<p>Okay, so I have done my fair share of research on this and most of the people I see answer questions like this say that people shouldn't mention depression/anxiety. I have suffered from severe depression, OCD, GAD, and social phobia since I was in elementary school. (No, I didn't self diagnose myself with those or anything like some people do.) In 9th and 10th grade I had horrible grades and my GPA in 9th was mediocre and in 10th it was probably a 1. something, not exactly sure the second number. These were both due to my depression and anxiety from being severely bullied to the point where I switched to cyberschool. I literally didn't want to even get out of bed let alone do my school work and I had a big falling out but after I ended up back at regular school and brought my GPA back up to a 3.8 in 11th grade. The depression, anxiety, etc have all been the major factors that shaped me to be who I am today and I believe that I should do my essay on them. Do you think people will really be that biased if reading this, even if I clearly state I worked through it? I mean, I can explain how that's the reason why my grades in 9th and 10th were bad and I want to stress that I have grown and learnt from it. I have a backup idea that's also kind of cliche but yeah. It's about a rare medical condition that I have called MRKH, which basically means I don't have a uterus and I can't have kids. I can also add in there that I go to a lot of infertility events and got some state legislators to co-sponsers laws regarding this. I have a lot to say about that and how it will shape my life but it's more of a recent find but I can probably stretch it out to fit into a decent looking essay. So, should I do depression/anxiety, the disorder, or none of those?? I think the disorder is the safe choice but I feel like the depression/anixety is literally the most dominant factor in my whole life that has shaped me to be me and I overcame it, so why not write about it? There's always that thing in the back of my mind that says it's a risky pick but yeah, I'd love to hear all of your thoughts. Thanks.</p>
<p>I was clinically diagnosed with anxiety and I posted a similar thread. I too feel like my anxiety issues made me who I am today, and leaving it out of my essays would be leaving out a huge part of me. However, my problems were not as severe as yours. I’m no college counselor but in my opinion your depression, anxiety, etc. seem like a legitimate justification for your grades.
I’ve also read a lot about it and some people say it might be good to talk about it and others say it’s bad because colleges want people who are “mentally stable.” Because apparently if you have/have had depression or anxiety you won’t contribute to a positive environment and/or you’ll shoot up the school. 
If I can’t mention my anxiety problems then I’m going to have to make up some generic BS that college WANT to hear…</p>