The NHS describes depression like this:

 

Depression is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days.

Most people go through periods of feeling down, but when you're depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days.

Some people think depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. They're wrong – it is a real illness with real symptoms. Depression isn't a sign of weakness or something you can "snap out of" by "pulling yourself together".

The good news is that with the right treatment and support, most people with depression can make a full recovery.

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I see depression as a thick black enveloping cloud that makes it impossible to see beyond it.  It can mean that you can't get out of bed for days on end, or it can mean that you struggle with everyday life and relationships.  Sometimes people turn to food, alcohol or non prescription drugs to numb the pain, sometimes they become isolated, not wanting to be around anyone else.

 

Medically there are prescription drugs that seem to help, and talking therapies are proven to help too.  There is no evidence that having had severe depression once means that you are more likely to have it again - in fact it's the opposite.  By getting through it and learning to spot the symptoms before they develop, you're less likely to go back to that place again.

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If this feels familiar, contact me and we can begin to work a way through to the other side.

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