Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather.

Stephen Fry

Depression is not often talked about, but it is something that affects our lives and our happiness in fundamental ways. We need to speak more about depression, about what it means, and about how it can be healed. By being open about it, we become more powerful against it. Everyone deals with depression at some point in life so it’s better to be ready to recognize it.

Being open with friends, family and in our relationships is vital to keeping a dialogue open.

Check out these depression quotes to get some inspiring insights into depression. 

∴ You largely constructed your depression. It wasn’t given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it. – Albert Ellis

∴ Depression is a serious condition, but most of its power resides in our harmful way of thinking. Negative thoughts feed our depression and make it more powerful, while positive thoughts deconstruct it and make it recede.

∴ Depression is the inability to construct a future. – Rollo May

∴ Depression is like a veil that makes it impossible for us to see the future. It makes us lose all hopes, dreams, and expectations, painting us a bleak future where nothing good happens. That is why living with depression is one of the hardest battles in life.

∴ Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself. – Pythagoras

∴ Depression feeds from our worries, struggles, and concerns, yet if we let our problems takes us to depression we end up in a well of self-pity. The correct answer to any problem is action. As long as we fight and don’t give up, solutions can arise miraculously.

∴ There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds. – Laurell K. Hamilton

∴ The pain of the heart is never as visible as a wound on the body, yet it can be stronger and more damaging. Not only that the body heals faster than the heart, but people also are less prone to support you when they cannot see your inner wounds. Fighting depression is often a lonely battle.

∴ Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. – Stephen Fry

∴ Depression does not have a rational cause which we can easily identify and remove from our way. It is not a response to a negative event, but rather the condition that sees something negative in all events. Just like the weather, depression dictates our mood.

∴ That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful. – Elizabeth Wurtzel

∴ People who suffer from depression are burdened by the thought that their pain is impossible to understand or explain. We can endure anything as long as there is meaning attached, yet depression often seems absurd, which makes it even more painful.

∴ I’ll never forget how the depression and loneliness felt good and bad at the same time. Still does. – Henry Rollins

∴ Depression and loneliness are very deceiving because they act as a trap, making us believe that feeling sad and lonely is our normal state and that there is nothing better out there. This is a fallacious way to think and if we don’t fight it, we might lose the grip on our happiness.

∴ The sun stopped shining for me at all. The whole story is: I am sad. I am sad all the time and the sadness is so heavy that I can’t get away from it. Not ever. – Nina LaCour

∴ If we want to help depressed people, we must understand how they feel. For them, happiness and peace are a distant dream as they succumb to heavy sadness. Through love and support, we can help them see the light again.

∴ You say you’re ‘depressed’ – all I see is resilience. You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it just means you’re human. – David Mitchell

∴ Depression seems to be something inherently connected to our human nature. Everyone at some point, suffered at least a mild depression when everything seemed bleak and absurd. The real test of our humanity is moving past these states.

∴ In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known — no wonder, then, that I return the love. – Søren Kierkegaard

∴ When we suffer from depression and feel that we can never escape it, we find our solace in the sweet delights of love. Love is the cure of our wounds and the thing that can make reality bright again for us.

∴ If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath. – Amit Ray

∴ Life is often absurd and unpredictable so it is no wonder that some of us go through terrifying moments of depression and anxiety through our lives. However, when we learn to see the beauty hidden in each passing moment, we can conquer all our pain and fear.

∴ Every age yearns for a more beautiful world. The deeper the desperation and the depression about the confusing present, the more intense that yearning. – Johan Huizinga

∴ We feel depressed because we believe in a different world –  a world more peaceful, beautiful, and just. Deep depression is often a consequence of our revolt against the ugly aspects of life. However, we must move past depression and create the ideal world we dream of.

∴ I’ve had some dark nights of the soul, of course, but giving in to depression would be a sellout, a defeat. – Christopher Hitchens

∴ Everyone goes through dark, terrible moments in life, but the key thing is finding the power to overcome them and to never let depression take hold of our lives. Accepting depression without a fight is a pitiful defeat.

∴ That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward. – Ernest Hemingway

∴ Sensitive and artistic souls know best that depression is sometimes impossible to avoid in our path towards self-awareness, empathy, and wisdom. They are also the ones to know that behind depression and self-doubt lies incredible beauty.

∴ Through my own struggles with depression, I discovered that knowledge, therapy, medication and education can provide the strength to get through it in one piece. – Susan Polis Schutz

∴ We should force ourselves to struggle through depression alone. If we look carefully around, we can find incredible support and great weapons to help us in our fight. Therapy, research or even medication can provide us the strength to overcome our depression.

