Depression is a state of mind producing serious, sometimes long-term, negative outlooks. It lowers your enjoyment of life or your ability to visualise a happy future. It can lead to self-injury or suicide, which can be dangerous for everyone around you. You become your worst enemy when you are depressed.

People suffer from depression because of life experiences. Things like rape, rejection, hatred, physical appearance can cause depression. Whenever people don’t accept you, you can be depressed. Many victims seek help from phycologists or church, but depression does not easily disappear. There is only one thing that can help you through life. It’s you!

Try to build positive thoughts in your mind, find things that make you happy, isolate yourself from negative thoughts and negative people. When they tell you that you are ugly, know you are beautiful. Nobody was born without purpose, you have a talent, search yourself until you find it and experience it.

If people don’t love you, learn to love yourself. It’s normal that not everyone will love you, but accept it and move on. Learn to experience God’s love, He is mighty and powerful. His love is genuine, not fake, so why do you need human love? When you are in an abusive marriage, get out of it, don’t stay. Things like abuse can put you on the rocks and you may think it’s the end of the world — a better place without your existence. That isn’t the case.

Our minds are a powerful tool, whatever gathers in your mind affects your life physically. That’s why I said you are the only person who can make depression become history. You are the only one who can overcome depression. Think positively and live positively. You can seek help from a phycologist, whatever you think can make an impact in your life.

I say this because I once was a depressed girl. I was a black sheep in the family, at school, at work and at college. No one wanted to be my friend. I felt different. I was teased and humiliated because I had a name that no one really knew the meaning of. I was born with a hearing problem so I had to sit in front during lessons. I was a quiet girl, the only girl in my family.

My father remarried and the woman had children who never saw me as part of the family. My father joined the crew and I was always invisible. I grew up angry, envying and hungry for love, which I never got. As I grew up, my anger kept growing bigger and bigger. I isolated myself from people. I failed to love myself. I hated myself and saw myself as useless. No one loved me, I wanted to erase my existence.

I thought of ways of committing suicide because I just didn’t want to live anymore. I blamed myself for everything.

But it took a big step to go for counselling and thinking of reasons to live. One thing that made me want to live more was that I thought of suicide as murder. I had to accept the hatred, rejection, betrayal and life challenges and find ways to deal with them, ways that made me happy and gave me peace. It took courage and that’s how I realised no one could help me but myself.

A friend of mine whom I was in depression group with, motivated a lot of victims. I got close to her because she had a life like mine. I saw a strong woman in her, until one day I received news that she had passed away. She committed suicide after a session we had.

How could this happen? I thought talking freed her.

Little did I know that she suffered inside. She didn’t leave a note. She helped us but couldn’t help herself. I remember that she had been negative about herself and her mind was trying to be strong. The negativity clouded the positivity, which made her think of erasing her existence.

I was hurt, but I wouldn’t want to commit suicide. I have something to live for, even though I feel like I have no one. It might be the same with you. I don’t know what you are going through, but you can only help yourself by thinking positively. Its starts with you!

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Tell us: Do you ever feel depressed? What do you do when you feel like that?