This isn't about me. I thought I'd make that clear up front.
I am not prone to depression but I know other people are. Since it isn't a topic I have a lot of experience with, I decided to see what you all thought. What are your ideas?
Recently a few different people have mentioned depression and asked what could help.
Searching online I found recommendations of books to read - usually humor - and even some more technical books from Psychology
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/50-funniest-books-ever-written/ is one such list and I discovered I have read few of the books so I can't even recommend - read this.
So what are your thoughts, ideas and suggestions?
Replies
Depression never comes without any reason. If you are depressed you need to find the reason and get rid of it no matter how valuable it was before. If something puts you into depression it is not worth to keep.
I agree ..... if they can.
If it is someone we know, we can help by getting them involved in activities - something to take their mind off their problems / anxieties. We can help by giving them a safe zone.
Once I read something like
Depression, excess of past
Stress, excess of present
Anxiety, excess of future
No miraculous solutions but determination. I think it's preferable a physical pain that a mental one.
Yes a lot of depression comes from dwelling mentally on problems or things that you worry will happen.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/natural-treatments outlines several things a person can do to reduce or prevent depression.
Psychology Today says:
"Engaging in any form of exercise restores a sense of control over one’s life. Studies show that even 15 minutes of physical activity daily—especially in the afternoon—can have beneficial effects on mood, energy, and sleep. In a major study of nearly 34,000 adults, followed over 11 years, as little as one hour of physical activity per week was found to prevent 12 percent of expected future cases of depression.
Other studies show that exercise is an effective preventive measure even in those genetically predisposed to depression. Because depression dampens people's motivation and energy, experts stress that it is important to start somewhere—doing anything is better than doing nothing— and to start small, beginning with a few minutes of walking."
Depression is not just a bad mood or general sadness or lack of energy, but a serious condition that should be treated by a specialist, not by reading books or bathing or by our "smart" advice.
No one can heal depression on their own because people who are truly depressed have lost control of their actions and how they perceive themselves. They don't think about smiling, positive thinking, hobbies, reading humorous books, and distraction in general. For truly depressed people, this illness is existential and, in the worst case, can even be fatal. Your actions and thoughts are unrealistic.
Therefore is my suggestion: They should see a doctor and ask for help. If they are no longer able to do that themselves, their family or friends should do it with them together.
I think there are different types and levels of depression. Not all require medical intervention. Some do.
Hello Tim,
The idea of reading book is realy good. But I would like to do other things before doing that.
First, "Think positive".
I would face my wash or take a bath, I will meditate (I will pray) then sleep. I believe this could help think positive. "Every person has a problem". We don't need to feel depressed of our problems. We should face it.
Second, "Forgive people'.
It's not an easy thing, but it could give a great effect to us. This is also help us to release the burden in our soul.
Third, "Smile".
Although there are a lot of problems we have, we don't need to share it to all people. To a few or certain people, OK. I believe smile to people can reduce the depression we have. It's alos good for our face muscles.
The next step are meeting person or people to talk with, walking outside, doing positive things of what we like just like reading, swimming or other hobbies.
Last, we should resolve the problem or at least decide ourselves how to behave.
Thank you for your nice discussion.
Thanks for responding Onee-chan