hi kate,ive been manageing depression for at least 20 yrs,before that in my teens i didnt realise it but i had a social phobia and looking back i believe i had depression.it reaked havoc for years and now and again it stil tries to if i let it.its not easyand at times it nearly took me to ending my life ,especially in the earlier times when i didnt know what to do ,how to get help or the skills to cope.one thing i didnt realise was that depression can lead you to become ,very bitter ,twisted and paranoid ,seeing the world from a negative perpective.one thing that did help was getting a good counselor,support and when i was at my worst some antideppresents that agreed with me enough to lift my mood enough to see the world and my issues a little clearer to be able to start tackling them.however i did loss one important relationship through having depression.what i feared became a self fullfilling prophecy.i pushed him away and accused him of stuff he didnt do ,in the end he did do it and went because he was so sick of living with not me but my depression.so a lesson was learned the hard way.thankfully im now in a happy marriage depression still creeps up now and again but im better prepared to deal with it.C.BThelped agreat deal too in fact it changed my life (thats cognitive behaviour therapy)looking at patterns of behaviour,negative influences and changing them to a more positive outcome.i hope this helps.
tigereye.