I will honestly never understand why this picture keeps getting bumped by others only to combat against what a fictional god horse said that was written over seven years ago. I really don’t think this is the place to advocate for people to end their lives or to keep a bleak outlook.

@Naughtypony2010  
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t call you entitled. Being entitled to an opinion just means that you have every right to have it.
 
If you don’t want to discuss this anymore, just ignore this. But more broad question, are you in favor of or against euthanasia? If someone wants to end the suffering, why prolong it instead?

@Naughtypony2010  
Thank you 💗  
Just… you worded that perfectly.

@Background Pony #F250  
I’m not entitled i only mentioned my opinion on that part for a better example.  
and honestly, thats i’m guessing where both of our knowledge really ends and also our right to wildly assume things we are no expert in.  
to take it to a close, i believe that the personal mind of a person is effected heavily by the depression. and thus not their actual mind since its still a disorder.

And you are of course absolutely entitled to your opinion.
 
@Naughtypony2010  

 
Should they?… But that’s the thing… isn’t free will one of the highest goods in our society?  
Should that free will of that person not be respected?

@Background Pony #F250  
in my personal opinion on this, it can always be helped. it only needs the right help. the right helping hands.  
and with that in mind such people should always be helped. for the better in their life

@Naughtypony2010  
But couldn’t one also argue that it is more compassionate to let people have their will?  
If someone is depressed and wants to get help, then by all means help them…  
but if someone is beyond that point and ready to go?
 
I realize this is a seriously touchy subject

@Background Pony #F250  
because its 99.999% surely the wrong decision like, having a long life and experiencing all the nice things life has to offer. (this is not supposed to be a cheer up for those with depression, i know they heard it countless times)  
imagine if a grandparent ended it with 20 or 30 years old. they’d not have had the life they tell their grandchildren about.  
Also there’s something called compassion. something this society lacks of immensely.

How come people try to help others who are actually about to suicide?  
If someone decides they want to end it, that’s THEIR choice… why try to stop them?

@Background Pony #BC6B  

 
that’s not a thing

@Background Pony #BC6B  

Hell, do it. And make sure you try to get it published. Ya might get a bit of spare cash doing that, and you should probably categorize it as a “self-help” book.

I have been depressed for over twenty years now, and I have absolutely no hope left. How unlikely it is it that there exists anything that could make my life worthwhile, when so much has been tried and so much has been lost already? At this point only people who can even pretend there’s any hope for me are the people who don’t know me.
 
It has come to the point where every time I meet a new therapist and explain my situation, I know what their responses are going to be before they even say them. Everything that can be said has been said already, and it’s all just same meaningless cliches that they know to be cliches but repeat in the hopes that their patient hadn’t thought of them yet. I have seriously considered writing a book of them and their refutations to save time, but I have so little hopes of anyone reading it that I haven’t bothered. It took me a week to bother even responding here.
 
At this point I’m alive only because I can’t die, and I fully believe in quantum immortality because of how impossible it is to be freed from this cursed life. This is literally how I would design hell.

@Minus  

 
that’s called hope btw
 
I have struggled with depression all my life and I’m well aware what it can do. It may sound trite, but having lived it, the idea that good things are ahead even if you can’t see them – even if, from where you are, you can’t see how they’d even be possible – is the thought I held onto in my darkest times.  
To the point, then, these are all soundbite versions of larger thoughts. As you yourself can attest, by your own post, if one were to make a larger and more in-depth commentary on what it means to have hope in the face of depression, it would have taken up the entire image in text.

Just popping in again because my notifications brought me back.
 
Times are especially tough right now and I’m just hoping that everybody here’s healthy, both physically and emotionally. If we’re to crest this terrifying hill, we’ll be doing it together. Just know that my thoughts and hopes are with you all.
 
Stay strong, everypony.
 
@toonbat  
I appreciate it, Toon =) . You wouldn’t believe how many times your art has brought a smile to my face when I really needed it. I can’t drink right now because I’m currently on tornado watch over here in windy Indiana, but just imagine that I toasted my glass to you anyway xD .

The celestia part just comes off as some pretentious shit lord that knows fuck all about what you’re going through, doing what they want to for their own benefit. So they can feel good about themselves. And praise themselves for being so selfless. Tell them they didn’t help and they’ll insult you. Don’t tell depressed people to “have hope!” or something like that. It’s degrading.  
You know what you need to say? “You ever watch a film with a really shit start and want to turn it off? Did you wait it out and realise that it actually gets really good? That’s your life. This is season 1, where only the problems are shown, season 2 is where they get solved. Level 1, where you have the worst gear. This is the shit bit. And every awful thing you go through is there so you can learn it well, and avoid it in future. Your life is swimming up a waterfall. There’s a place up there where you can lay in the water and relax. It’s not a fair start, not at all, and you don’t deserve this, but it never stays this bad. So you can turn the movie off now, or wait for the twist ending that makes it all worthwhile.”  
This kept me alive. Not “HOPE!”, not the want for things to get better. But the knowledge that things getting better were genuinely likely.
 
