There isn't a simple answer to this question because everyone is different and depression isn't a simple thing. When I was around 15/16 years old I was really depressed, I tried to hide it from everyone and pretend I was okay, but I wasn't. This went on for a few years. I would think I was happy, then I would spiral right back into a deep depression. I decided I needed to get some professional help so I saw a phychiatrist (or therapist, it was a long time ago and I can't remeber what she was). At first I thought it was helping and I was getting better but somehow I would go back into a depressed state where I didn't know what to do with myself and felt hopeless.

I stopped seeing this woman because after a while I felt there was no point as she wasn't the right fit for me and wasn't helping. A few years passed where I would go back and forth between being ok and not okay anymore. The real change for me happened when I started losing everything. My parents got divorced, I was forced to leave my house with no notice with my mom and sister. My boyfriend wanted to break up with me and my cat, the only stable thing in my life for a few years at that point, had passed away. That's when I hit rock bottom and thought there was no hope. The thing is when I hit rock bottom, I realized I needed to stop allowing outside factors to dictate my mental state. I started hanging out with this group of friends that became like a family to me. These people didn't care about my past, or any family issues I had, and we bonded over the problems we had in our lives. I met people who taught me that there's really no point in dwelling on the past and being down on yourself. You need to make the most of what you have, even if it's not very much.

I started working out, I started going on adventures and doing things I'd never done before. For the first time in my life I was looking forward to so many things because I knew there were so many possibilities.

That was almost two years ago that my life turned around and I'm honestly happier than ever! I do have days where it feels like there's no hope, don't get me wrong, but I've learned that you need to make the best of what you can and in the end you need to help yourself first.