I recently fell into a spiral of clinical depression- it was a very new and scary experience for me. When depressed, the world seems so empty and insignificant- nothing can make you happy, you desire for nothing. Is this not the goal of Buddhism? To overcome desire?
Let me tell you something, a life without any desire is hell. Nothing makes you happy- you want for nothing (you don’t want to talk, eat, sleep or even be awake for that matter). I was given antidepressents to help me regain my will to live and appreciate the world.
I now appreciate the fact that I desire things (be they friends, food, money, success, sex, etc), Desire makes me feel alive. To rid desire from my life would make my existence very boring would it not?
So how can one be happy if one desires for nothing? Is this not the fundamental characteristic of depression?