@Minus  
Hey dude. Thank you. Thank you for waiting. Because of that, I am now happy. I have more friends than I can believe. People rely on me, and help me. I get kind words, and gifts, and I get to give those to them too. I am really truly happy. And it all began when I joined a Discord server for a thing that I liked. A webcomic quest… The same thing that made me know who The Weaver is, as a fun bit of connection. So I joined and well, what an adventure! I befriended people quickly, our interests just overlapped so well. I wanted to stay quiet and just listen from the shadows, but god is that hard when people bring up your favourite games and shows! And then members started rebelling against the abusive admin. So I ended up making a new server and inviting people to it as quick as I could before they got banned for standing up for themselves, and being lost to the aether. It worked, I pulled in a bunch, and set the old mod up as the new admin. And I found myself in a position of power by accident as the server creator. I spent a while, as admin, but with a mod role to hide this fact. In the end the guilt got to me and I quit as mod, and passed over the server ownership. The next day I am inundated with messages. “Why did you quit? We need you!” “You always had such good ideas for the server!” “I need help, I don’t know how to do this! Please come back!”  
I was so absorbed in my doubts that I didn’t even realise that people wanted me as a leader. I came back as a mod, and was showered in so much love and appreciation. Finally, the sense was slapped into me. I realised that no-one hated me anymore, except myself. I was the last obstacle, the last one who doubted me. So I threw away that thought. I wasn’t going to listen to my own inner voice anymore, I have friends who I trust more.
 
Now I’m proudly the admin, there at the request of all my friends. I get to help everyone, and they help me. It feels so weird. How did I go from a piece of shit, to someone that’s looked up to? I admit, I did change a little in this time. I had this bad problem where I kept “making jokes” that were very offensive. When my friends got upset I’d tell them “You’re being oversensitive!” and then keep doing it. I lost all my friends. And I still blamed them. For a while. I spent over a year totally alone, and yes it took that long for me to realise I was an asshole. This was just prior to me joining that new Discord Server that I became admin of. I don’t think I would be the person I am now, if I had not gone through losing all my old friends, of getting banned from that old group. It was one of the darkest moments of my life, to be that alone. I wish I had just ONE friend from that group to tell me what I did wrong, explain it to me and not hold back. Tell me to change. And give me another chance. But sadly that did not happen. I had to figure it out slowly. And I came close many times to not getting to ever learn my lesson.
 
But I worked it out, I became less of an asshole. I joined a group I fit in with. I helped everyone I could. And was pushed to become the new leader. I am surrounded by friends. I am surrounded with happiness. My life, is an enviable one. And it’s because I held on. Who’d think that something as mundane as joining a pony quest server would be the thing I needed to change my entire life?… Oh wait when was my first post? 2014? Hm, I also moved out of my parents house. That made a dramatic change too. My dad was abusive. And I didn’t even realise it until I got out of there just how bad it was before. I’d normalised so much of that abuse. So, those were the TWO steps I made that saved me.
 
If you somehow read all of this, then first, WOW, and second, I hope it helps. I wont tell you to have hope. I just want you to know that there’s a twist at the end of your story, and I apologise for this spoiler, but it gets good!

@Background Pony #77C5  
It takes more than having a positive attitude to change things around; that’s only the first step. You also must have the drive to make those changes.

I visit this image every couple of months or so.
 
Each time, I realize nothing’s changed since the last visit.

@toonbat  
I appreciate your happiness. :)  
hugs

@Joseph Raszagal  
Ffffuck, dude! I hope you like hugs, ‘cause I’m giving you one so hard!
 
You gotta know, I am always incredibly grateful for all the kind and funny comments you’ve made on my drawings. Every single day, I end up looking through the comments people make of my drawings, and no matter how bummed out I may feel, they always make me feel better. Sure, it’s just fanart, but just knowing that there someone out there who enjoys and even celebrates a small part of me… that’s worth more to me than you can imagine. I know that other artists must feel the same way. I can only say that for my part, you’ve helped give me joy and I hope you know that.

Two and a half years after first seeing and RD and Luna still resonate hard with me.
 
_{With a touch of AJ also appearing there in the meantime, but that has less to do directly with depression in my case.}

@Background Pony #9C4C  
[bq=”Background Pony #9C4C”] @Starry Mind

I’d say that the closest ones to me are probably Rainbow Dash, Luna, and Big Mac.
 
I’m 30-years-old now and I still haven’t really done anything with my life. I used to tour with a punk band, but my anxiety’s gotten so bad that my hands constantly shake, making it impossible to play the violin unless I’m medicated (which I can’t afford). I aspire to write, but my projects never get finished and instead I’m working in a warehouse operating a forklift for 10 hours a day. I drink twice a week because it numbs the pain a teeny-tiny bit, even if I know it’s only a temporary relief and that it’s unhealthy for me in the long run. Whenever I think about my future, I can’t actually see anything, and the thought of that alone terrifies me in ways that are difficult to explain.
 
However, I do still hold on to hope. Even as messed up as I am, I get up every day and keep trying. Maybe because it’s all I’ve got, maybe not… maybe something better that I can’t really explain either.
 
Hope that helps. Raz out.

@Background Pony #9C4C  
I don’t know about how this works in other countries, but in the United States, medical professionals aren’t allowed to disclose facts about you to random people. There are exceptions though: they are allowed to tell a legal guardian if it is necessary to you or others’ safety, the target for a violent plan if you intend to hurt somebody else, and law enforcement if you admit to a violent crime.
 
You’re actually quite safe telling things to your doctor. Even if you admit to suicidal thoughts, it is only treated as a symptom until you express the intent to carry out those thoughts.
 
I would highly recommend mentioning this to somebody if you need help. I’ve been through hell with depression. I would probably not be here as proof that you can get through a depression, if I didn’t give myself one more chance to live, by asking for some form of treatment.
 
You know what? I’m okay now. And I want you to be able to say that in a couple of years too.

@Starry Mind  
[bq=”Starry Mind”]

When the only hope that you have left is the hope that you won’t end yourself today