8 Lessons People with Depression Learned from Their Illness by Therese Borchard l Depression l How to be Happy l Lessons From Depressions l How to Banish Sadness

Dania Douglas: Empathy

If there was one word to describe what I’d take away from this journey, it would be empathy. For me, anxiety and depression take the form of a generalized terror that I am going to fail, that I will simply never be good enough. I am often overwhelmed by the sense that there is something inherently wrong with me. On one hand, this can be a curse, because we can assume we know when people around us are upset, when they have negative thoughts or feelings about something we have done. On the other hand, it is a gift, particularly when we are able to focus outward. I can sense when people around me feel disquieted, uneasy, or fearful. Sometimes I know the right words to say, and sometimes there are no words at all, but being present is all I can do.

Alexa Winchell: It Dares Me to Live

Depression - paradox! Dares me to live. The search for meaning and medicine has led me into the metabolic - the matter of it, the dear body and the basics. Air, water, nourishment, warmth, rest, sleep, movement, engagement, relation - love. Touch. Mercy. The heart turned inside out teaches me to mother, to reach out and listen in, to witness, to presence myself to pain, to treat vulnerability as vocation and mourning as meaning. If major depression is a disease, it is an existential one. It affects the entire person, and must be treated as such. As Andrew Solomon said, "The opposite of depression is not happiness; it is vitality." Engage the vital force that infuses all mind and matter and we're halfway home.

Grace Young Carlson: Darkness Is Never Pitch Black

Depression has shown me that darkness is never pitch black. In other words, it's never without some sort of light. The light, however small, may not be obvious in that moment, but it's there. And just as my eyes are sensitive to the sun when I first come out of a dark room, my soul is overcome with gratitude when I am able to catch and recognize that glimmer of light in my dark. People who struggle with depression see a side of life that others don't see. Often we focus on the dark side of it, but I believe people who haven't experienced depression also miss out on seeing the amazing contrast of how bright the light can really be in our shadows.