My major depressive episodes have all been multi-year, and existed from being 5 to 12 years of age, then 14 to 16, and lastly from age 42 to 48. The stretches in between were great, times during which I had no idea that I would ever again endure another major episode and felt absolutely recovered and separate from the experience of depression. I can only hope that the wisdom I've gained this time around so late in life will help me to make sure that the current/next stretch (I'm in a recovery phase from the last episode right now) will be lasting or at least very very long.

I do consider myself to have been fully recovered each time. Since anyone could end up having a major depressive episode all of a sudden, even someone who never experienced it before, when I'm in between episodes I'm really the same as anyone else in that regard. There's at least no reason to assume (and possibly even contribute to self-fulfilling prophecy by doing so) that I will ever have an additional episode.