Hi,

I really think that anyone who has ever suffered from depression, or any other bad state of mind for that matter, will be able to relate to your experiences.

We didn't choose it in the first place, and we often feel so powerless to stop it from recurring.

I can't offer you any sort of blanket assurances - I can't even offer them to myself! What I can suggest is that you try to recognise that the depression is NOT YOU but a temporary mental condition arising in temporary circumstances. It is not a big scary monster lurking to get you, even if it feels like that, but rather just a temporary blip of bad weather in your mind.

We sometimes say that it is 'cloudy' but behind the clouds the sun is always shining; and behind any mental bad weather we may be experiencing lies a mind with the potential to experience happiness and joy.