Depression, ever experience it and then get over it?

i have it all, well, except i don't have a family, really, but i have a great apartment, friends, great jobs, enough money, i'm pretty fit and i don't struggle to make ends meet or afford myself small indulgences. but somehow, i can't get happy. i know that it's whiny (please, don't tell me that i need to shut up, i know i'm privileged, i just want some advice) for me to be so depressed, and i know it might be chemicals in my brain, but has anyone ever been where i'm at now? low, thinking about death, feeling hopeless, etc, and gotten over it?

if so, please tell me how you turned it around?
did you have to just stop thinking?

Take time to think about and appreciate the things and skills you have, from as small as "I am good at opening stubborn jar lids" to things as big as "I work hard at my job and I earned the money to have this great apartment". When you're at a low, talk with a good friend who can remind you of what a great and valuable person you are; find someone to talk to about how you feel unhappy. What's very important--which I didn't do and I learned the hard way--is to confront these feelings you have and not try to mask them with anything self destructive like drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, or physically hurting or mutilating yourself. Do things that make yourself proud or you will get caught in a terrible cycle. Counselors and support groups can be a great help also. Just remember that you deserve to be happy, and you are worth fighting for. It will be a journey, but just know that if you try, all the pain will be temporary. Just by posting your question here, you're already trying, and that's something to be proud of. Keep reaching out. There is hope!

Yes. Everything you said. Time, and time, and time again. I'm bi-polar so I go in and out of depression all the time. I deal with it by acknowledging my blessings and realizing that my depression is chemical and has nothing to do with my environment or my thoughts. When I am depressed my symptoms get me down but I've learned to detach from the depressing thoughts. I also take a lot of meds.

Yes, I have been through depression before. I'm a teenager, and it really sucked. I hated everything around me, and i felt annoyed by every single movment someone would make towards me. My world got darker, and darker, and I really thought I should kill myself. I lost my boyfriend, friends, and hobbies all because of it. Maybe going to a doctor would help? Not in my case though. My friends helped me through it, and I just constantly would try... everyday... to be positive. And eventually it went away. E-mail me at guggs24@hotmail.com, if you want more info. Good luck.

I was in the same situation as you. My father made me see a psychiatrist and they gave me anti-depressants. They helped. That was over 20 years ago and I'm still taking them (I have stopped a couple of times and went straight back to depression).