Too blue for you?

I have a question about sadness and depression.

We all go through it from time to time, but what do you do if you feel tired of always looking on the bright side of things, if hopeing just becomes a bit too much of a hassle?

They say sadness is the happiness of the deep soul, well, I've had my fair share of happiness and would like to know, what do you guys do to beat back the blues?

Drink
Smoke dope
take my medication
eat
cry
sleep

i take xanax.

swim
scrabble
LPSG
TV

I was looking for ... and didn't find ... the Beck Depression Inventory, a series of several questions designed to test your mood to see if how you feel is just the blues that everyone gets from time to time ... or depression that needs to be treated with therapy or meds.

It's what was recommended to me to keep track of how I feel, which can be hard to do over time when we're depressed.

Depression is a common but serious mental health issue that can mess with quality of life. It can also be treated, but being depressed can ... itself ... make it hard to search out treatment.

Try to meet people who you care about and who care about you.

ditto, just without the medication.

Effexor XR
Buspirone
Ice Cream
Beach
Talk, text, or e-mail friends
Chocolate
Sex
Gardening
Antiqueing
LPSG
Shopping
Swimming
Skiing
Getting lost in a good book
Visiting: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Cloisters, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It may sound trite; but you need to make a list of things you remember doing when you felt happy. Then try to do at least one of those things a day.

If you want to be somewhat 'Oprahesque' about it then try a Gratitude Journal. The goal is to write 5 things for which you are grateful each day. I suck at keeping journals so anything that requires writing daily never works for me.

I hate to sound like a stick in the mud. If you are depressed, please do not start drinking and doing street drugs! Those things will only make you feel much worse in the long term. Then you might have to deal with an addiction problem and depression and that can be a living hell.

been on this earth now for 40 years you have to take the good with the bad
I am just now coming out of a year long depression.
friends help a lot the weed does too

i realize getting sad and emotional doesn't change the way things work so i'll just have to see the plus side to all the bad things that happen to me

A good friend, to reflect with, I'm one to sweat the small stuff. a good meal, take a shrink to lunch , play your favorite song, Maureen by Sade anyone?, music always makes me happy, dress sharp & go out where folks know & like you. The compliments you'll recieve & the attention you'll get, it'll lift your spirits. I find it's important not to let what's depressing me consume me. So I get outside of it, literally. And........ I Deal With It!

What usually brings me out of a depressed time is physical activity/exercise of some sort. During two of the deepest depression times, I got over it one time by taking karate lessons, and the other time by becoming a speed walker.

This latest time, I'm not sure... I got over it somewhat by having a more active social life, I suppose. (Also, some of my social activity included hiking, playing volleyball, and some other things like that, so I had some physical activity as well there, too...) The main thing that will get me over this latest one though is to find a permanent job, though.

here's what I do:

spend time w/ ppl who really love me
buy myself something really nice
do something I always wanted to do
pray
spend time alone w/ some good music


this usually works, however I've been going through a really hard time over the past few months, only to be made worse during the past 2 weeks & none of the above did any good for a few days...but today I'm feeling much better and I can at least begin to see the bright side coming...

i'm bipolar and i'm an artist. the only thing that ever really works to channel that deep soul-wrenching restlessness is to work.

You said it. Every time I've come out of a major depression (in both the clinical and vernacular definition) I always have vowed to remember the signs and the symptoms and the thought patterns. And even so, I never know I'm depressed when I'm depressed. Or, rather, I know I hate myself and I blame myself for everything and resign to doing nothing because I don't feel I deserve to do anything, but it never occurs to me that I'm depressed and maybe I'm not to blame for all of the world's problems. The problem with depression -- at least in my case, and I can only assume everyone has a unique experience -- is that I only realize how profoundly dark and unbearable my mood has become when I'm in recovery. And I've had depressions that last for a year or longer.

It's fucking awful. And it manifests itself physically. And it's irrational. It fucks with your entire perception of yourself and the world around you. Sorry if that's a little bit of a downer. I'm starting to realize now -- after months of therapy and finally going back on meds -- that I'm recovering from a very, VERY serious depression. Unfortunately, I spent almost two years in the state I just described.

Ironically, I've had more emotions in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years. It's a good thing. The difference is that I feel my emotions now. And that, more than anything else, is a sign that things are getting better.

oy.

Right! The good news is, things are only going to get better!