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Ok. Cheer up India.

I'm proud of you guys ,sharing your experiences.....you are never alone here... Talking is always a good thing .... Upwards and onwards ...❤❤❤

Thank you Vivianne and Phil for sharing your stories. Many of our members who also have depression have found that with time they had fewer episodes since quitting. I hope this is true for you two as well

@Linda Thomas you are one strong and though cookie! I admire your honesty and openess too. Thank you for sharing!!

Well, you two are not alone. I have battled anxiety and depression my whole life. There are many of us. You are right mightyboosh, I am still depressed when smoking, so why smoke. Depression is an illness and is treatable. Sometimes it takes the right doctor and medication. Viv, I am glad you choose life and have decided to quit smoking. You will get more powerful with your quit. If the depression becomes unmanageable, see your doctor.

I'll make that deal with you Mighty! Thank you for being so open about your experience- it means a lot to me.

Hi Viv, I've had depression for most of my adult life and it's a bitch. It feels like it's not the real me but that side can be a bully and kick away the real me from time to time. I know where you're coming from. I like to think that only intelligent people get depression so I comfort myself with that sometimes. In the smoking context, we both know cigs do jack shit to help anything or are a medication for any condition. My level of depression is not changed one iota with or without cigs so I may as well be depressed without smoking than be depressed with COPD or cancer. I've been on and off anti-depressants for years and it's about time we removed the stigma from such maladies and openly say, "Yeah, I've got depression. I've a job and family and it's managed. It's a physical illness, what's the big deal with you knowing?" Of course other folks may not be able to be employed with the condition but the above is just my example. There are many levels of depression and I'm mostly OK but when I'm not, my world seems to have a grey coating on it where nothing seems interesting or worth the effort and there's a lot of pessimism about big and even small matters eg. I'm not even going to watch England play, I know they'll lose. That was a 'small matter' example by the way. So there it is for all the World to read - I've got managed depression and if anyone thinks less of me for that, they can f**k off! Comon Viv, we can whinge and moan together but never with a cigarette in hand, that's the only stipulation.

I don't want to forget and get complacent.....Joel has a video on that LOL