Cure for Depression

I was depressed for most of my life and have finally overcome (well, lets say I’m more than managing it)!

Cure for Depression:

If you are suffering from
depression, especially if you’re thinking of suicide, this is the best advice I can give:

1. Coming from my counselor who told me to keep a daily journal, “If you’re not going to take my advice why are you paying for it?”

Not that you’re paying to read this, but are you searching for answers, yet unwilling to do the work to change yourself? It is work! And often it gets harder before it gets better; while you’re getting it out rather than pushing it down deep inside yourself, before you can let it all go. See my advice on how to be happy for suggestions on ways to really let the past go.

I reluctantly started a journal and it turned out to be a wonderful outlet for all my anger and frustration. I burned it when it was full and began another. It felt great!

2. Get help! You don’t have to go it alone! And you may not be able to. We all need support of others and sometimes it’s a chemical imbalance that needs medical attention. Just knowing you are not alone can be such a relief!

Suicide Hotline: http://www.suicidehotlines.com/

Depression Support: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depresssion-support

There are many more!

3. If you’re feeling guilty about something: Think through what you really could have or would have done differently. Now look at it objectively. Could you really truly have done something different? If you had, what would have been the result? Would the outcome really be better?

I had beat myself up inside for years over not trying to stop my brothers from being hit by a certain parent on many occasions during my childhood. The guilt was eating me up. I was in such despair that I day dreamed of suicide.How could I have stood by and watched? But I had never thought past that. Until my counselor had asked me to think it through; no, I could not have stopped it. I was a little girl. There just would have been one more child injured. My brothers would have tried to protect me and things would have been worse for them! I was suddenly freed of that guilt! I had had many other counselors and this one, who I only saw three times, helped me more than any one ever had!

4. Speaking of thinking things through, do you know the real reason why you are depressed? Sometimes getting to the bottom of it is the start of getting past it. As I briefly mentioned in a poem I recently posted, I was engaged and we were fighting all the time. I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t make me happy. I was always angry at him for doing or not doing this or that. But finally realized, I was not happy with myself. I was depressed from my past, not because of him. True, he wasn’t right for me, but I had to leave to deal with my own issues before I could love anyone.

5. Suicide is the most selfish act. It hurts everyone you’ve ever known. Whether you think so or not, there are people that care. If you’re willing to go to that extreme when you don’t know if the results will be any better, possibly worse, why are you too scared to take another extreme and change your life? Whether that be finding an entirely different path for yourself than you’ve been working on or going against what someone, such as your parents or society, are telling you to do… at least try that first!

If I hadn’t started my family, I would sell everything and join the Peace Corps! Helping others is the best way for you to take your thoughts off yourself, feel joy because you’re making another happy, and feel important because you are doing something important! You don’t have to run off with the Peace Corps, but there are plenty of ways to help others. See a few suggestions on my How to Be Happy post or go to my Get Involved Page.

I was depressed for most of my life and have finally overcome (well, lets say I’m more than managing it)!