Peter McWilliams Quotes

My treatment ended in March/April of '08. It wasn't until the end of that summer that I started to feel I wasn't depressed. Even when I went on vacation to Saint Lucia, I was kind of depressed, even though it was such a beautiful place.

I want to help people with depression understand that there is hope, so that they can get the help they need to live rich, fulfilling lives.

I have known healthy, wealthy people who were depressed, and people with critical illnesses who could honestly attest to joy.

It's easy to get depressed and think, "Well, what's the point?" But it's the same as, "Well, we're all going to die, so what's the point in brushing my teeth or even saying hello to anyone or obeying traffic lights." You can do that, but that's certainly not going to take you anywhere.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy. We live in hope, which means looking forward to something good. And there are increasing scientific findings that both our physical and mental well-being depend on our peace of mind.

I was in a very deep, dark slump, and I needed to find a way to get myself out of it. I had to force myself back out into life, back out into experiencing things.

Depression is an illness and not a necessary part of healthy living.

I know of people who don't believe it, but depression is an illness, but unlike, say, a broken leg, you don't know when it'll get better.

Depression and anxiety can't fit in your head if you're cultivating feelings of joy and inspiration.

There is no fulfillment in things whatsoever. And I think one of the reasons that depression reigns supreme amongst the rich and famous is some of them thought that maybe those things would bring them happiness. But what, in fact, does is having a cause, having a passion. And that's really what gives life's true meaning.

One Saturday in 1984, I walked into my first AA meeting. I went regularly for six years and only stopped when I came to realize my underlying problem was not genuine alcoholism, but depression.

Positive emotion alienated from the exercise of character leads to emptiness, to inauthenticity, to depression, and, as we age, to the gnawing realization that we are fidgeting until we die.

I wasn't creative when I was depressed. When my depression got treated, I was creative again.

I truly believe the eating disorder is gone. The discovery of what was at the bottom of it lifted me, and I walked into a different phase of my life.

I don't spend any time thinking about the day that I'm cured, or the day that I'm healthier, and that's because I know that on a certain level it doesn't matter.

I was able to battle back through depression.

I have a lot of lovely things in my life that I wasn't able to have before I got healed from my imbalanced life.

At least you know that you're crazy. That means you have the potential to recover.

Writing's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.

Son, are you happy? I don't mean to pry, but do you dream of Heaven? Have you ever wanted to die?

The purpose of your life is Joy.

If there is anything unhealthy in your reactions, just bear in mind that sickness is the means by which an organism frees itself from what is alien; so one must simply help it to be sick, to have its whole sickness and to break out with it, since that is the way it gets better.

I want to say, without hesitation, the purpose of our life is happiness.

The reward for attention is always healing.

The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery.