Depression Quotes: Finding Hope

While feeling sad from time to time is generally a healthy human emotion, you might be experiencing a mental health condition if this feeling lingers or worsens with time, interferes with your ability to function in multiple areas of your life, or prevents you from enjoying activities you used to love. If your low or “bad” mood doesn’t resolve in time or respond to frequent attempts to cheer yourself up, it could be a clinical mental illness that requires professional treatment.

Depression is a common but serious mental health condition affecting close to 300 million people worldwide.

Reading relatable, inspirational, or helpful depression quotes may help you feel more connected to others and less alone when symptoms feel isolating. That said, if you’re experiencing symptoms of depression or another mental health condition, it’s typically recommended that you meet with a mental health professional for support.

The point in treating depression—which is usually done through talk therapy, sometimes in combination with medication—is to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. In conjunction with this support, the following quotes may provide some comfort for when depression hits.

Depression-related loneliness 

Sadness and pain can make you feel lonely. For people whose thoughts are filtered by depression, it can be easy to feel like no one understands what they're going through. Below are a few quotes about this feeling: 

• "Depression is being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is." –Atticus

• “A big part of depression is feeling really lonely, even if you're in a room full of a million people.” –Lilly Singh

• “My forest is dark, the trees are sad, and all the butterflies have broken wings.” –Raine Cooper

• "There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn't." –John Green

• "When you're surrounded by all these people, it can be lonelier than when you're by yourself. You can be in a huge crowd, but if you don't feel like you can trust anyone or talk to anybody, you feel like you're really alone." –Fiona Apple

Uplifting depression quotes

Reading uplifting depression quotes may help you change your perspective on depression and its symptoms. Below are a few to consider, including one about how mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but how much work the attempt to conceal mental pain can be and how naming it may help:

• "Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it's good for you, even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when the food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason." –Andrew Solomon

• "I understand your pain. Trust me, I do. I've seen people go from the darkest moments in their lives to living a happy, fulfilling life. You can do it too. I believe in you. You are not a burden. You will never be a burden." –Sophie Turner

• "You say you're 'depressed'—all I see is resilience. You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn't mean you're defective; it just means you're human." –David Mitchell

• “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger—something better, pushing right back.” –Albert Camus

• “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say 'My tooth is aching' than to say 'My heart is broken.' Yet if the cause is accepted and faced, the conflict will strengthen and purify the character and in time the pain will usually pass.” –C.S. Lewis

Quotes about depression

Sadness and emotional pain are common depression symptoms, and they often have the quality of making you feel as if they will last forever. Sadness can also alter your perception of time because your brain is more neurochemically active when you feel strong emotions. Below are a few quotes about these symptoms: 

• "That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end." –Elizabeth Wurtzel

• “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” –Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral's Kiss

• “I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare.” –Ned Vizzini, It's Kind of a Funny Story

• "It's not always the tears that measure the pain. Sometimes, it's the smile we fake." –Unknown

• "We hide to try our feelings, but we forget that our eyes speak.” –Unknown

• "I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel worthless, and they don't want anyone else to feel like that." –Robin Williams

• "No matter how hopeless and depressed you feel, I promise that you won't feel this way forever. Keep going." –Helen Wilson

• "Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not, and often we call a man cold when he is only sad." –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say 'My tooth is aching' than to say 'My heart is broken.' Yet if the cause is accepted and faced, the conflict will strengthen and purify the character and in time the pain will usually pass.” –C.S. Lewis

Explaining depression

Some people with depression struggle to recognize and understand their feelings or find the words to explain them to their loved ones. These quotes may help get you to the place where you've finally learned the right words to describe how depression affects your mind and body: 

• "Depression isn't a war you win. It's a battle you fight every day." –Shaun David Hutchinson

• "The hardest thing about depression is that it is addictive. It begins to feel uncomfortable not to be depressed. You feel guilty for feeling happy." –Pete Wentz

• "That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end." –Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation

