I developed a massive anxiety disorder caused by unrelenting tinnitus. It lasted 3.5 years and during that time I knew no joy and could not understand how others could live. Life was pure hell like nothing I could ever describe. There was no 'snapping out' or 'just being tougher' etc though. Not at all. I couldn't battle my mind - I still can't - and believe me, I tried and tried and tried and spent thousands of pounds. Serious depression is as physical in that sense as any other serious illness. I was so exhausted. After 3.5 years though, I learnt I could challenge my behaviour. It was the sweetest, most compassionate discovery I ever made and was also the hardest thing I have ever ever done (and I have done many hard things): breaking old habits that kept me trapped in the cycle. I kept at it because there were results - though sometimes they weren't immediate and there were many relapses. ironically, once I 'recovered', life got very hard indeed as the state I had been in for so long proved too much for my body. it has taken every ounce of creativity to keep myself together throughout this, but those exceptionally dark days I believe can exist no more as I now know exactly how they were created. What I'm trying to say is, serious depression is like no hell imaginable and completely misunderstood by those who have never really known the full beast. However, it is 'simply' (not the right word exactly) an altered state - a stress state. It is not real and does not need to be permanent if you know exactly how to tackle it (basically learning how to starve your subconscious of all triggers by learning how to feed your mind through your senses: reawakening your creativity - but constantly, and starving yourself of talking about the depression/ accommodating). I promise you. I did the Charles Linden Method btw and I love that man's soul to the end of this earth and beyond for what he taught me: not just curing the disorder but opening my creativity. Children also grow btw. There will be freedom and steemit is a great place to start. Good luck.