Everyone who suffers from depression knows how bad it can get. From the tormenting thoughts of whether or not your situation will actually work out, to wondering if anyone actually cares that you're going through it, depression makes life ridiculously difficult. A few months ago, I wrote an article about what anxiety is like. About a month ago, I wrote another about depression. Having both makes normal life seem impossible. You try to stay positive because you're sure that's the only way to keep going. You're sure that if you don't admit to yourself that you are in pain, it will all just pass. But it's not that simple.

Depression and anxiety can be debilitating, especially if you put the two together. Depression makes you apathetic as well as so many other things. Anxiety makes you freak out and worry about your apathy. It's a never ending cycle that seems to only lead to more darkness. Let me tell you that that doesn't have to be true.

I'll be honest with you guys. My life has not been easy. I have struggled and fought with depression for almost 10 years. I have fought with anxiety for almost as long. It's not easy. These two illnesses can completely change your life.

It can make you wonder who you even are. All you know is your anguish, your pain. All you know is that you're afraid of so many things that don't make sense to be afraid of. So you try and try and try again to not feel that way. But that's not how it works. When you don't succeed in forcing yourself to feel better, you just feel frustrated. Your frustration brings more pain. You feel like it will never end. But you can't leave it like that.

You have to do something. You have to keep fighting.

But you want to give up.

Don't give up. Keep fighting. It does get better.

I know that I said I've been fighting these things for several years. I also know that the more I fought alone, the harder it was to keep fighting. Depression and anxiety are nothing to laugh at. They are nothing to take lightly. They are nothing to romanticize. It's beyond painful. That's why you have to find the light, the joy.

Maybe it's the little things. Maybe it's just going through life and something finally works out. What ever that light for you is, hold on to it. You have to find some way of coping, of healing. The problem is, you can't do that alone.

Depression and anxiety can make you feel like you are alone. But you're not. Look around to the people who are asking you, "How are you?" Look at the people who really do care, who sit you down and practically force you to talk. They don't want you to fight alone. Even the strongest people need help.

My current favorite series to watch is called "Fairy Tail." It's an anime. Nerdy, I know, but bear with me. One of the greatest things you could learn from this series is that even the strongest fighters need help. The main characters are constantly going on jobs together, jobs that require more than one person to finish. They rely on and trust each other so much that sometimes they don't even have to talk to each other to plan strategies. But each one of them is incredibly powerful. Each of them is a force to be reckoned with. Each of them go through times when they can't finish the fight on their own.

My point of the nerdy reference is to point out that you shouldn't feel bad for needing help. Sometimes when that light is hard to find, you need to have someone remind you where it is. That's why you shouldn't be fighting on your own. If you fight those illnesses alone, you won't have any backup when they throw a particularly hard hit. You don't have any backup when you get knocked down if you fight alone.

Find that support. Find that person or two who can help you stand back up. Find that person who can keep reminding you of that light at the end of the tunnel, the goal on the other side of the wall. Don't forget that the light is there. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder.

If you have to, write down a list of all the things you love, all the things that you would miss if they were suddenly gone from your life. This list includes people. Save this list. Laminate it if you have to. Put it somewhere you can see it. Read it every day. Add to it. Do your best to keep fighting. Know that it's OK to need help sometimes. Most of all, don't give up. There is light there. It will get better. As time moves on, it gets easier to keep fighting.