• "I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like." –Jenny Lawson

The impact of depression

Depression can influence your cognitive patterns and behaviors, potentially changing how you act and react in various situations. Below are a few quotes about this impact: 

• "Depression is feeling like you've lost something but having no clue when or where you last had it. Then one day you realize what you lost is yourself." –Unknown

• "Sometimes, all you can do is lie in bed and hope to fall asleep before you fall apart." –William C. Hannan

• "Depression doesn't take away your talents—it just makes them harder to find." –Lady Gaga

• "All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul, and they will never notice how broken you really are." –Robin Williams

Managing symptoms

One of the characteristics of clinical depression is that symptoms persist for at least two weeks and cause functional impairment that can interfere with school, work, personal life, or relationships. Below are a few quotes about managing these symptoms: 

• "My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don't know why I wouldn't seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth. I go to the dentist. So why wouldn't I go to a [mental health professional]?" –Kerry Washington

• "It's my mission to spread this with the world and to let them know that there is life on the other side of those dark times that seem so hopeless and helpless. I want to show the world that there is life—surprising, wonderful, and unexpected life after diagnosis." –Demi Lovato

• "It is okay to have depression, it is okay to have anxiety, and it is okay to have an adjustment disorder. We need to improve the conversation. We all have mental health in the same way [that] we all have physical health." –Prince Harry

Loving someone with depression

Many people seek guidance on supporting a loved one with depression. It can help to start by educating yourself about their condition and reading these quotes: 

• "I found that, with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you're not alone." –Dwayne Johnson

• "Never give up on someone with a mental illness. When 'I' is replaced by 'we,' illness becomes wellness." –Shannon L. Alder

• "Awareness is power. Understanding the types of symptoms your partner faces will help you have more patience and empathy. You'll also learn that sad moods and irritability are not always caused by any particular event or action." –Lisa Batten, Ph.D.

• "If you know someone who's depressed, please resolve to never ask why. Depression isn't a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather." –Stephen Fry

Quotes about sadness

When you have depression, it may be challenging to take an interest in or get pleasure from the things you used to enjoy. This phenomenon is called anhedonia, and it can act as a filter for your emotions, creating the emotional dulling that many people with depression report. Some quotes about this feeling include:

• "People think depression is sadness—that it's crying and dressing in black—but people are wrong. Depression is the constant feeling of being numb. It's being numb to emotions, being numb to life. You wake up in the morning just to go back to bed again." –Unknown 

• "Something inside me clicks. It's like I've spent my whole life fiddling with a complicated combination only to discover I was toying with the wrong lock." –Jasmine Warga

• "Depression is like a bruise that never goes away—a bruise in your mind. You've just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always here, though." –Jeffrey Eugenides

• "Having anxiety and depression is like being scared and tired at the same time. It's the fear of failure but no urge to be productive. It's wanting friends but hating to socialize. It's wanting to be alone but not wanting to be lonely. It's caring about everything, then caring about nothing. It's feeling everything at once, then feeling paralyzingly numb." –Unknown 

• "It is very hard to explain to people who have never known serious depression or anxiety the sheer continuous intensity of it. There is no off switch." –Matt Haig

Seeking support for depression 

If you're struggling to manage depressive symptoms or other mental illness, you're not alone. Reading depression quotes can be beneficial, but it isn't a replacement for mental health support. Even if you struggle to get out of bed or find a provider in your area, thousands of licensed therapists are available through online therapy platforms like BetterHelp.

With flexible appointment formats over the phone, via video call, or through online chat, fitting online therapy into your schedule may be more straightforward and convenient than trying to arrange in-person sessions. A licensed therapist may help you find healthy ways to manage depression symptoms and implement coping strategies while supporting you in a non-judgmental environment.  

According to a recent study, online cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may be as effective as face-to-face sessions in most cases—and often comes with lower costs, shorter wait times, and increased convenience. Many clients in the study found that the added physical distance of virtual therapy made it easier to discuss sensitive subjects with their therapists, and the convenience of receiving treatment at home made it possible to attend sessions more regularly for improved treatment outcomes.