92 Interviews With People Struggling With Depression

We have interviewed 92 people who have struggled with depression. These stories are full of tips on how to overcome depression.

Most recent stories of people struggling with depression

How Volunteering and Self-Acceptance Helped Me Rebuild My Mental Health

How Volunteering and Self-Acceptance Helped Me Rebuild My Mental Health

November 28, 2024
Helped by: Self-acceptance, Social support, Volunteering
My Struggle with Depression While Finding Strength Through Mental Health Advocacy

My Struggle with Depression While Finding Strength Through Mental Health Advocacy

October 8, 2024
Helped by: Medication, Self-Care
My Fight Against Anxiety, PTSD, and Depression After Being Laid Off

My Fight Against Anxiety, PTSD, and Depression After Being Laid Off

September 17, 2024
Helped by: Reinventing yourself, Self-improvement

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Are you struggling with depression?

I’ve interviewed 92 people struggling with depression, and here are the top 5 most mentioned tips that helped these people overcome it:

  1. Therapy (54 people helped)
  2. Self-improvement (42 people helped)
  3. Self-Care (33 people helped)
  4. Social support (31 people helped)
  5. Medication (27 people helped)

In our many years of publishing helpful mental health content, we always received questions from our readers about specific situations. While we have a lot of helpful tips to share on how to be happier, we simply can’t offer advice for every situation.

That’s why I’ve set out to interview folks with every type of mental health struggle. My job as an interviewer is to categorize these interviews and present them in a way that is most helpful to our readers.

Read all the case studies

Cody Mackall Interview Featured Image 1

Case studies

How Volunteering and Self-Acceptance Helped Me Rebuild My Mental Health

“For the longest time, I tried to keep it to myself. I felt this need to stay strong, to keep up the front, especially because people around me relied on me. I worried that showing what I was going through would let others down or make them see me differently. So, I put on a brave face, thinking I could power through on my own.”

Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Suicidal

Helped by:
Self-acceptance

Volunteering

Stephanie Kaiser Interview Featured Image

Case studies

My Struggle with Depression While Finding Strength Through Mental Health Advocacy

“While I have a great support system, I did not feel like they truly understood what it felt like to be me. I really wished I could talk to people unfiltered about how sad I was and how I did not see a light at the end of the tunnel. I was still on my medicine and in therapy, but I had quit my fancy finance job, ended my relationship and urgently needed to work on myself.”

Struggled with:
Depression

Helped by:
Medication
Self-Care

Case studies

My Fight Against Anxiety, PTSD, and Depression After Being Laid Off

“Neglect, abuse, and the profound impact of my mother’s involvement in the witness protection program marked my childhood. These experiences left deep emotional scars that have taken years to understand and manage. These challenges have ebbed and flowed over time. Yet, they’ve always been a constant presence, influencing how I see the world and interact with it.”

Struggled with:
ADHD
Anxiety
Depression
PTSD

Helped by:
Reinventing yourself
Self-improvement

Michelle Courtney Berry Interview Featured Image

Case studies

Overcoming Reactive Attachment Disorder and Depression with Self-Care and Therapy

“Despite experiencing severe depressive symptoms, including suicidal ideation, I made a concerted effort to appear upbeat and engaged in social settings. This involved forcing myself to smile, laugh, and participate in conversations as if everything was fine, even when I was internally battling intense emotional pain that I felt I was not safe to reveal.”

Struggled with:
Childhood trauma
Depression
People-pleasing
Reactive Attachment Disorder

Helped by:
Self-Care
Therapy

Kelly Gordon Interview Featured Image

Case studies

Finding Happiness At Sea As A Yacht Captain After Overcoming Depression and Anxiety

“If a situation is making you unhappy – a marriage, a job, a family member – anything – change the situation. You can leave, you can stop speaking to someone (yes, even a parent or another family member), and you can do so free of guilt because you are in charge of your own happiness, and life is too short to choose anything different for yourself.”

Struggled with:
Anxiety
Depression
Suicidal

Helped by:
Medication
Therapy

Carmen Leal Interview Featured Image

Case studies

How A Rescue Dog Helped Me Overcome TBI, Depression and Suicidal Ideation

“I sat on the summer-hot pavement, and no one stopped or asked me if I was okay. No one called the police. People walked around me as quickly as possible. When I was all cried out, I walked home to my empty house. I bought a set of knives, ostensibly for cooking, but that was not the reason. I had thought about pills, and every day I researched how many of each prescription drug I was on would I need to take to die. Using a sharp knife seemed so much easier.”

Struggled with:
Depression
Suicidal
Traumatic Brain Injury

Helped by:
Medication
Pets
Volunteering

Sharon Fekete Interview Featured Image

Case studies

Sharing My Journey From Alcohol and Substance Abuse to Sobriety and Happiness

“I felt prettier, smarter, funnier when alcohol entered my body so I simply continued numbing through the years. The progression of this disease of alcoholism turned into a nasty drug habit and those feelings of insecurity turned into deep darkness when I was “off my meds”. Or in other words, without alcohol or drugs.”

Struggled with:
Addiction
Depression
Suicidal

Helped by:
Rehab
Therapy