∴ When I believe, I am crazy. When I don’t believe, I suffer psychotic depression. – Philip K. Dick

∴ Depression is difficult to understand, but it is safe to say that sometimes it is connected with our lack of ideals or beliefs. When we have nothing to believe in and nothing to fight for, depression sets in.

∴ Depression is melancholy minus its charms – the animation, the fits. – Susan Sontag

∴ Depression is an extreme form of melancholy that goes from nostalgic sadness to unbearable pain and suffering. While melancholy is often poetic and creative, depression usually numbs our ability to think or feel.

∴ If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying. – Matthew Quick

∴ Depression is like living in a place where the sun never shines. However, as powerful as the clouds might be, eventually they dissipate. This is true for depression as well. The power of our hope can light through the darkness of our depression.

∴ I want to help people with depression understand that there is hope, so that they can get the help they need to live rich, fulfilling lives. – Tom Bosley

∴ The most important thing that people with depression must accept is that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel. There is hope for them to find inner balance and to strive towards a happy and fulfilling life. For this, they must accept help.

∴ Anything that instills a sense of hope will at least temporarily help treat depression. – Irving Kirsch

∴ The best weapon against depression is hope. Hope instills into our hearts the vision of new possibilities and chances and makes us willing to reach them. Hope colors our future and ignites our faith in happiness.

∴ Depression, for me, wasn’t a dulling but a sharpening, an intensifying, as though I had been living my life in a shell, and now the shell wasn’t there. It was total exposure. – Matt Haig

∴ Depression either numbs people or gives a sharp edge to all their negative feelings. The worse about depression is thus that the intensity of positive feelings is diminished while the intensity of negative feelings raises terribly.

∴ I think most human beings go through some sort of depression in their life. And if they don’t, I think that’s weird. – Kirsten Dunst

∴ Depressed people often feel like outcasts and are embarrassed by their condition, trying to hide it. The truth is that depression is actually normal and most people go through stages of depression at some points in their lives.

∴ My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle. – Patty Duke

∴ Recovering from depression is a long and difficult journey, where the most important thing is never giving up. The recovery will never happen suddenly. It is a not a leap, but rather a path of many small steps.

∴ Art saved me; it got me through my depression and self-loathing, back to a place of innocence. – Jeanette Winterson

∴ Many people find solace for their depression and anxiety in the powerful cathartic nature of art. Art speaks directly to our souls, healing them and opening them to endless new possibilities. Through art, we can find peace and meaning.

∴ Depression and anxiety can’t fit in your head if you’re cultivating feelings of joy and inspiration. – Austin Butler

∴ If we strive to build a happy and meaningful life for ourselves, depression can never take hold of us. We must keep busy with our plans and dreams, cultivating joy and inspiration from small, beautiful moments.

∴ Creative people are more prone to depression. – Adam Ant

∴ There is a popular belief that creative people become more easily the victims of depression. Considering their openness to feelings and their sensitivity towards the world, it’s true that they feel depressed more often. However, their resilience is stronger because of the same gifts.

∴ Enthusiasm is followed by disappointment and even depression, and then by renewed enthusiasm. – Murray Gell-Mann

∴ Life is an ever-changing cycle of good and bad states, positive and negative feelings. Whenever we feel down, we must remember that this is just part of the journey but not the end of it.

∴ I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. – Dwayne Johnson

∴ Depression often comes accompanied by feelings of loneliness and disconnection. The depressed person does not want to burden others, but asking for help or finding others who understand what they feel is an important part of the healing process.

∴ A big part of depression is feeling really lonely, even if you’re in a room full of a million people. – Lilly Singh

∴ The loneliness that comes with depression is often excruciating and has nothing to do with the number of people around us. It is a disconnection of our own self from the world that makes us feel lonely. When we regain ourselves, we can find connection again.

∴ Depression, suffering, and anger are all part of being human. – Janet Fitch

∴ Being human has nothing to do with being happy every second of life. Life is a learning process, where depression, suffering, and pain are present in different ways. It is our duty, however, to overcome them and to learn how to avoid them.

∴ Depression is frustrating. It’s knowing there’s so much to be grateful for and happy about and to enjoy, but you just can’t get there. – Allie Griffin

∴ Depression does not need reasons to come into our lives. Many depressed people feel guilty for what they feeling because they have many reasons to be grateful yet they cannot do it. Depression is not about the conditions of our lives and we should never feel guilty about being depressed.