Hi.... I'm Tracey, a 42 year old married woman with 2 teenagers. I live in Ireland, but orginally from England. I have suffered with Depression since I was a teenager. But it's only in the last 11 years that it has really affected me. I have tried suicide and self-harm....and I'm still here. It not only affects my life but others around me. I tend to bottle things up as I find it very hard to open up about my feelings.

My life hasn't been easy,i was bullied at school, when i first tried to commit suicide,was raped as a teenager,lost a baby, failed at my first marriage but got two lovely children out of it, am a recovering alcoholic and my husband and i have had major ups and downs. I can't work as i've been diaganosed with osteoathritis, so i'm a boring housewife, it does get very boring and tedious sometimes. I tried to commit suicide a couple of times and i've self-harmed, the self-harming was to ease the pain, i've been clean for a year and a half of self-harming and two years clean of the drink, sometimes i wish it was as easy with depression, when i have bad bouts, i'm normally hospitalised which i hate, and it's not easy on my daughter. My husband works away from home during the week, so i try to watch myself, but sometimes depression hits right out of the blue, and its like a black hole and you can't get out, it's a horrible feeling.