User blog comment:SnakeTongue237/General Nastiness: Where I've been over the past few months./@comment-26399604-20160817020649

Depression is never an easy thing to deal with. I've had my share of moments with it and it's nearly destroyed me. Everyone has their way of dealing with it. In my case, I shut myself off from the world and threw on a fake smile when out-and-about. I drank excessively and pretended I didn't care about anyone and anything, but deep-down I did.

That's the one of the problems with suffering internally - you think more negativity will quench the pain. Instead, you only fuel the fire.

I wanted people to care but I wasn't willing to let anyone in to help. To some, it might've appeared like I was okay because I masked the pain so well while others could probably tell something was up. Yet, if someone did ask, I would always curve any concerns or questions despite wanting to spill-out my soul and anguish.

Depression even gave me second-thoughts about stopping everything I did. It affected my work, my relationships and even the things I enjoyed like writing or drawing as you mentioned. Music definitely helped, but over time I eventually got through it. Changing up my scenery like exercising really helped me and small doses of spending time with my family and friends as well. Despite what we may think, our external connections really can play an important role in our lives without realizing it. This can be the same for you to someone else.

Anyways, it's good to see you back because I was wondering about your absence, especially after you were released from the hospital (at the time). I wasn't sure if something else related had followed or not. I hope things continue to look up for you and that you can rid yourself of one of the true monsters of life which is depression.

Hope to see more of your stories again soon! :)