What does depression mean to you

It seems to me like lot of people come here for comfort and to find people who are going through the same thing. But then sometimes they are slammed with words like "lazy" and "attention seeking". So to me it seems like people really dont understand depression as a chemical imbalance or a disease. Not everyones depression is due to chemical imbalance but a lot of them are. And a lot of people who suffer from depression do not like it. Its a disease like high blood pressure or diabetes...very few people like to have diseases. Anyway my point is that people are not being lazy or are not seeking attention. And it is also not the case that they are not doing everything they can in the situation. Depression is hard because it mentally disables the person and its not physical like breaking a leg...it takes time to heal and baby steps are the way to go. Depressed people cant just jump out of bed and be all happy, it takes time and constant effort to do so, the very thing that they lack...anyway i would like all of your suggestions, corrections and criticisms...thank you

Mike, how did you do it? How did you get out of your depression after losing your brother?

Mike how long did it take for you to realize that?

I am interested in everything everyone has to say, so if you would like to talk about it, feel free...along with the question of what people think about depression it would be a bonus to hear encouraging stories like yours