Depression

[xenoterracide]

when it's really bad... I try to find some tv series to watch that I haven't seen before. TV numbs the brain and distracts me. My last really bad period I watched all of Stargate SG1 + Atlantis, Supernatural Seasons 1-3, Battlestar Galactica (new), and Farscape, I was basically hiding in my room 16 hours a day for at least 3 months. That kinda severe depression is rare for me though. I usually just go to bed and sleep it off. Being bipolar I flip from mania to depression every few days. I've actually had it go back and forth in a single day. Generally I try to keep in a constant state of mania.

Edited August 29, 2009 by xenoterracide

[AstralCrux]

Will not use shopping as a coping tool... Will not use shopping as a coping tool... Will not use shopping as a coping tool...

That's my vice. Biggest thrill purchase... Over $1500 at Sears, but I bought a riding lawn mower... I really love that lawn mower.

[StormKnight (1)]

A sure sign that I am depressed is that I am messy. I don't feel like cleaning up after myself.

Another: *dramatic* weight loss. Like 18 pounds in 3 weeks dramatic. (full crash.)

Another sure sign is that I get the 1000-mile stare and become very, very quiet. Depression forces me into more catatonia than anything. When doing something, it is not watching me work, but more of robotics and instinct taking over for me. Very mechanical in functionality.

As for snapping out of it; time. Forcing the issue with me makes me irritable, and forces me even deeper. I have only been seduced out of a funk once, and it took my lover at the time to do it. But that was years ago.

[damagedangel]

When I get depressed I withdraw from everything. Getting out of it depends on what brought it on. When I was little food was the comfort thing that my grandma pushed on me. I've broken that habit but have replaced it with other bad habits.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Assuming all the basic stuff like talking yourself into the idea that the end of the world is not coming and trying to take care of some smaller personal details that you may have been putting off so little things don't turn into mountains and become overwhelming.

Usually trying to talk ones self out of depression just seems to lead to more depression after you've covered the above abc type things. Focus on other things than yourself. Spend some time with your interests and hobbies (If you don't have any hobbies or interests, get some asap.), talking to friends about THEIR lives, exercise, work on improving your diet.

No one thing works for everyone, there is a whole range of solutions. With chronic depression it is never really "gone" but it becomes more manageable with a self-examined existence.

There is TONS of this stuff on the internet but a simple list that I like is here:

http://listverse.com/2007/11/21/top-10-tips-for-beating-depression/

[cptdeath]

i dont get nearly as depresed since i moved to this tropical paradise. palm tree's , tropic oceans within walking distance, it;s hard to be depressed on a jet ski. i get more lonley or aggravated with assholes here then depressed. if you get into that florida style you got a bucs visor sunglasses shorts on and a frozen drink in your hand, theres usually some eighties music or a bob marley cover band playing. there is these crazy drum circles on the beaches. a hundred or so show up the air fills with kind smoke and the jungle drums beat like in a king kong movie. thats good for depression too, there is wierd chicks wearing mud with dreadlocks dancing. of course i like to go fishings. wade out into the shark infested waters waist deep with a bucket of bait floting next to you. it's hard to be depressed if you just caught dinner. of course a 151 daquri is not the cure all but it can't hurt right.

[candyman]

I kinda slink back into my punk thing...which includes me smoking almost three times as much as I do most of the time...

[GOTHIKA]

sometimes when im depressed, I usually listen to music, dance around naked, play some mmorpg games or go outside for a smoke and think about the next thing i need to do in my life or i just look at pictures of my daughter to give me motivation of what i need to do!

Edited December 5, 2009 by GOTHIKA

[Kit Kat P]

mope, until I realize what's wrong. Then I try to go out or call people over for dinner, clean like a freak or put on my skates and hurt myself( not on purpose).

[Sparrow]

Primarily after reading this book I went off medications in March: http://eckharttolle....he_power_of_now

With any negative emotion, I acknowledge that I am my awareness is a non-conceptual nothingness, and that I am responsible for all my emotions and thoughts. Then I watch and accept my thoughts, emotions, and their absences as a silent observer.

<----- Where'd you pick this up? Is it at like a Barnes and Noble, or would I have to order it online?

Like alot of the people that posted here, sleep is usually the first thing. Then I don't eat for a while, maybe a day or two, then when I finally do eat something I feel like a star rocketing on a rocket full of rainbows. Maybe it's the blood sugar spike?

When I was doing construction work over the Summer at the times when I was actually working and doing something useful, I felt amazing. Maybe those old themes of working hard and all that really have something to them?

