Hello everyone. I’m brand new to the group, and this is my very first post.
After almost a year of battling depression, anxiety, and crippling panic attacks, I finally sought professional help in an attempt to get my life back. The good news is that the therapy and medication have me feeling better than I have felt in months, even though it took about six weeks to get there.
I’m also somewhat grateful for this experience, as crazy as that sounds, so that I can genuinely empathize with others.
I watched my mother and brother battle with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder for most of my life, so I knew that it was very much real, but I simply couldn’t comprehend what they were actually going through or how strong they truly were until I experienced it for myself. Ironically, it’s easy to view people with mental illness as “weaker” if you’ve never experienced it. You may even think that we are all experiencing the same things in life, but that those with depression and anxiety are simply choosing not to will themselves through it like the rest of us do. I was sadly one of those people. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
I’m a successful business professional in the corporate world, a college graduate, a father, a leader, an optimist, an insanely hard worker, and, yet, depression and anxiety still found me. It’s the single hardest battle I have ever faced, but at the same time, I genuinely feel that it has made me a stronger and a better person.
I have also developed an internal passion to want to help others who are struggling. Share with them the things I’ve learned. Help them to realize that the doom and gloom doesn’t last forever, that they aren’t going crazy, that they aren’t going to die, that they will get better at managing these symptoms that feel like the heaviest weight in the world some days. It gets better. You’ve got this. Just keep pushing!
xx
“It gets better” is just temporary...
I don’t see things getting better... don’t know how
Advice on how to get better
Does it ever get better 
Does it get better
Hello and welcome aboard! You are so right! Those who don't have depression and/or anxiety have no idea what it's like. It's unbearable times infinity to go through, but you are right that it makes us feel stronger!