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Absolutely anyone can suffer from depression. Whether you're a student, a company executive, black, white, male or female, you could have it. But no one will fully understand what it is like to suffer with depression, until you actually have it yourself. If someone has a bad day, or fails an exam, you may hear them say "I'm depressed", but what they my actually mean is that they are fed up, or just unhappy. But depression is much more than that.

Not many people realise how common depression actually is. It is thought that as many as 2 in 3 adults will have depression at one point in their life. However, not all of these people will get it so bad, that they require treatment. Around 1 in 4 women, and 1 in 10 men, will get treatment for depression.

The first time I thought I had depression, was when I got advised by somebody else to go to the doctors, because they were worried for me. My personality had begun to change quickly over a few weeks. I went from being a lively person, with a good big personality and sense of humour to being in a low in mood nearly everyday, sad, had low levels of enjoyment, little motivation, poor concentration, constantly tired and later on, occasionally began to think of my death. I spoke to some of my friends about it, some of who where very supportive, but one simply said, "I could have told you that you were depressed ages ago" and then walked away. For around 2 weeks I hit a real low point, I had breakdowns every night, isolated my self from friends, and began to think of ending everything in my life.

For me it started when I did poorly on my AS level exams, then my friends began to drop out of college. I started to really hate college, and then did very little work. Because of this I fell extremely behind, which got me down more because I knew there was little chance of me getting back to normal the way I was feeling. It then turned into one big circle, where I began to think I would stay like this forever. With everything going wrong in my life, this was when I began to think of what it would be like if I didn't stay here. After much thought, I began to realise that suicide was just an easy way out, and the best thing for me to do, would be to overcome this problem, and get back to normal.

No one is 100% sure on what causes depression. In some people it can develop for no apparent reason, but for others they may be prone to it. Numerous things could trigger an episode of depression, such as relationship problems, bereavement, illness etc.

Everyone thinks, that men are less likely to get depression compared to women. When I first thought I might have depression, I thought it wasn't possible for men to get depression at all. I didn't want to see a doctor because I saw it as a weakness, and I mainly thought it was something that women got. But when I thought about it even more, I soon realised that what I had been thinking about, is the reason to why I believed men didn't get it. Because men didn't speak up about it, and seek help, its believed that very few men get depression compared to women. Men choose not to speak up about it because they don't want people to start to think of them as weak, and in need of help. Men are known to think about success, power and strength. But as soon as they admit that they have depression, they think that none of them can happen anymore because of the illness.

For people who have depression, (or even think they might) I would suggest going to the doctors, and asking for help. There are so many things that the doctor can do to try and help. They may refer you to a counsellor, put you on anti-depressants, or advise other treatments. Doctors only prescribe anti-depressants to over 18's, but they would normally try to help you in other ways, other than drugs. Counselling can be great to get everything you are feeling out in the open. Speaking freely about how everything in your life is going relieves a great amount from you, and can be a great start for the road to recovery.

I have never told many people that I have depression, because I don't want it to affect the rest of my life. I want people to see me as a normal person, without knowing my background. Unfortunately I never went to the Doctor for help to begin with, going against all advice I was given. Looking back, I've began to realise this was completely the wrong decision to make, and knowing how I've been affected, I'm preparing to go to the doctors for all the help I can get off them next time I begin to feel like that (if that happens), because I know how low you can get when you are suffering. This is why I would strongly recommend people looking for help, and not bottling everything up.

Other points around depression: Depression is one of the most common illnesses that doctors deal with in the surgeries, so they know exactly how to deal with it, and know what is best for you.

As I said earlier, people don't understand what its like to have depression, until you suffer with it yourself. There are loads of people who are out there with the frame of mind that people just need to "pull them selves together" or "snap out of it". But if it was this easy, I think everyone would be ok. It's NOT that easy, and such comments are so unhelpful to sufferers.

Understanding the symptoms can help you to come to terms with it if you are suffering from depression. It helps you to understand that you are not the only person out there that is feeling this way.

Bottling up your feelings doesn't help. Its as simple as that. I think the best thing for you to do would be to talk to either friends or family about it, because as soon as you talk about it, some of the weight is off your shoulders, and you have began to take the first steps to recognising your illness, and understanding that you do need help Most people who suffer from depression do recover. It may take anything from a few weeks to months or years, but that's in extreme cases.

It helps some people if they are distracted. If you watch TV, go out with friends, etc. This takes your mind off the problem.

Finally, some of the most famous people in the world have had depression at some point. Such people include: Winston Churchill, Woody Allen, Jim Carrey, Vincent Van Gogh, Janet Jackson, Robbie Williams, JK Rowling and Ewan McGregor.

2:52pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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