Hi we_do_recover,

I've had depression off and on for almost four years (probably longer, but I mark the "start date" as the day I was diagnosed). In answer to your question, yes, for me it has gone away. I seem to have relapsing depression in that I don't tend to cope well with the difficulties of life. I don't have a very thick skin, so stress over school and work, family drama, personal relationships or even disturbing world events can send me into a downward spiral. My episodes have run the spectrum from having the blues to being suicidal, although I'm learning to recognize the signs of an impending depression so that I can get help before it gets too serious. I'm working on coping, and with medication and therapy I'm getting better at riding out the episodes, or staving them off completely. I hope one day to be depression-free but for now I enjoy the good days and on the bad days remind myself that they don't have to last forever.

As for whether I experience happiness ... I guess that depends on what you consider "happy". I tend to have a sliding scale for that that too. Some days happiness equals simply being content with myself and my life. Other days happiness is the experience of elation or joy. Sometimes I drive with the music blaring and singing along at the top of my lungs, and in those moments I can say that I am experiencing pure happiness, even if it disappears as soon as I stop the car. I guess depression has taught me how to enjoy the small things more. When your life is so painful you can't even bring yourself to get out of bed in the morning, sometimes the smallest scrap of anything other than sheer misery can be called happiness.

Everyone is different, of course. We get depressed for a variety of reasons, or sometimes for no good reason at all. That's the nature of the beast, I guess. If you're looking for a really good explanation of depression, a professor at Stanford named Robert Sapolsky gave a lecture on the nature of depression - symptoms, what causes it, what treatments are effective, etc -- which is now on youtube. It's about an hour long but well worth watching.