I was diagnosed with high functioning depression a couple of years ago. It was also found during the course of therapy that I had developed depression from childhood, but it had not been detected or diagnosed probably because it was high functioning (that is, it does not hamper my ability to function normally at work etc.) Even though therapy gave me a lot of tools and methods to manage the depression, I still have episodes of varying severity, depending on the other things going on in my life. And in living with depression, I have figured out that the best things one needs to equip oneself with to combat depression are Hope, Love and Gratitude.

For those who are acquainted with JK Rowling's famous fantasy series Harry Potter, I always equate depression to Dementers -- the monsters who, as they come nearer to you, suck all your hope and happiness away. That leaves you most vulnerable, with no will to go on, and therefore easily defeatable. And the only thing that can fight Dementers? A magical charm that only works if you recall and relive your happiest memory. I really believe this is an allegory for depression. It literally sucks all your hope and happiness out of you, leaving you with no will to live. And therefore, what we need to do in order to fight it is to summon our happiest memories and thereby, Hope.

The way I experience it, Hope, Love and Gratitude are inseparably intertwined. I have learned to look back at all that I have gone through in my life, and see that life has always steered me to what I consider my best experiences. I used to consider myself 'lucky' for having been gifted with all that life gave me. But I realised that in considering myself 'lucky', I was also telling myself I did not deserve what I got. And therefore I also cannot expect more of it. That led to hopelessness and the cycle of depression started all over again.

At one point, while worrying about my future I was again looking through my past, and I was able to see that whether I asked for it or not, Life always steered me consistently to good things. I asked myself how it could be. And I realised there is only one possible answer: the Universe loves me! And I started asking myself, if the whole Universe can love me regardless of anything else, can't I do that too? Here I was, striving to give and receive and spread unconditional love, and I hadn't seen the first step I needed to take: I only needed to love myself, accept myself as I am, to let Abundance and Peace flow into my life. By loving and accepting myself, I also learned to accept and love others around me.

Love also brought with it Hope. The moment you start loving yourself, you stop believing that you don't deserve all the good things life has gifted you with. You are then opening your hands and your mind and your soul to all that life can bring you. And you stop judging yourself because you love yourself no matter what, and you stop judging the experiences life brings you. You now become an active participant in your own life, instead of the passive one you have been till now. You start attracting abundance and peace by allowing yourself to experience it more and more. Because the Universe loves you. It will always bring you more and more love and happiness and peace and abundance. This teaches you to look forward to more love and peace and abundance. You attract them.

Once you see how much you have and how much the Universe is giving you each day, you also learn to acknowledge it. Because you simply cannot look forward to more of it without first acknowledging what you already have. This brings you to Gratitude. Gratitude is the touchstone that changes you from a passive player to an active player in the game of life. Gratitude is acknowledging that life is giving you everything you need, and that it is all coming to you because you deserve it, and this acknowledgement is possible only when you love and accept yourself. And all this is what Hope is.

And once you are able to see how these things are intertwined, you have equipped yourself to fight your dementers. You let go of your depression without even realising it. Look at life... What is there to not be Grateful for? What is there to not Hope? What is there to not Love? Let us affirm to ourselves every day: "I love and accept myself the way I am. The Universe loves me the way I am. I know I deserve all this love, and I accept it with all my heart. I thank the universe, and I know that my life will always be filled with love, peace and abundance.”

Love and light to you!