What is Depression?

I ask that question and hopefully I will get answers from members here in their own words, and not in the form of links to what other Drs or what think depression is.

What is depression to you?

For me depression is constant suicidal thoughts, a feeling of hoplessness, a lack of power, a lack of focus. They are days when my mind takes a vacation from those thoughts and powers up to meet worldly challengers, but always returns back to those thoughts. It started in childhood with simple thoughts of wanting to be dead. There just seems to be no point to life, even happy-ness seems over rated. How did these thoughts get in my head? much I think has to do with poverty, and the poverty prison.