Depressed since I was 9 years old

[Chumper]

Depression has been a lifelong problem for me. My first memory of being depressed was when I was 9 years old. I am now soon to be 53. That's an entire lifetime of sadness and anxiety and I feel like my life has been wasted. I hate this feeling. Wondering what my life could have been had I been a normal person. Can anyone out there relate?

[Hidden]

Yes, I can. I have had depression for as long as I can remember.

[Hidden]

I can relate, but there really is no ‘normal’. You make your own normal. At 51 now, I could not imagine living the next phase of my life the same as I did the first. Your life is never wasted, each day you have lived has gotten you to this exact point in life, now determine what or where you want to go from here. Things in life are ALL about choices.

Having sadness each day is no way to live, determine what is making you sad, find a way to deal with that. If your anxiety is crippling you, I’d seek a doctor and/or therapist to help you combat this with medication (if needed) and tools to help you cope and give you a much better quality of life.

[NWGal]

Yes, for sure. I'll be 65 soon and had depression since around 11. I have some attachment issues (more severe when I was younger). I felt I was never worthy of love or good enough. So I became the super achiever. It never made me feel good enough and I ended up burning out and became more depressed. I think I have learned to accept the good and bad history and live in the present.