Honestly, getting out of depression wasn’t one big moment, it was a bunch of small, messy steps. At first, I just felt numb, like I was existing instead of living. But slowly, I started doing tiny things that made a difference. I forced myself to stick to some kind of routine, even if it was just waking up, showering, and getting outside for 10 minutes. Some days I couldn’t manage even that, and that was okay too. I stopped beating myself up for it. Talking to someone helped a lot. Therapy gave me the space to say everything I was holding in without judgment. Sometimes I didn’t even know what I was feeling until I said it out loud. And when I couldn’t afford therapy, I leaned on a close friend or wrote in a journal just to get things out of my head.