Archived Student Stories

Thinking that depression was something which happened to older people, Anna felt ashamed and utterly alone with her feelings.

Severe bullying at school and betrayal by a best friend meant that Ben came to hate himself and found it very hard to trust others.

Safa found it particularly difficult not having an understandable explanation for the depression affecting her.

Elena is still working on overcoming her depression, but she is no longer concerned about suicide and feels that she has learnt how to manage the depression better.

Fayola believes that being a sensitive, emotionally tuned-in person makes her vulnerable to the low mood and depression which has affected her since her mid-teens.

For Gareth, depression also brings anxiety and paranoia. Undiagnosed dyslexia and other learning difficulties meant he was in his mid-20s when he first went to university.

Moving to a new country allowed Kristy finally to shake off the depressed habits she had got stuck in...

Tan Huan survived strongly suicidal thoughts by working hard to find meaning in his life in the face of difficult experiences, and by relying on the support of his family.

Aged 30 and a student for the first time, Tonya feels on top of her depression much of the time - though it can still affect her on occasion.

Mike relates his depression back to living as a black child in an area of the country with very little cultural diversity.

Becky stubbornly refused to seek help or confide in anyone, so it was only when an acquaintance forced her to talk that she began to turn things around...

Having always thought needing to talk to someone made you 'weak', Darren now says that going for counselling was the best thing he ever did...