Because depression is hard to explain.
By Meaghan Summers — Written on Jun 03, 2019
Depression is more than feeling sad. It can impact every aspect of your life, making you unproductive, unmotivated and exhausted. Often accompanied by anxiety and anxious thoughts, depression eats away at your positivity.
That’s why metaphors describing depression as this faceless, formless monster are frequently used; it’s a real-life monster.
Forget getting up at a decent hour, preparing a healthy meal or even putting on clean clothes for the day. Depression takes over, encouraging you to bury yourself deeper and deeper into a rut from which you can’t seem to escape.
Of course, everyone experiences depression differently, according to their body and environment, but depression is becoming a huge problem for people of all ages today.
In fact, depression is considered one of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S. by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), and this can severely limit people’s abilities to function and perform daily tasks. Approximately 17.3 million adults in the country have had at least one major depressive episode in 2017, and the figure only continues to rise with each passing year.
While many Americans hide their depression well when in public or even among family members and friends, depression remains a significant issue that needs to be addressed. A great way to address depression is to acknowledge it and its symptoms through quotes and personal experiences told by people with the mental illness.
Despite the common use of the word “depression,” many people may not understand how problematic the illness can be and how universal it is. By explaining how depression and anxiety really feel, you can facilitate conversation about mental health awareness.
Whether you have depression or know someone who does, these 25 quotes can help you understand more about the mental illness and how you can make a difference in people’s lives who may also be suffering from it.
1. When real life is too hard to handle.
“I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare.” ― Ned Vizzini, It's Kind of a Funny Story
2. When you know your depression doesn't show on the outside.
"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral's Kiss
3. When there's no end in sight.
"That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end.” ― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
4. When you're more than just sad.
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees
5. When you need to say you hurt.
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
6. When you've found temporary fixes.
“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.” ― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
7. When you learn to like your depression.
“I'll never forget how the depression and loneliness felt good and bad at the same time. Still does.” ― Henry Rollins, The Portable Henry Rollins
8. When you know sadness is your new normal.
“The sun stopped shining for me is 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, Hold Still
9. When you feel broken.
“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, Cloud Atlas
10. When every, single day is a battle.
“If you are chronically down, it is a lifelong fight to keep from sinking.” ― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
11. When you don't know how to live without your depression.
“Because that’s the thing about depression. When I feel it deeply, I don’t want to let it go. It becomes a comfort. I want to cloak myself under its heavy weight and breathe it into my lungs. I want to nurture it, grow it, cultivate it. It’s mine. I want to check out with it, drift asleep wrapped in its arms and not wake up for a long, long time.” ― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door
12. When you don't care anymore.
“I am in that temper that if I were under water I would scarcely kick to come to the top.” ― John Keats
13. When you've given up on life.
“Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.” ― Jo Nesbo
14. When you have your happy moments.
"One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” ― Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
15. When you're skeptical of medicine.
“Mental illness is so much more complicated than any pill that any mortal could invent.” ― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
16. When you're so used to the feeling.
“Depression on my left, Loneliness on my right. They don't need to show me thier badges. I know these guys very well.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert
17. When you know there's a better life you could be living.
“I saw the world in black and white instead of the vibrant colours and shades I knew existed.” ― Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits
18. When expectations are too much.
“I don't want to do anything. I don't even want to start this day because then I'll just be expected to finish it.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl
19. When you know there's no end date to your illness.
“Depression isn't a war you win. It's a battle you fight every day. You never stop, never get to rest. It's one bloody fray after another.” ― Shaun David Hutchinson, We Are the Ants
20. When you know depression must serve a purpose.
“Depression is the flaw in love. To be creatures who love, we must be creatures who can despair at what we lose, and depression is the mechanism of that despair.” ― Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
21. When it's always there. Always.
“Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.” ― Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
22. When it happens to you.
“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.” ― Harry S. Truman
23. When your thoughts are messed up.
“If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.” ― Tamara Ireland Stone, Every Last Word
24. When you wish depression was an excuse.
“I wanted to tell people, "My depression is acting up today" as an excuse for not seeing them, but I never managed to pull it off.” ― Ned Vizzini, It's Kind of a Funny Story
25. When you realize you're still alive.
“Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine.” ― Charlotte Eriksson
If you’re looking for a little inspiration, we’ve got the best quotes to share and savor. For quotes from the most inspiring celebs, activists, and poets, look no further! You might even find the quote that motivates the best parts of your life (and love!) forever.
Meaghan Summers is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture and relationship topics.