re: Answering “I’m hanging in there” to how are you doing

I go low-key Ted Lasso in response to being asked that question.

“If I got any better I’d be twins.”
“If it got any better, it’d be illegal.”
“Why? What’d ya hear?”
“Better than some, not as good as others.”

All of which are (admittedly) patent efforts to steer the conversation away from being about me.

Sometimes the folks who ask are just being mannerly, sometimes folks are truly concerned with my mental health.

If I were displaying irrational behavior, I’d expect to be asked something along those lines.

Believe it or not, I generally do not.

If sincerely asked by someone I could trust, I would probably lie and say I was OK even if I wasn’t.

But that’s not yet ever happened, so there’s that.

“Rock hard”

Sometimes I answer differently than “good” just to keep it interesting. Didn’t realize anything other than “good” means I’m gonna off myself

"Same shite, different day" is my generic response

Anything but “living my best life”. They ultimate try hard/over compensation term.

I usually say I’m doing alright

I usually hit em with the old "Doing well, how about you?"

"Can't complain...well I guess I could, but it wouldn't do me much good."

"Absolutely miserable, absolutely horrible. Let me tell you all about it."