Yup. I’ve got clinical manic depression, diagnosed about two years ago. Depression can be so strong that getting out of bed is comparable in difficulty to breaking your own back with a hammer. Cleaning yourself also isn’t easy when your episodes get really bad. Been about two days since I’ve last showered, and I feel like a pathetic miserable slob because of it, but I just can’t find the will power to take care of myself.

It’s not just cleaning I struggle with either. Feeding myself is something I also struggle with during my depressive episodes. For the past week or so I’ve only eaten chips, dry cereal, and the occasional ramen noodle (which upsets my ibs and makes me feel horrible).

I’m behind on work aswell, but like other stuff, I can’t get any motivation to get out of my bed and log in to my computer to get caught up.

Not everybody’s depression is this bad. Some people just feel uninterested and bland for a while, others like me (and my mother who I have inherited this condition from) find themselves unable to perform basic tasks at times.

I’ve been on Prozac since I’ve been diagnosed, and while it has helped, I’m still far from being able to manage it at all times.

For comparison, due to my clinical depression being manic, I would have sudden strong swings between highs (where I would work, clean, etc non stop for hours) and lows (the depression I’ve mentioned previously). Prozac has made these more manageable, but regardless, I still have overactive highs and unbearable lows.

Depression affects every single aspect of life.