Good description of depression?

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I'm writing a story where one of the characters has depression. I have depression too, but I've never really been able to describe it that well. How does this sound to you guys: Whenever he feels really strong emotions, he "crashes" (gets depressed) afterwards like he's having an emotional backlash.

for me, it feels like a huge emptiness. it's different from feeling sad. it's just all so empty that you start losing contact with reality, so you can't really understand why you feel this way or understand there is a way out. my mind shut blank, everything seems too far, or too close, or too big or too small. i feel it in a sort of synesthetic way, i guess. but the main thing is this blankness.

Being stuck in pit of mud. It is difficult to move. Doing anything just makes more mess. Does the doggy in the picture look hugable?

What it is like from my own experience and one of my friends:

- Having no energy to do anything.
- There is no joy in doing anything any more.
- Can barely get out of bed.
- Does not contact ones friends or family.
- See no point in life.
- Does not even bother trying to change the situation for the better.

Don't think emotions have anything to do with it, it's probably more of an autistic thing (shutdown) or a burnout.

For me it's a black hole that consumes my hopes and my verve for life. It leaves me an empty shell, a husk of my former self and the world is black and white.

Hope that helps

I would write about it but it takes too much energy.

Does that help?

Being in a world full of people yet not having a single person to talk to, feeling totally isolated
Wishing I had just one friend, in a whole world of people, is that too much to ask?
Not wanting to be alive anymore, death would be a release, no one would even notice if I was gone
Not being able to get out of bed in the morning or even the afternoon and then feeling ashamed for having wasted the whole day
Feeling no hope for the future and that things will only get worse
Wanting to see just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel never ends
Wishing I could rewire my brain so I wouldn’t feel like this so I could be a productive member of society and contribute something to the world

Hi, I found the blurtitout.org website really helpful in describing depression. Sorry, I'm not allowed to post a link as I'm a new user.

I may or may not have been depressed a few times. Hard to tell, because the "no energy to get out of bed" criterion can be easily used to excuse simply being a lazy, cowardly moocher. Would I have gotten out of bed if I knew I'd be sentenced to death by starvation unless I did it immediately? Maybe. Would I if someone had started hitting me hard with a club? Most definitely, unless, of course, they rendered me unable to do so by breaking too many of my bones or damaging my nervous system.

Therefore, I don't like describing any mental state I've experienced as depression. I'm familiar with the term, however, because it was used a lot of times as the invalidating label du jour to avoid reasoning with me. Maybe having your character's points be systematically dismissed with this Bulverism would do the trick.

Depression is waking up and realizing you already have zero energy

Depression is being too tired to keep up with your chores and accepting it because now your home is as filthy as your head and it suits you

Depression is indulging in your most harmful vices because they make the hurt go away for a while, then justifying risking the long-term effects to yourself because you probably deserve them anyway

Depression is feeling completely numb everyday and telling yourself that it's fine until you finally break down and cry yourself to sleep, only to go right back to being numb

Depression is hating yourself so hard that it becomes normal because you don't know anything else

Depression is wanting to shout out from the rooftops that you're depressed and need help but not doing so because why burden everyone with your problems, you drama queen? That, and who would even understand them or be able to sympathize with you, dumpster fire that you know you are?

Depression is having a really good day and feeling great about yourself, only for something minor to immediately drag you back down to being miserable and dismissing the good as a fluke or a lie

Depression is that ugly, dark, hateful voice inside of you that deep down you know isn't coming from within you but it's been a part of you for so long that you really can't even tell the difference at this point