Like many of you, I too am suffering from depression. In my case, it's relatively mild but I'm going to counseling and working on how to recover. It seems to me that we need to help ourselves. One of the most common symptoms of depression is this sense of being alone. I think we need to accept that. No matter how much anyone wants to, they cannot feel our pain. And it won't be right to expect them to. Why would we want anyone to feel like this? But, we can't feel anyone else's pain either. That's just the way it is. Secondly, we shouldn't beat ourselves up so much. It's like we've caught a cold. Sure, we feel miserable but it's not our fault. Maybe we did something silly or maybe we're not strong enough or maybe... Whatever it is, nobody's perfect. Everyone falls sick. It's not our fault. Some of you have experienced some really bad times. Look upon it like you got into a bad accident. You've been hurt. You need to recover. Instead of beating yourself up some more, you need some loving and care. You need to heal. We need to do this for ourselves. No one else can do it for us. So, feel sorry for yourself. But also tell yourself that you are not a bad person. Love yourself a bit. In fact, love yourself as much as you can. After what you've gone through, you deserve it. The worse the situation, the more you need to love and protect yourself. Think of it like a storm. All you have to do is hang in there. It'll wear itself out. It's not our fault. It's just a storm. The funny thing is, if you can just hang in there and go through it, you'll be stronger for it. The most important strength you can have is emotional strength. And surviving this will make you stronger emotionally. Think of it as some kind of training to help you face the world better. Let's face it, the world can be a lousy place, with horrible people.

I'd like to invite fellow sufferers to share your struggles. But see yourself as a warrior fighting a great battle. Against some really big and fiery dragon. The worse you feel, the bigger the battle you're fighting. The bigger a warrior you must be. And the way to fight it is simply to love yourself. It's a bully of a dragon. It'll go away as soon as you stand up to it. Let's support one another and encourage each other along this healing process.