Depression and cognitive abilities

Big words for a not so simple topic.

Depression affects your cognition.  Everyone says so, so it must be so.  Depressed folks, whether unipolar or bipolar, think differently.  Process differently.  The doctors, the books, all say that when I am well, I won't feel or think the way I do now.  I asked my doctor last week, would I feel differently when I was not depressed.  He said, "Yes, and think differently too."

What does that mean?

Will I still be myself?  Will I care about the same things?  What will that look like?  Does that mean what I think and feel now aren't me?  How do I tell?  How do I keep from making decisions based on something that is not me?  How do I know if decisions I've made up to now are right for me?

I can't imagine anyone going through this thing and not being different.

But thinking differently?  I don't even know how to tell you about that.  It's the way I think.  It's the way my brain works.  It's what walks with me all day every day.  It's going to change?  Hard to believe.  

I know I'm repeating myself here, but this is a tough one for me.  Anyone out there who reads this - feel free to let me know.  Are my thoughts, my way of thinking, really going to change?