How do you cope with depression?

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JamWam12
JamWam12 Posts: 27 Member
in Chit-Chat
Hello I'm just wondering how those who suffer with depression cope with it and more specifically how do improve the situation? Do you have an exercise routine or anything along those lines which helps with depression?
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  • gcibsthom
    gcibsthom Posts: 30,115 Member
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    I drink
  • Tetrelle
    Tetrelle Posts: 75 Member
    edited October 2017
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    I used to binge to cope. Now it's mostly music, hugging my fur babies, and going for walks.
  • Just_Mel_
    Just_Mel_ Posts: 3,992 Member
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    Fresh air in nature and music usually helps me.
  • Just_Mel_
    Just_Mel_ Posts: 3,992 Member
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    Also, cookie butter.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
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    Celexa, St. John's Wort, music, sunshine, thunderstorms, walking, doing things I like even if there's other stuff I need to do (like chores), petting my cats or getting a hug from my son.

    Took a long time to find a decent combination of things that work at different intervals so I can maintain "normality" and generally be productive.
  • JamWam12
    JamWam12 Posts: 27 Member
    edited October 2017
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    I appreciate all of you sharing your experience and methods of coping. I personally used food to numb my emotions for a long time but I've managed to stop doing this as I gained an unhealthy relationship with food and basically was binge eating nearly everyday. I use music which does help a little but it's not enough. I feel if I began to exercise this would give me a healthier mental state but I won't know until I stick to an exercise routine. I truly don't think I'll ever be free of depression but I don't wish this to prevent me accomplishing things in life and need to adopt some strategies to improve the situation.
  • KyleGrace8
    KyleGrace8 Posts: 2,205 Member
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    I believe exercise helps me. I feel less cray cray when I've been to the gym. I made it a point to listen to upbeat happy music and that's helped too. Writing a journal and mindful mediation. Learning to make food not your happy place is difficult but it can be done.
  • caco_ethes
    caco_ethes Posts: 11,962 Member
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    1. Eat sugar
    2. Make inappropriate jokes
    3. Loathe self
    4. Go to bed

    Basically my daily routine
  • caco_ethes
    caco_ethes Posts: 11,962 Member
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    Will_Run_4_Food wrote: »
    caco_ethes wrote: »
    1. Eat sugar
    2. Make inappropriate jokes
    3. Loathe self
    4. Go to bed

    Basically my daily routine

    What step are you on right now?

    Hovering between 2 and 3. Might just expedite the process and take Tylenol pm.
  • jdlobb
    jdlobb Posts: 1,232 Member
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    I pick things up and put them down
  • Versicolour
    Versicolour Posts: 7,164 Member
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    I talk. I usually don't feel like company but having a sympathetic ear has helped me a lot. Exercise outside also helps, mainly because I'd rather curl into my bed and never leave
  • AdamAthletic
    AdamAthletic Posts: 2,985 Member
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    I suffer/suffered from OCD and Anxiety, this is exactly why I got to deeply into exercise int he first place - I found that the more I advanced my career and the fitter I got, the more I was able to turn those negative thoughts into positive action.

    A bad time in life doesn't define you, given time and the right things going for you - the right people supporting you, a bad time can turn your life better than you could have ever imagined!

    All the best and remember, every dark cloud has a silver lining and the sun shining behind it!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    You might enjoy a podcast called The Hilarious World of Depression. I have been listening to it and it is very interesting.

    I think I deal with depression by telling myself that my problems/feelings are not important. It is not what I would tell others to do.
  • MinuitMinuet
    MinuitMinuet Posts: 156 Member
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    I confront it. I get angry and demand to know why it's even there. I look at all my blessings and ask myself what right do I have to feel upset over inconsequential matters when there are those suffering far more than I could possibly imagine. Then I force myself to remember why I'm happy with where I am at now and remind myself that all depression is is just a bad chemical response that has no place in my mind and no right to control me then attempt to counter it by stimulating the positive chemical responses.

    I feed the wolf I want to feed, to borrow an analogy from the Native Americans.
  • jamespatten3576
    jamespatten3576 Posts: 71 Member
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    very poorly
  • Candy0516
    Candy0516 Posts: 399 Member
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    I struggle. I take meds. Went through different kinds. I listen to music and exercise. I am a people pleaser so I end up being more drained trying to please everyone and so I seclude myself away from people. One thing that’s really helped me is talking with someone(friends) or someone trusted to vent to. It feels a burden lifted when I can talk about it. I don’t really know why I feel ashamed to talk but I do.
  • MarylandRose
    MarylandRose Posts: 239 Member
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    Finding a good therapist.

    A few years ago I was really down. Exercise did not help, and in fact it got sort of toxic by the end because I was trying to control my out-of-control feeling life, so I was overexercising and under eating as the one thing I could control. I had favorite gym classes, a good workout routine, nice walks outside, etc, but the underlying drive was bad and none of it did anything to help my mood. Thankfully, the overarching life situation began to resolve and I was able to leave those habits behind as the depression lifted.

    Present day, I find that I'm pretty stable, and since I'm generally doing well, exercise does help me feel better now if I've had a bad day. If I'm driving home from work and I can feel the awful in the my chest, getting in a 20 minute walk or 15 minutes of yoga when I get home helps get me back in balance. Talking things through with a pro has made such a difference and is definitely a large part of why things are good now. Talk therapy is what got me through it; exercise is part of how I stay in mental health maintenance (+ music, things I love, taking intentional joy in life, maintenance visits with therapist, talking to friends, good food, good sleep, making the time to take care of myself).

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