There is no health without mental health. 

Depression is a serious mental illness that many over look or just tell themselves that I’m not ill, I’m just sad. I’d dare say that they most likely tell themselves thats because society has framed our perspective of it as such. Depression can affect us in a variety of ways, DSM 5 defines it as having 5 out of these 9 symptoms in the past two weeks.

1. Depressed mood most of the day, almost every day, indicated by your own subjective report or by the report of others. This mood might be characterized by sadness emptiness, or hopelessness

2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities most of the day nearly every day.

3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain.

4. Inability to sleep or oversleeping nearly every day.

5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day.

6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

7. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day.

8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.

9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a   specific plan for committing suicide.

People who have not experienced depression may have a vague understand of what it truly feels like. In the accounts I have heard, people use these sentiments to describe there feelings:

• A black cloud following me 

• Numb

• Alone, forever lonely 

• Empty, like a black hole

• Cancer of the soul

• No future can be achieved

• Desperate to breathe 

• Feeling alone in a crowded room

• Death may be calmer

These thoughts are shared and expanded upon by many that suffer from depression. Don’t minimize your own pain or someone else, the thoughts and feelings are real, and in order to get out of hell, you first have to walk through it.