"Get over it"

I wish more people would understand that depression is not just something you get over.  With depression and other forms of mental illness becoming more understood and more prevelant, that is changing but not nearly enough.  There are still many people with the mindset that those with depression just need to buck up and get over it and move past the depression.  

Depression - clinical depression - is not just feeling blue or being upset.  It is a chronic illness, an invisible disability.  It is lasting and doesn't just go away.  It is not caused by something bad or sad in my life.  It is based upon a chemical imbalance in my brain.  I have no control over it and can only do what I can to make the impact it has on my life as minimal as possible.  It is, and will be, a never-ending battle in my life.  I will always have depression and I will always have to take medication to deal with it.  (Of course, advances in medicine could find a cure for depression and there is a chance that I may someday be off my medication for good.  I'm hopeful that this will be the case someday, hopefully soon.)

I wish I could just "get over it."  That would make things a hell of a lot easier.