What do you do when you're in a depressed state?

[mhshiney]

What do you guys usually do when your in depression, whether it's over a big thing or a small thing, with life, future,love or anything that gets you down. 
I am curious in what others do, since i'm kinda depressed at the moment, all ideas and experience will be much appreciated!
I usually work out to relief any sort of anger/depression and it usually helps. But for some reason even today i worked out for almost 2 hours and still doesn't really help. Listening to music all the time, trying to surround my self with positive people and all, but i end up still feeling lonely.  
Oh, i'm new here so if i posted this in the wrong area, please forgive me

[aresika]

Hmm..I hardly remember a time I'm ever really "depressed", but I have gotten upset from time to time before, but that tends to go away really fast. Working out, listening to music, just taking a walk, does help me, but my all time favorite [the thing I do best] is daydreaming~!! I don't know why, but whenever I'm bored or alone, I'm always walking around and thinking/daydreaming about things. It's just a spontaneous thing my brain does >.<

Perhaps, it'll be easier to know more about the details. I guess I'm more of a logical person, and I like to reason out things/trace back my steps. Whenever I'm upset because something didn't turn out the way I want it to, I come to conclusion that there is nothing I can do, what's done is done, and has become a fact. We can't go back in time to change it, why stress it. I just view it as a event that happened in my time-line in life [sorta like a story, view it from a 3rd person's perspective], I won't forget it, because you're just trying to deny or repress it. There are always two sides of an event. Sometimes it doesn't go the way as planned, but perhaps something better might hold in the future for you. If it's a relationship problem, for example, I've gotten heart-breaks before, but that doesn't put a halt to my daily life. I think of my motives, what I want to do with my future [career wise] and other things, there is no right or wrong in love, if a guy doesn't like me in return...well maybe we are not meant to be. You lose something to gain something better. Nowadays, I'm in a happy relationship with my boyfriend and I feel he is more than what I can dream of, thinking back, I'm glad that what happened happened. If they haven't rejected me, I wouldn't be with my boyfriend now. What matters most to me is the outcome, if I'm happy in the end, nothing else matters.

We all go through peaks and troughs, little obstacles that only makes us stronger once we walk through it. The way I see it is, if I let one relationship problem drain me up, how do I expect to have a successful life? Surely there will be many more challenges out there. How you handle one thing, is how you handle everything.

[Guest mwahai]

What really helped me out was journaling/blogging my feelings. I used tumblr (lol) and put it on private and just spilled everything on there. I asked questions, ranted, and said anything I wanted on there. Although my questions weren't answered, it was somehow a relief for me to just get it out there. Oh and also talking to someone you really trust helps too. Have a supportive person there to listen (and doesn't necessarily have to give you advice) is a big help.
Surrounding yourself with positive people is great, but what do you do with them? Do you just talk casually, meet up in school, and don't really do any activities together? Maybe try doing activities with them. Every time you guys have a chance to hang out, do something together that will take your mind off the situation. I personally love doing physical activities with others, like rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, because those are things that make me happiest.
I hope I gave you some ideas to try.

[flysolo.]

The problem with depression is not the depression itself but how it creeps back into your life after you've gotten over it.

Remember the cliche "if you want to be happy, then be." While this maybe difficult to pull off, it will help. Your environment should not affect your mood nor should it let you get the worst of you.

When I had depression because of my first love, I didn't mind being depressed. It was a great route to learn the realities of life and really had valuable time alone that otherwise I would never have. It creeps back from time to time, but only for few moments. I just know that being depressed ain't it for me anymore and it goes away.

[riti89]

First of all, I have to say that I don't have suggestions for depression. Depression is a serious issue and it needs attention from a professional. However, if you are feeling down (there is a difference) then I might be able to help.

While I don't have an instant gratification technique for feeling better, when I'm feeling down I tend to do the following:

Here is my super generic routine:

1. take a walk and clear my head

I like to distance myself from the issue for a good half hour to get perspective. I will probably end up feeling more down if I try to tackle things when I'm not physically or mentally up to it. A big question I ask when I'm on the walk is, 'is this issue something that will matter in 5?10?15 years?" This definitely helps to ensure I'm focusing my energy appropriately.

2. After I've taken a walk, I write down a list of everything that is bothering me

This idea came from when I was in  high school and used to use the assignment notebook. It feels really good when you can cross things off the list-which is why I like this concept.

3. Write down WHY these things are bothering me/pulling me down

It's hard to start to deal with whatever it is that is pulling me down if I don't know why it's affecting me in the first place.

