What do you do when you’re feeling depressed?

Hookers and blow, duh.

Hug my kids. Call my brother. Talk to friends.

Realize that things aren’t so bad no matter how heavy the weight feels in the moment.

The storms will pass and the sun will come out again.



If you are in the dark, just keep walking. Eventually you’ll find light again, as long as you don’t give up.

Drink bourbon and stare at water/lake

What I actually do is completely dissociate from reality by escaping into binge watching tv or playing immersive videogames. The idea is that whatever it is that’s depressing me is usually something that I subconsciously don’t know how to deal with, so I try to avoid life as much as possible to avoid confronting that thing. These coping mechanisms actually make the problem way worse.

What actually helps is taking a deep look inside myself and having a conversation where I ask myself why I feel the way that I do. Often times, the real reason isn’t what I expected. It’s usually driven by some deep, underlying issue I’ve been avoiding, and whatever it is that sent my down the spiral was just a trigger reminding me of the deeper issue. It might be some basic fears, some deep-seated insecurities, or even some misplaced guilt that you need to forgive yourself for that is driving the depression.

I remember confronting some of those fears and forgiving myself for those things I was guilty about made a huge difference almost right away.

Finally, combating depression is all about habits. Your environment can be a major source of things that trigger your downward spirals or make you want to escape, which only avoids problems and lets them fester. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing shittily. Allow yourself to do a little even when you don’t have the energy to do a whole job. Chipping away at chores like this goes a long way towards keeping them from piling up. A cleaner home can be a lot less triggering. Sometimes it’s worth paying extra to shop at a store that doesn’t stress you out verses one that does. Also, you should be making a habit of when you get a seriously negative thought like “I wish I was just dead” or “my life is f$&king miserable”, notice it, stop yourself from fixating on it, and counter those thoughts with ones about what you’re grateful for and appreciate about your life. You might be surprised how much you actually enjoy about your life.

Also, I would recommend checking out the documentary “Stutz” on Netflix. It’s a film that Jonah Hill made about his therapist who helped him treat his anxiety and depression and shows some of the techniques he would use. There’s a LOT of useful stuff in this documentary on top of it being fascinating to boot.

Rub one out
Roll down the windows and listen to some tunes riding around
Hot tub
Round of golf
Fishing
Purposefully piss of my wife for the thrill of the fight and make up sex
Cut grass


It's pretty straight forward.

Have something to look forward to, Christmas, the weekend, a small Amazon purchase, etc.

Exercise really is a phenomenal way to get feeling solid again. Another way I snap out is by making a checklist and completing it. Simple daily task that seriously starts with wake up, brush teeth, shower, make bed...... and at the end of the day when all is done I feel great.

I put things like dishes, start laundry, flip laundry, watch 2 episodes of Seinfeld.... and other random tasks. At the end of the day I've got a decently clean house and can look at a full day.

Cut-out distractions as much as possible. They only cloud-up your mind and emotions, whereas you need to confront your feelings firmly. This includes visiting TD. Then, busy yourself with a fairly simple task...cook a meal, clean your house, etc. This usually helps me at least get to a point where I can manage the awful feelings.

Eat

Do things that make you feel productive. Anything that will make you see progress, even if it is small is the best way to get out of what feels like a hole. As someone said working out is the absolute best thing, endorphins are released and there is no better feeling than seeing progress and results in yourself, self confidence automatically goes up