What Is Depression?

Depression is a mood disorder which can cause intense feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and also feelings of guilt. Major depression can effect people both mentally and physically, sometimes causing insomnia, and other symptoms. (1)

A Message To Those Fighting Depression
Depression doesn’t have to make you feel sick all the time. You do not have to let it beat you up inside. Depression is referred to as a “mental illness” and that is the undeniable truth, however there is nothing wrong with your mind and there is nothing wrong with you.

You are a fighter.
When you feel depressed, sometimes it’s hard to resist asking yourself questions such as, “what if I try to be happy and I just stay upset?”, “What if I just fail again?” Or “What if I become happy and then slip back into being miserable?” But perhaps happiness seems to be based on what perspective you are viewing things. Because what if you don't try to be happy and you stay upset? Even if you become happy and then end up feeling down again, maybe that's not so bad. It just means that you’ll be able to be happy again, since you’ve felt it before and know what it feels like now. If only it were so simple to grasp a small glimpse of happiness and dwell on it, like we tend to do so easily with depression. Maybe it is possible.

Depression can make someone feel depressed all the time. It's important to remember though, that if you are feeling any emotion whether it be depression, sadness, frustration or happiness -- it also means you're alive. It means you are a human being. You are living and breathing with a beating heart and a purpose. You have all kinds of feelings. That is just a part of what makes you beautiful and unique.

Acceptance is the first step to feeling better.
Do not accept that you are depressed, just accept that you are living with depression. Accept it, embrace it, but in this, learn to control it. You might be thinking it sounds crazy to embrace something as crippling as depression, but what this means is to embrace that you are human. Embrace that you have feelings. Embrace that you have felt so much, rather than nothing at all. That's amazing. You aren't weak for having depression, you are strong for fighting an entire battle inside your own mind. Embrace that depression may have thickened your critical thinking skills, if anything. There is a good side of this, remember that. Think positively, in whichever ways you can.

Depression can cause hopelessness, and that hopelessness is usually seeded by fear. Living in fear will never really get us anywhere, except further into it, the fear. But you can overcome that fear. Because fear is a feeling, and you are a human, you are bigger and stronger than a feeling that is only a fragment of your vast and brilliant mind.

Re-evaluating your thoughts.
It’s important to remember to think more positively in everyday situations.

For an example, let's imagine your phone falls on the floor in a crowded grocery store; the screen shatters in the top right corner.

It's still working! But again, it's shattered in that corner. Now, instead of thinking, "How embarrassing, this is terrible! My phone is shattered and looks awful!".. work to change your perspective, try thinking, "That was kind of embarrassing, but my phone still works." and accept that you cannot change what happened. Tell yourself you're going to move on now. Do that.

Same situation happens, but this time the phone is completely broken. The screen is shattered into pieces. It looks un-repairable. You might be thinking, "This is awful! My phone and everything on it is gone! Now I have to buy a new phone and get all my contacts again.." Perhaps you can work on changing your thoughts to something more positive. Accept what happened, don't dwell on it. Tell yourself, "This is awful, but it wasn't the last phone in the world, I'll get another one day."

The phone fell down and broke, that doesn't mean that you have to.​

Sources
(1). WebMD Understanding Clinical Depression