4. Come up with plans

This helps to make the future seem less bleak. When I have a plan to handle whatever is making me feel down, I tend to get a burst of positive energy, which I then re-invest into that plan.

5. Understand that while not everyone says it, everyone feels down at some point

This one is important for me. In society there is so much emphasis on leading the "perfect life" that we tend to forget that everyone feels disappointed and upset at some point in their lives (even if they don't say it). Realizing this always helps me to realize I'm not alone.

6. Count my blessings

It's hard to think optimistically when I'm constantly remembering things that are the cause of my feeling down. My method of counting my blessing is a little childish and girly, but it works wonders for me and I've been doing it since I was little. I write down my blessings on little pieces of paper that I then put into a jar. I make sure to add one thing to that jar daily (even if I'm not feeling down). Doing this makes me smile at the end of the year, I always empty my jar and then I read the pieces of paper. It really helps to sum up the year on a positive note!!

You're already doing some great things (surrounding yourself with positive people, focusing your energy on exercising/listening to music)! Obviously my methods may not work for you, and this process is a trial and error process. You just have to find the things that work for you! Some people like to write journals. Others like to paint. It just depends on you.

I'm sorry if this is super long! I hope there is something (even if it's super small) in here that makes you feel better!

[MrPower]

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."Robert Frost


On a side note OP, this was moved to general discussions, and I edited your post to say "you're" instead of "your" X_X

[Guest moehawk]

i found out that i can concentrate much better when i am depressed.  i tend to be analytical and i can read stuff i normally find boring and i can soak up all of the information like a sponge.

[Guest nana544]

Usually listen to music or read inspiring quotes help too.

[Guest]

I listen to music, sing, and play guitar. My friends take me out when I feel down. We'll go watch the game or grab some pizza. It usually works.

[halfmoonsmile]

I could swear there was already a thread on this and I already commented on it. Oh, well. Usually my preferred method is looking up funny stand up like from Ellen Degeneres, Wanda Sykes, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chappelle. I also love watching funny talk shows like watching the silly sketches from the Conan O'Brien show, Daily Show and Colbert Report. I also loved listening to Evanescence when I was younger during my depressed moments and eating food.

[Guest roastedmilktea]

I divert my attention to food, shows, friends, or anything that can act as a distraction from my depressed state.

[mikeymeeks]

Perhaps playing or helping with your family. It will get your mind off; you should think that helping is fun and you should also know that happiness is right in front of you. That's the beauty.

[Guest lucky_moon]

I would try to hold back my tears bt l end up crying till l sleep and the next day everything is okay.

[Guest Jett1430268958]

smoke alot of cigarettes and put my head phones listen to music

[limekiwii]

Haha jokes aside though //seriousmode
When I'm down I find it helps to take a few steps back away from the problem to clear my head then console others for their opinion
Think of life as a towel, with all the negativity, stress and life pressures in the world being dirty water. If you forget or are unable to drain the excess water out of the towel, it will often times be bloated and eventually mold and smell funky within a few days (yuck). Not all towels are created equal, some towels are really small and tiny and easy to hand dry, while others are massive, super absorbant and often times require the assistance of others (or a drying machine) to ring out
tl;dr It doesnt matter if the person you console can solve your problem or not, just simply having someone there that you trust and that hears you out will make you feel much better and help alleviate the problem (and drain the towel) xD

Cause we're only human, and no one likes to be alone.

[Guest [Deleted User]]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[loversixteen]

Sleep is the best remedy  

[Guest MikeK1430293588]

As someone who is still crawling out of a serious depression (suicide ideation, etc), it's best to talk to trusted friends and family. I also took Vitamin D, which helped a lot actually. Worst thing is to stay cooped up in isolation too long like I did. Mine lasted going on a year now. Major life changes aren't easy, and while I learned wisdom which will make me a better person going forward, the human spirit is fragile. It can be broken. 
It's easy to let your ego, insecurities, and sadness get the worst of you. Talk to people. Think of them outside of yourself. They will help you find yourself again. 

[green papaya]

go on a long drive, go on a road trip, get out of town, definitely get out of the house , it will make you feel much better

go to places that remind you of more pleasant times, everybody has a favorite spot, maybe the ocean?

then after thinking about it you will start to realize your life is not over , many people have been through worse

[Guest jabeum]

I kinda got that way during my senior year of hs. So I just bought a sketchbook and started drawing a lot about how I felt. Then I kept journal entries and tried to recount positive things about my day. But I really didn't start to feel better until I got out of my usual environment with my family and things.