I Have Severe Depression and Anxiety

It's difficult trying to explain depression to someone who doesn't have it. You can go on and on about the constant battle to get out of bed every morning, how doing every day tasks is a struggle, how some days you just can't fight the urge to give up, but they'll never understand. They think they understand. They may attempt to show empathy, comparing it to something in their lives, but they don't really know. They can't know, unless they're going through it too. They'll try to help by giving you positive vibes and advice, but clinical depression doesn't just go away with positivity. It is a mental illness and getting them to understand that is a losing battle.

I had to explain my depression to someone I love for the umpteenth time. They mean well, they truly do. They want to help more than anything. They want to understand more than anything. But they don't and they never will. And that realization is one of the hardest things to accept.