[Hack&Lube]

It is nothing to be ashamed about despite the fact that there is some social stigma from people who just won't ever understand if they haven't experienced it. There are many different forms of depression. Some are treatable with therapy, some are treatable with pharmaceuticals, some are untreatable.

Personally, I've found that the best and long-lasting treatment is dramatic change in your own life and lifestyle.

Depression is an irrational beast, a demon that comes out of nowhere and seems to stay forever. It will happen with no rhyme or reason, even when logically you should have every reason to be happy. Ultimately for me, I tried every route and the only one that worked was dramatic and radical life change because for me, the root cause was lingering unhappiness and dissatisfaction with things like your status quo and routine.

Even though people might tell you that you have it good or reasonably, you think you should be happy, is there something that is holding you back? You have to attack it from every angle from small things from rewarding yourself with good food, good company, to getting a bit of sunshine every day (especially if you have some kind of seasonal-dis affective disorder), to changing everything in your life that you possibly can to add more successes and victories yourself to every day.

That's the only thing that worked for me and I tried almost everything and have a stack of medical literature on it in my closet. For me, it was an overwhelming sense of irrational oppression and helplessness and frustration that triggered years of living in an abyss. Rationally, nothing should be wrong but my subconscious was deeply unhappy. It might be unfeasible for others but I had to quit my job, move, go back to school, change careers, break off almost all of my relationships, lose my religion, find new relationships that were stimulating me, and indulge myself in activities and learning new things all the time (instruments, languages, art, science, sports, etc.) that I felt were enriching my mind to get my brain chemistry working again naturally because I'm too independent and stubborn to listen to any cognitive behavioral therapy and medications all had their opposite intended effect.

The most important thing is to not be embarrassed about it. Be open and bold about it. Find the people you can talk to about this because they are the ones worth keeping around. Identify (the few) moments in your life that you happy or satisfied and try to figure out why you are happy in those times and not in others. Try to add elements of those moments into your every day. For me, self-improvement and the variety that came with it was the thing I needed to do to feel well again.