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gtrplayer said:
Of course, I'm assuming depression is an illness that allows you to get better.

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I'm moving away from viewing depression as a pathology and instead a response with some adaptive value. Such a widespread human behavioral response would not exist if it had no evolutionary advantage. If I am depressed, it is part of me, unpleasant or not, and the way I am at that time. I don't view it necessarily as something gone "wrong" with my body, but something that may have adaptive value and be there for a reason (conservation of energy for better times ahead, etc.). Maybe there is some "value" for my mind and body in being depressed at that time. It's almost like I'm shaking hands (warily) with depression instead of viewing it as the enemy. I'm discovering that, for me, viewing depression as a pathology has been a negative way of thinking. There are definitely things I can do to make myself feel better (both for the moment and the long term), and I do. We each have to find what those things are for ourselves, a process that is not always straightforward. The sharing of people's stories in this forum is so helpful for that.