Wow.  Are you me from a year ago?!

Good luck getting all of that sorted out :)  Try to always think of the positives in your life, of which I'm sure there are plenty.  It's never quite as bad as it seems!

All the time. Never thought I would but as of this past year I definitely have.

Health problems, Financial problems. Just feeling like I hate everything and everyone and never wanting to do anything anymore. Unsure of education choices. It takes it toll on you.

Punch a happy person. Their happiness will leave them and come to you, unless there a somewhat happy person nearby, he'll take half. You also have to watch out for cats because they attack the happiness and turn it into depression which will make you even more depressed. If you punch a happy person on their birthday then the outside forces are basically negated, they can damage the happiness a little but you'll still get you fix.

A big warning though is that if you punch a happy person who had a loved one die within a week of the punch the happiness will mutate and cause you to hate water. Most people die from dehydration so be careful.

be honest

Yeah sometimes.

Despite still being optimistic after my mother's passing last year, I go into a depressive state from either of the following.

Never dated in my life
Never had an actual job (which I think the main reason is because I don't have not one bit of work experience)
No car (my first one which belonged to my mom was totaled in an accident my dad was in)
No health care (which worries me since obama care might soon penalize me for not having any)

Other than that, I have a pretty decent life.

yea, especially from the age of 19-25. After things just started feeling better and looking better. Stay as positive as you can, don't let the job market get you down. things are different now than they were for your parents, or even some older siblings you may have. The job market really sucks. Most people I know who have degrees do not get jobs in their fields yet, and others with no degrees have some really crappy jobs. Your life isn't over, its just begining! Just keep chugging away at things and stay positive things will look better for you. Also keep on learning skills if you can on your own. Sometimes its a good morale boost to learn something new.

You have a degree and a girlfriend and a family. Take pride in all of these things. Focus on the good and don't allow shortcomings to get you down. You are in a good position in life that you worked toward. In time, you will come to realize this.

I had never really experienced much depression. Everything came easy to me. Then I lost my job and spent nearly 5 months searching for a new one. It's hard to stay positive during that stretch, but sometimes you just need to get through bad situations to setup a good one.

Be persistent, positive, punctual, and personable and there is nothing that can truly bring you down except yourself. Best of luck!

Yeah a little bit. I'm from a well to do family and have great friends, but girls have got me down a bit.

Its funny because up until about a year or so ago I never bothered with women, I was perfectly happy being single, hanging with the guys, drinking beer, playing videogames, etc... But then I decided maybe it's time I try and get a girlfriend but so far that's been a failure with disappointment after disappointment and now I'm single (the same as a year ago) but instead of happily single I'm single and bummed out. Oh well...

Down few times but never really felt depressed, I have learned to be happy. Most people get depressive because of their own way of thinking. Try to think positive. I recommend many depressive people to read 'the art of happiness' from Howard Cutler and the Dalai lama. It basically learns you to stay postive and happy in very difficult situations and decreasing the chance of being depressed. For an example: 'Never use the word 'Problem' anymore and replace it with the word 'Challenge'. Try it on yourself in situations and you will found out that the word 'Problem' is a very negative word while the word 'Challenge' gives you energy and makes you stronger to solve the issue. Or try to think a few times 'why I am so lucky to have/get this'... For example when it is cold dont start to complain how cold it is but say 'why are we so lucky that it doesn't rain'...Yeah people will first think that something is wrong with you (people are not used to positive thinking) but will also get more positive themself and that will increase your chances of being happy and decreasing the chance of being depressive. 'Why are we all so lucky that we can spend time posting on forumboards while so many unlucky people only can dream of it?'

That is mostly a problem of first world countries. We are used to think negative, we hear everyday that if we don't buy this thing we not will be happy and if we finally buy it we only feel happy for a short while (Like how everyone from your friends have something and you don't making you feel bad and how then again you will complain to your parents about it and make them feel bad... Like the kids who complained that they not got an Iphone/ipad last year on christmas). Or how we will not be happy if we don't have a gf/wife or child... If you have a gf and all her friends are getting pregnant big chance she will start to being depressed because she is not pregnant or don't have a child;..and when she have a child she will start being depressed because she have no time to go out with her friends who have not a child...

Every child/teen in NA/EU should get some classes in their life of how to think positive because it is so sad that more teens are depressive and want to kill themself in First world countries than in third world countries..

Or watch this guy's show (also helps to think positive) => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciYk-UwqFKA

I go through bouts of "i'm never going to get a job" despair, but that's about it. Having even this internship on a daily basis helps me dodge around that, because if i feel like i'm going somewhere, i don't get depressed, though the internship ends with the election and it ends with me making phone calls (which i find boring, but also find not very useful, even though the campaign seems to think they are)

The fact that my social life has collapsed since college and that i have been on all of one date in my entire life doesn't really faze me, because i assume those elements will improve once i settle down and get a damn job. My friends are scattered to the four winds while i remain at home, and i don't have the money to go out and meet girls, but it doesn't really bother me.