If anyone else has access to it, performing seems to be really great too. Like on a stage or just in front of your friends, telling jokes or just a really good story,hitting the timing perfect using optimal body language, it gets you fellin' good. I used to cut for a while too. But the urges to do that have been gone for a while...

Going on this thread and talking about helped too, so would that be sharing? <---- But do this one first <----.

[Slogo]

Being around friends helps

[LittleMissLuckyCunt (1)]

I write. Or listen to really, really loud music. It helps. Oh yeah, being around friends help too. Or taking my son out to play at the park or something does the trick sometimes too ^.^

[Scales]

<----- Where'd you pick this up? Is it at like a Barnes and Noble, or would I have to order it online?

I borrowed it from my sister, but I'm pretty sure its in bookstores. The book is basically about being in the present moment, so because of this its fairly repetitive. I am critical of the book now because being immersed in the present without the balance of time could easily become suspension of reasoning. Though on a positive note, it temporarily helped me a lot and gave me a insight on thought based in time.

[pomba gira]

I try to get out of the house at least once a day... which is hard in winter. Take myself in hand and make myself take care of the body i.e. drinking enough water, eating enough/properly, etc. My kitties know when I feel bad and all three sleep closer to me than usual... that helps. And Chango won't let me mope too much, he demands attention & then curls up in my lap... it's hard to stay too depressed with a lapful of purring cat. Sex helps a lot, too... works wonders for balancing that wack neurochemistry.

These days I only get depressed when I'm not working... dealing with a class full of kids I just don't have the space to slide into a full-on depressive thing.

[Marmee_Noir]

I usually bitch to my best friend Jean, pout to Jeremy and usually end up with some co-miseration (yeah I made a word) from Jean and surprises from Jeremy....

[phee]

Depression... the best thing to do for me when I am depressed is SOMETHING. Not watch TV or drift in my head but something.... Cook, Go for a walk, Take a shower, Write, Sex (Jerk Off if no sex available), play with the dog, Socialize, Go get grocieries..... ANYTHING that keeps part of my mind active.

And yes sometimes it will freak someone you are with out, when you have been gloomy and moody all day and you suddenly pop up and declare "We should go to the mall or pet store... or bust out the cards or a boardgame..." They look at you like are nuts... but what it actually is is the fact that you are activly trying to be positvie and snap yourself out of it.

[Taryhn]

Pretty much the only thing that depresses me is the weather. Winter coming is like torture for me. Knowing that I won't have really decent weather for any length of time for the next 9 months is already killing me. I need to move to Florida. Last winter I ate myself stupid and gained 10 lbs at the start of winter. This year, I'm trying to watch the food intake and instead load myself up on vitamins. I might possibly visit the tanning beds, just to give myself some UV exposure.

When I can't fight it off, I usually eat, read and sleep. I'm pretty much useless when I'm really depressed.

[TheGimp]

i tend to write as well i have a possible novel stuck in my head and been writing anyway but when i seem to feel down i have horrid thoughts run threw my mind so i just seem to jot them down and twist them around for ideas for writing biiiig stress reliever and seems to ease up on the depression

[Scales]

Learning and educating others (while doing my best to use critical thinking) helps me a lot. I educate myself with whatever information I'm interested enough in and when I'm in the thick of learning I've noticed I'm not depressed.

[cptdeath]

i believe that depression is an emotional state. but beyond that it is a reaction to something. just like the random trains of thought and rationalizations (so negative) are your emotions using the subconcious to creat or originate those trains of thought by selecting memory's affiliated with like emotions similiar to what you feel at present. look beyond the atual thought and focus on the feeling that brought it on, see how it's unrelated to the topic you are thinking about over and over. your emotional stay and you physical state will speak to the concious mind through the subconsious by using random memory affiliated with present feeling or emotional state. if sleeping this is how dreams are made. alot of depression is coming down off of stuff even an energy drink. your body speaks to you through your emotional state and your heart speaks through the subconcious and memory. when not focused those thoughts creep in reflecting how you feel. learn to listen without focusing on the thoughts generated or the topic of them but how you feel at present unrelated to that topic. it's hard to walk away from a chain of thought till you notice how it keeps drawing back your attention. they say the ability to forget is an aquired skill and is the minds best defense against emotional trama.

[kat (1)]

take Vitamin D3, which is also good for anxiety as well.

Fish oil is good also.

[Invictus]

I spar and grapple until I'm battered, bruised and exhausted. Then I feel better. Hasn't failed me yet.

[Homicidalheathen]

Personally think letting yourself indulge in tears is bad...it just opens the door for a self pity fest

[Mean Salley]

I like to punch the balls offa that fucker and let the "whinies" drop out the gaping taint-gouge.

[Homicidalheathen]

huh?