Having struggled with depression for most of my adult life, I've become able to clearly mark periods of depression from simply bad days. Some people don't see much difference between the two they see a bad day or a bad mood as a period of depression. However a bad day has it's reasons for being a bad day, usually it is full of negative things and you can clearly distinguish why you might feel angry, upset or moody. With depression it's often quite different, there tends to be a major low mood that seems monotonous endless and often you cannot pinpoint why you feel that way. The one thing that is for sure, is that when depression, real depression hits, you feel unable to function at all. You feel tired, you see no future, every task is a major struggle even simple things, you close yourself off from life because coping with it it too difficult, your energy levels and motivation drop dramatically, you feel worthless, pointless, you may sometimes even feel anxious. It is a debilitating ans serious illness albeit considered mental and not physical. However physically it's hard to get yourself to do anything.

The only way to get out of depression I've found is to force yourself to do little things that need doing at a time and gradually increase what you do to bring your energy levels back up. Not an easy task at all, it also helps to be surrounded by good friends and family who could draw you out of yourself again. This may not be what you feel like doing, but if the company is the right sort of company it can help leaps and bounds. I've had times when even leaving the house felt uncomfortable and I chose to stay indoors for weeks on end rather than dare to step outside, nowadays I still get those feelings quite often but now I make excuses to go out that make me feel better. I might decide to go for a walk, but to do that I'll take along my camera to make the walk worthwhile, and when I get back I can then view the resulting photographs, therefore I don't just get out of the house, I award myself for doing so by having created something I can be proud of, more importantly than this though I have something to feel happy and proud about, because in depression these are the main things that are missing; self-respect, self-esteem, sense of worth.

On a 'bad day' you can still function, you may throw a strop and feel the world is unfair and mean, but you just can reach the end of the day knowing that tomorrow may be different. You may even reach the end of the day and feel you can laugh off what's happened to you. This is not the case in depression. It doesn't mean your sense of humour goes mind you, I've met many sufferers with wicked senses of humour, because it's a kind of coping mechanism. However once alone and behind closed doors the darkness one can feel can be so intense it may drive someone to harm themselves, some people see depression as just a name for a low mood, but the truth is it can be life threatening in severe strains when people feel so desperate and hopeless that they see no way to break free from the illness and/or life experiences that have caused the illness. Often thoughts of death become very welcoming in severe depressive cases. It's a terrible state of affairs to be in. To feel that death is the only cure and a permanent one, is the worst case scenario for anyone.

This is why I would like to draw a clear distinction between a bad day/mood, and depression. It's not to be sneezed at this is a serious illness and disability. People often don't see it that way who have not experience it. Often if there are no flesh wounds or broken limbs people fail to see the serious nature of the condition. In our society pills are dished out like candy more and more as a remedy for depression/anxiety and other mental illnesses, but my personal belief is that pills alone do not work, and a person needs encouragement, support, understanding, and also to help themselves to some degree if they're ever going to get better.

It can be a long and enduring struggle to get well again, and often depression sufferers can relapse later on. There is no guarantee that once cured you will always be okay thereafter. It doesn't happen that way. Some employers fail to understand that, if an employee is off work with depression they tend not to take it that seriously, and further more when the employee returns, if they return, they expect that like a case of the flu, they've got over it. The mind is complex and depression can have its triggers, in this life we are surrounded by negative situations waiting to happen, as many as positive ones. If we are particularly sensitive to a certain negative situation in our lives it can be a trigger, just as bad memories, a certain place, a certain person etc. Sometimes there is no cure for the cause of depression, and sometimes there is no cause as with clinical depression, where one is naturally prone to be depressed. I hate it when people tell you to pull your socks up and get on with life when you're feeling depressed, because it's not that simple at all. It may be what you need to do eventually, but one can only take it a small step at a time. There is no way you can simply forget how you are feeling and feel better in the blink of an eye; however it is important to suggest here that one should not give up trying to function normally either.

The problem with depression is the more withdrawn you allow yourself to be, the more withdrawn you become. The harder it is then to function at all. To force yourself against your depression to do a little bit and often does help to raise your self-esteem, energy levels and self worth. It may not cure you, but it will help you get by day to day easier. I know this because I've suffered with depression for a long long time, and if I didn't do this occasionally, I might not have seen today or I might have been hospitalised more often than I have been. I speak from the point of view of one who has experienced this illness first hand and also from the point of view of not wanting this illness to win me over. There have been times for sure that I've almost given in completely to this condition, but it's those times that have caused me to never want to get that low again. I write this on the basis of wishing to help people understand a little better about depression, and also to help others who are suffering with the condition to understand that pills alone are not a cure-all miracle.