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Depression is like when you watch a sad movie or when someone you know dies, the difference though, is you tend to stay like that for different periods of time. The thing about depression is that its different for every person; yes you feel down and alone and nothing seems to matter anymore, but the key is that its all a state of mind. Once you realize that slowly but surely you'll start seeing things in a new light. As for it being a great inspiration for art, yes that is true but let me ask you this what about the other emotions you feel im sure someone with anger management can draw just as great as someone who is depressed. So as far as it being a good thing I can honestly say it may be if your looking to see things from a different perspective, and if thats the case why not try out the other facets of your emotions?

My sister suffered a lot of serious depression when she was my age (mid teens, of course) and yes, i can truly say, its horrible. when it gets so bad that you are staying home from school, wont get out of bed and are trying to think of ways to kill yourself, its unbearable. i personally have never been there, but it was the worste part of my sisters life. it has to do with chemical imbalances in the brain, and no matter what old people (like my grandma) say, you cant just get over it. you cant just choose to feel happier. you NEED some type of pills to balance your brain chemicals. there is a huge difference between feeling down in the dumps (which i have, and im sure everyone has experienced) and having actual depression that needs to be treated. if my sister hadnt seen someone and taken pills at the time she did, she would have been dead long ago.

I have depression / Borderline personality disorder (my doctor can't decide which -.-) and I can see both sides.
People who say that depressed people need to "get over themselves" or "think happy thoughts" are wrong.
People who say depression is something we have to live with are also wrong.

Not to quote those commercials, but depression does hurt. I can always tell when I'm depressed compared to sad for an actual reason because my body aches, all I want is a hot shower and to fall asleep forever, never crawl out of bed again. You can't tell me that I can just "get over" physical pain, I can't "think happy thoughts" to make that go away. And I can't live with that kind of depression, either, though.

I am lucky, I'm not suffering severe depression; I'm sane enough to realize what's happening and to know that I can ignore it, and I can beat it.