Why I Didn’t Stay Quiet After I Recovered From Depression

I’ve been in recovery from major depressive disorder for more than a year now. I had some doctors tell me I may never fully recover. I was told I needed to be medicated the rest of my life. While medicine may be a great help for some going through depression, it was never the case for me. Every single dosage or medication change made me worse. Every single time.

I was angry. I felt no one listened to me when I told them it just wasn’t helping me. I just felt I was constantly drugged up and shut up. I’d given up all hope. This battle went on for years.

It wasn’t until I became determined to find different methods that I started to see change. Not only did I switch up doctors, but I started to pay attention to exactly what worked for me. We have to remember, even though depression has similar symptoms, the way we go through it is like a unique fingerprint. We all go through this battle differently.

No one is as surprised as me that I made a full recovery. Especially when I was basically told I was hopeless in ever really doing so. Some people would go on with their lives at this point and try to never think about the horrors depression caused them. Of course, they would be entitled to feel that way. Once recovery hits, you just want to work on staying in recovery because staying there is still a constant battle.

However, I didn’t want to just stay in recovery and be quiet. I wanted to encourage others that recovery is possible for them, too. So I became a full-time advocate and wrote a book called “A Fight Worth Finishing.”

This book is not a “steps to get better” kind of story. No. This book is based on my real life battle with depression and suicide. My depression was awful and chronic. Getting to recovery was not easy. Anyone who tells you any different is lying to you. You’re going to have your good days and hard days trying to get back on track.

You may even have people put you down and leave you because they don’t understand your illness. However, through all of this, you have to continue to fight! This is why I wrote this book. To urge everyone to keep fighting. No matter how bad your depression has gotten and how hopeless you feel, keep fighting.

You can do this. Recovery and a better life are still possible. You may have to go through hell and back to get to this point. I know I did. I won’t lie to you about that, but you can get there. My story is a testimony to that.

Image via contributor.

If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources page.

If you need support right now, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741-741.