Shel
I struggle with it too. It's not easy. but get help. Don't try and get through it alone.

Sue
I stumbled across this page quite by accident and if im honest I've just sat and cried my eyes out after watching Samantha Roberts video clip. I've suffered from depression since I was 13 I'm now 33, I'm a single mum to 4 beautiful daughters and it shames me terribly to say they've never had a happy normal Mum or home life. There isn't a day goes by that I don't think of suicide it's always on my mind, the thoughts that my girls would be better off without me are there at the back of my mind all the time. I spend my days in bed with the curtains shut, if the phone rings or someone comes to my door I hide sometimes, the sense of panic is over whelming.

Ken
Dear Sam, thank you so much for allowing me to see someone else my age who is going through / has gone through something similar to me. I am a 22 year old guy who left a top flight university only 12 months away from finishing because I was suffering from depression. It took me a very long time to come to terms with the idea that I might actually have a problem. In the environment I was in you are expected to, as you say, "pull yourself together", and I was as guilty of that expectation as anyone else. Since leaving university I have spent a good 10 months at home trying to reset my compass, as it were, and have had the support of my wonderful mother to help me through. Although I still get down, I have since started doing a lot of work on film sets, and have found in that an environment in which not only do I not feel uncomfortable, I'm actually the largest presence there, with the greatest responsibility and greatest authority! I feel as though I have found another world, and am slowly re-shaping my aspirations to be able to pursue this new avenue to the best of my abilities, and am now thinking about re-starting university somewhere less stressful, doing a course I am genuinely passionate about, as opposed to one I am merely good at. Thank you for sharing, and I hope more people do the same.