For me depression is more often than not anger or fear or hopelessness turned inward because I can't acknowledge it or tell the truth about it.
I am angry right now at having to pay the accountant $3,000 for the mess he created. But since I can't fix it or control it and he won't accept any responsibility for it I took that inward and hate myself. Because I was raised to not be angry.
My depression is mostly situational. Things that are out of my control
I am completely stressed about not being at work for the last 11 days. But I can't just make the work appear I am not in charge of that. If the company work for has no loads I don't go to work. My mind wonders how I will survive pay the bills function when nothing is going right.

For me it is things that I cannot fix and I either can't or won't be angry at the person/thing who is stressing me.

For some reason I have to turn it inward.
I will have to think more on this
Not sure that answered your question but I guess those are my triggers.

Yes the way you explain depreshion is exactualy how it feels to me and I finaly have my head above water .......it takes time to get on the right meds and the right strength .......but it is good when you finaly get it right .....if you are thinking that the phicatrist or councolour can cure you no wounder you think you have been just taken by them the thing is ......I don't know what dbt is ....but my experances is that the doctor is realy there to be a sounding bord and give you your meds ......you are there to talk .....it is the talking that heals you I found this out the heard way .....I ended up in hospital ....I had been crying all the time and then I stopped talking I just couldent talk ......they gave me ect ....and I started to talk and I haven't stopped it is the talking that heal you the doctor is there for a sounding bord to make a dog noses and give you meds ....but youhaveto tell him exactualy exactualy how you feel or he can't help you .....we are not made to keep things inside especualy painfull things so everything from the beginning has to come out ......that is how you heal .......I had a doctor who was always tired and yohong all the time si I just used him I just talked and it worked just as good as it did with the doctors that were actually lisining to me .....so talking is the kee to healing ......everything from the beginning everything that was painfull ......I don't know what is cbt...I believe that prayer is very powerfully I always have .....god loves us unconditionally yes depreshion is like that you can be doing good one minit and some one could say somthing and you just hit bottom .......I have been in this depreshion for 9 years ....and somthing happened and it was like I just walked off the edge go a cliff and I have been digging in and climbing fighting my way up ever since I also feli for a while like I was treading water and was going under and ow my head and shoulders are above water ........so I still have a long fight a head of me ....the only advises I can realy tell you is to talk I can't tell yu how important it is and don't leave eney thing out ......eney thing that has ever hurt you has to come out because it has left a mark on you that needs to heal .......I will keep you in my prayers ......god bless

What you wrote about the Effexor is interesting because I have been on and off it since 1998. I agree, its just fantastic and makes an enormous difference. What's better than that? More than one AD. On top of the Effexor I now take mirtazepine (before bed) and olanzapine (as adjunct therapy to bump things up some) and I feel even better than on just the Effexor alone. And its winter, on the frozen Canadian Prairie. I get no sunlight now, no exercise in the garden anymore - yet I don't feel like crap (normally I would, and I always feel better in summer than during winter for obvious reasons).

You can take more than one AD together providing they are from different classes. Perhaps bounce the idea off your doctor too. Sometimes more IS indeed better!

Wow, I realized I am fortunate that my General Practitioner is the one who diagnosed and put me on meds for the depression end of my issues. No hoops to jump through, no need for therapy until I say so.. none of that. I do wish people got better help for they're emotional issues.

For me, depression starts like you said. Something happens, or is said, and something inside me is triggered and the spiral downward begins.

Sometimes my mind starts racing and it feels like I'm going to drown in my own thoughts.

I also notice that when I'm feeling this way, my confidence is extremely low and everything affects it. I tend to feel like I'm not important and that my voice isn't being heard. I get frustrated and cry easily which makes me feel weak.

I don't remember that crying doesn't make me weak-it makes me human.

I was diagnosed with depression when I was 18. It's changed a lot over the years and I've tried a lot of medications too. I'm currently on Prozac and that seems to be the right fit for now.

The holidays are one big trigger for me and I'm currently struggling with feelings of loss.

I'd like to seek therapy-it has helped for me in the past-but it's an expense I can't afford. I'm dodging bill collectors as it is.

Getting out of bed is sometimes a challenge for me too-going to work seems to be the hardest thing but once I get there and I put on my retail face, I'm 'on' and I can't look back. It's exhausting which makes me want to go to bed even more and the circle continues.

I don't know if I'm helping but I appreciate the invite to dialogue.

I hope today is a good day for you,

~Elbie

For me, depression is, yeah, a feeling of powerlessness to do anything about things that are out of my control, and it is also a lack of positive direction. When I HAVE a positive direction, that I KNOW will bring the desired result, like money, I pursue that positive direction aggressively, and am delighted with the results!

I started writing blog articles for companies through skyword.com, and it's been great. I wrote 7 articles last month and generated, at $100-$120 an article, an additional $800 on top of everything else I've been doing. It's made the difference between barely scraping by and actually being comfortable! Naturally, I log into my skywriter dashboard every day to submit more topic ideas and look for the topic ideas that are there to grab to write about. For Julie and any others who are experiencing financial woes, this is an option to help things out!

As far as the feelings of blah, melancholy, etc., I'm happy to say that I'm NOT and have NEVER BEEN on ANY medication. I do physical exercise, particularly bicycling, to combat depression, and it works wonders. I can't help but be in a good mood when I'm boogeying along at 15-20 miles an hour with the pavement racing by under my feet, feeling the endorphins pumping into my brain and my body core getting stronger and stronger with each pedal. It's exhilerating!

I've been suffering from depression since probably age 12 or 13. I watched my parents marriage implode, and then suffered sexual abuse from a neighbor a few years later. I've been to therapy several times, and am currently seeing a therapist (it helps a little if for nothing else than an impartial person to talk to). I also recently switched from Effexor (which I think stopped working after being on it for years) to Lexapro (only been a few weeks so I don't know if it's really working yet). I've never had much in the way of self-esteem, although that is something I'm working on. I guess what keeps me going is my kids mostly, although there are times I feel I'm doing them more harm than good by being the more lenient parent. I echo what's been said about triggers. Sometimes, things are going well for a day or week, then something happens and I fall to pieces (usually it's due to a bad decision I made that causes someone to get upset with me). Right now, I'm just trying to take things day by day, to not beat myself up over my mistakes, and to just try and be a better person today than I was yesterday.

Yes, we have similar situations, "I'm treading water" too, Therapy isn't working, even the phone therapy, as it's every two months, and I asked what do I do with the month between sessions, all the advise that was given, was self-help, or join a support group, which brings me here. Lastly, you are right we are all in this boat together, to some degree or another, but giving advise, can be tricky, just sharing each of our experience is all we can do, and take what we will from that, because what works for me, may not work for you, that is all I've learnt so far, but I still learning. The thing that beats me down is no support from the family and friends, as they don't understand depression, their attitude is just GET OVER IT period. Since that isn't working and my therapist isn't either, here I am. Hopefully we all will get the support we are all looking for.