Depression can feel overwhelming, confusing, and deeply isolating. Yet understanding where it comes from and how we relate to it can change everything. This is a personal reflection on depression, human struggle, and how meditation helped transform suffering into understanding.
Where Does Depression Come From?
Let’s first try to understand where depression originates. When we see depression solely as a disease, we immediately view ourselves as patients, broken and in need of fixing. But when we recognize it as something that can develop during life, something many humans experience, it can become a teacher rather than an enemy. This change in perspective doesn’t deny professional care or medical treatment; instead, it creates space for compassion, understanding, and self-acceptance, which are often absent when we label ourselves.
Lessons Learned From Working as a Nurse
I worked as a nurse for 13 years, and during one of those years, I was assigned to a VIP ward reserved for celebrities, politicians, and socially renowned individuals. One patient in particular remains in my memory because I regret that I couldn’t help her as much as I wanted to. She was beautiful and married to a very successful businessman who adored her. From the outside, her life looked ideal: money, love, family, and social status. Yet she was hospitalized due to severe depression.
Every morning, as I measured out her medication, I greeted her with a smile. She would look at me and say, “I wish I could smile like you.” She often spoke about the pain of having no hope, no motivation, and no passion for life.
At the time, I couldn’t understand how someone whose life seemed so perfect could feel such despair.
Depression Does Not Discriminate
At the same hospital, I also cared for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who had been diagnosed with depression. As a young and inexperienced nurse, I struggled to understand how people admired by the world, everyone envied, could feel so lonely and empty inside. These experiences quietly challenged my assumptions. Success, wealth, and admiration clearly did not protect the mind from suffering. Looking back, I now understand that depression does not discriminate. It does not choose based on appearance, status, or achievement. It arises from the human mind itself.
When Depression Became My Own Reality
As time passed, I found myself sinking into depression. Throughout my life, I had always given 100% to everything I did. I believed I was happy and doing well, so discovering I had the same symptoms as my former patient shocked me deeply. I never imagined this could happen to me. I lost all motivation. Everything felt meaningless. Money no longer mattered. Having a loving family no longer brought comfort. I didn’t care about eating, cleaning, or even living. I felt completely alone in the world. From my medical knowledge, I recognized that I was experiencing severe depression and needed professional help.
How Meditation Changed My Perspective on Depression
Fortunately, I had also been trained in meditation. Through meditation, I began to observe my depression instead of resisting it. I started to see that my perspective was shaping my suffering.
My medical education had given me financial stability and social recognition, but by that same logic, it labeled me a “patient.” Meditation offered a different viewpoint. As I observed my condition through meditation, I realized I had come into this world as a human being, and I was simply suffering from my human mind. From this perspective, something shifted. Anyone could experience depression. That realization alone brought relief. For the first time, I felt able to breathe again.
You can explore similar approaches on our Meditation Practice page.
Learning to Treat Depression as a Friend
Through meditation, I began viewing my depression as a friend, one trying to tell me that I was going through something difficult, even though I hadn’t realized it myself. I began speaking to myself with kindness:
“I see that you’re going through something right now. That’s okay. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t feel like it.”
“What you’re feeling isn’t wrong. It doesn’t mean you’re strange or broken. This can happen to anyone.”
“This feeling is telling you that you need rest. You don’t need to wash, laugh, or eat for others unless you want to.”
“It’s okay to lie in bed. It’s okay to step back and watch others walk ahead.”
As tears streamed down my face, I felt as though the universe itself was taking care of me. It felt as though these words were not coming from me, but from the universe, my true hometown.
Finding Belonging Through Meditation
There are moments in life when we feel lost because we don’t know where we came from or where we are going. These are deeply lonely moments. Meditation helped me accept that struggle is part of life. Instead of being trapped in self-doubt and asking, “What’s wrong with me?”, I learned to open my mind to the people around me and ask for help. This allowed me to relax into life rather than fight it. I became good friends with my life.
FAQs
- Can meditation really help with depression?
Meditation helps by changing how we relate to thoughts and emotions. It builds awareness, acceptance, and emotional stability over time. - Is meditation a replacement for medical treatment?
No. Meditation complements professional care but should not replace therapy or medical treatment when needed. - Why does depression affect successful people?
Depression arises from the human mind, not external success. Wealth and status do not protect emotional well-being. - What if meditation feels difficult at first?
That is very common. Meditation often brings awareness to suppressed emotions, which is why guidance is helpful. - Do I need experience to begin meditation?
No prior experience is needed. Many meditation programs are designed specifically for beginners.
Conclusion:
Depression is not a failure; it is a message. When we stop fighting it and begin listening, healing starts. Meditation helped me accept struggle, let go of self-doubt, open up to others, and find calm within myself. Your mind deserves patience, understanding, and peace.
I would like to introduce this meditation video that reflects this journey toward acceptance and inner peace.
Cerina Lim