people outside just watching. You can't reach out to them. It sucks.