I've been depressed my entire life, what is it like to not be depressed?

Not to be depressed is like living without the feeling of a heavy weight on your chest... like getting up feeling at peace and not anxious or not wanting to get out of bed... its like being at peace even if things are not well...

You know you are no longer depressed when you are actually able to wake up and want to get out of bed, have a cup of coffee, and want to live out your days. That is how you know is how you know you have made it. That is how you know you have overcome something you thought you possibly couldn't survive. It just takes time and the want/ need to better yourself.

That's a difficult question. Have you tried to find this out for yourself? You say you have been depressed your entire life, you should try to seek help for that! Depression is not something that is fun to live with, and you deserve to be happy, motivated, and have a regular sleep schedule. :)

When you're depressed, you feel heavy and dark. Being not depressed is like you have the light in the world in your hands and the biggest smile inside of you. You feel light and just happy to be alive and thankful for all that you have.

I don't know what is not to be depresssed, but I think it's like leave and just feel normal, and then happy, and then normal again, not feeling bad.

Not being depressed vs being depressed - Being Depressed: Driving a car with your hands tied towards the seat, you cant move your arms and struggle at every point to steer the car. Sometimes even your feet are bound and all you can do is push the accelerator sometimes, then the brakes but you have no real control or the ability to steer your car in the direction you want - your attempts to do so are a freaking struggle to say the least while you watch everyone drive away, going forward, doing stunts you can only dream of.... Not depressed - your hands are no longer bound, your feet are free too - suddenly you are in way more control of your internal environment and can move better, the traffic jams, the bumpy rides dont bother you as much as before. You start enjoying the ride in a way you never thought was possible and you start waving at the fellows driving with you. You want to go places, you feel alive inside - things are no longer a struggle and you want to go on.

I really don’t know what anyone is talking about. It’s like I have all this hearing damage from using heavy equipment so I try to eagerly listen harder. I try to figure out what a meaning is or understand and am really completely disconnected. I feel horrible for my kids because I just go through life doing what I am supposed to do. I have no convictions or beliefs or reasons why. I get absolutely no joy from anything but I question myself if this is okay. I’m physically fine, I try at my career and dislike it more increasingly by the day. I usually use sarcasm to make others laugh, overly so to where those who know me expect it from me. My indifference is overbearing and I can’t understand where it comes from. I expect the worst from every situation and have a thousand ways to compensate for what goes wrong in any scenario. I am terribly responsible and don’t care to be at all. I guess what I’m saying is I have absolutely no joy in anything, I don’t know what it is and don’t understand what it could be like to not be depressed. Something as big as winning the lottery or as small as seeing a gentle butterfly would have no affect on me. I’m bothered that I feel like I’m not even a person, yet I do this everyday and everyday I feel this way. I wish I knew different. Oh lastly I have an inability to pose a smile for a picture or lie to people about my mood. I can’t pretend to be excited like others around me. What does any of this mean?

I'm sure that one day you will be able to find out by yourself... Until then.... You can count on me

I used to believe that the direct opposite of depression is an extreme form of happiness. Every person who does not suffer from depression does not walk around in this ethereal version of happiness. In fact, most people are simply being. They are being who they are in the moment. Whether that is happy, sad, or even a state of neutral. Depression puts a veil of sadness on everything so it is often difficult to notice when you are actually feeling "neutral." I found that it is important to note when the corners of your mouth rise just a little, even if it is a smirk to yourself-- an inside joke with yourself. That moment is just a little second of not being depressed. Eventually the more you notice them small holes will prick through the veil of depression and you will notice that you have a lot more moments of neutral and even happy than you thought you did before-- you just have to find them!

If depression can be comparable to a hole that one just cannot seem to get out of; the absence of depression is a state of being out of that hole. The world does not seem to be closing in on you-you are free to explore and go around. Outside of that hole, we see rain and sun, night and day with such sensitivity. It is a world full of emotion and color.