25 Quotes About What Depression Recovery Feels Like

By The Depression Project

At The Depression Project, we're frequently asked questions by members of our 3,000,000+ person social media community about recovering from depression. And, one question in particular we often get asked is:

"What does depression recovery feel like?"

So, to answer this question, we'd now like to share with you 25 quotes about what recovering from depression feels like from members of our community :)

25 Quotes About What Depression Recovery Feels Like

"You can really feel yourself becoming free from depression, instead of being constantly weighed down by it. You feel lighter in spirit, and you have much more energy - both physical and mental - to put into what matters to you."
"For me, recovering from depression has led to me becoming much wiser to depression's ways. The tricks it used to use on me don't work anymore."
"When I used to think a negative thought, I'd always believe it, and that was how my depression would often spiral. Now, when I think a negative thought, I know that it's not true. They have lost their power over me."
"Now, I can actually say that I love myself - even with my imperfections. I used to hate myself and constantly put myself down, but now I know my worth and value."
"I feel much more grounded. I know what my values are, what my needs are, and what environments are good for me. It feels like I now have the insight I need about myself to navigate through life and make healthy choices for myself (compared to before, when I'd unwittingly take on way too much work, engage in toxic relationships and make other decisions that in hindsight compounded my depression)."
"In the past, I never felt worthy of anything good happening to me. But, I now believe and know that I'm worthy of good things, and I'm no longer so hesitant to seek them out (e.g. by asking for a raise at work that I definitely deserve, and trying to make new friends with the knowledge that I actually have something positive to bring to the table)."
"I feel armed against depression. Through therapy, I’ve learned a lot of strategies to protect myself from it and keep it out of my life. My last episode was over 2.5 years ago, and I’m going stronger than ever.”
"Throughout my healing journey, I learned to develop a ‘compassionate voice’ in my mind, and to always check in with it and listen to it. As a result, my ‘depression voice’ is so much quieter now, and even when I hear it, I know that there's this other voice that is more accurate and deserving of my attention."
"It’s like I learned how to be my own best friend. I used to be so comfortable giving love to those around me, but I had a huge block towards giving any of it to myself. Due to depression and feelings of worthlessness, I was my own worst enemy! But now, I can give myself that same love and kindness.”
"I trust my gut instinct much more. I can see toxic behaviour for what it is, and can walk away with confidence rather than feeling like I have to prove my worth to anyone. I’ve learned that I deserve to be treated as well as I treat others, and I will no longer settle for anything less.”
“My past trauma and all the depression that surrounded it does not control me anymore. Little by little, I have processed it and healed from it. It’s taken a long time but I finally feel free.”
"I feel more able to pursue my goals, rather than being held back by fears of failure or not being good enough like I did before. Like others have said, recovering from depression has meant I’ve needed to improve my self-worth, and now that I have, I have much more control over my past insecurities.”
"I'm much more in tune with my limitations now. I used to overstretch myself and feel like I was torn in too many directions, which would of course lead to burn out and depression. But these days, I feel more comfortable saying 'no' and factoring my own needs into things.”
"It's doing the things that depression had previously convinced me were impossible, and for the first time in my life, actually realising that I am a good, decent human being who is deserving of a good life. I am not the lies that depression would tell me I am."
"As you heal, you really start to believe in yourself more. You feel more confident in your ability to navigate depression’s symptoms and triggers. I now have a toolkit of strategies to help me combat them, and overall, I feel stronger than depression.”
"For me, recovering from depression has involved letting go of unhealthy coping habits like binge drinking and pushing others away (particularly in love). Now I meditate, exercise or read to regulate my emotions, and have learned to love myself to the point where I'm less scared of being vulnerable around others and being close to them. I've been sober for three-and-a-half years, in a relationship for seven months, and feel happier than I can ever remember."
"I used to feel really vulnerable. Small things would trigger my depression, and I'd get overwhelmed really easily or just ‘check out’ when something went wrong. But, now I'm much more resilient.”
"I would never ever choose to go through depression, but as hard as it was, it has taught me some really important lessons and made me a lot stronger. Now that I'm on the other side of it, I feel strong like I said and able to handle any challenges in the future that may come up.”
“When I was struggling with depression, lots of different things had the power to trigger it and send me spiralling – like negative thoughts, feeling as If I compare unfavourably to others, a critical comment from someone, or not achieving a goal that I’d really wanted to achieve (just to name a few things off the top of my head). But these days, none of these triggers plunge me into depression anymore. After a lot of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), I now know how to deal with all of these triggers in healthy ways, and as a result, they no longer have the power to trigger me.”
"It really feels like I've found a home within myself. I'm comfortable, finally."
"Depression was always getting in the way, holding me back and messing me up. But now - after a lot of hard work to get better! - I finally feel free to live the life I want."
“I feel happy, these days.”

Would You Like Some Help And Guidance To Recover From Depression?

If you'd like some help and guidance so that you can recover from depression, then we think you'll find our book This Is How You Overcome Depression extremely, extremely helpful, in which you'll learn:

Why you keep relapsing back into depression.
Why anti-depressant medication - while often helpful - isn't enough to recover from depression.
The 5 aspects of depression your treatment plan needs to address.
You’ll learn exactly what “survival strategies” are; why learning and implementing them will really help you to get quick, short-term relief from your depression when your symptoms are at their most severe; and why not learning and implementing them can lead to depression completely consuming you.
You’ll learn exactly what “coping strategies” are; why learning and implementing them will really help you to function and uphold your responsibilities; and why not doing so can lead to you feeling burned out, exhausted, and can result in the symptoms of your depression significantly worsening.
You’ll learn exactly what “healing strategies” are; why learning and implementing them can truly lead to you breaking free of this illness and never being plagued by it again; and why not doing so can result in you remaining trapped in depression.

We hope you find this book as well as the quotes we shared with you about what depression recovery feels like helpful :)

All our love,

The Depression Project Team.