what do you do to make you happy, cuz im always sad. i am depressed like hell, im getting better tho, what should i do bout it?

I always find working helps take my mind off things. I've hit a tough patch in my life, and I now find actually engaging in some sort of activity really puts my mind off things and cheers me up. My tips would be play some sport, watch a film, listen to happy music, do some homework, give yourself a project to finish. It all helps.

i dont like happy music, except for some. nevertheless, i like sad things, dont have a job yet, i cant get a girl, and i dont have any style. exzample, i just put on pants, shoes, shirt, done, sometimes i try to put some style to it.

Looks like you're in trouble then, sonny jim.

My method when I'm really lacking purpose is to set tiny goals for things I need to get done and congratulate myself when I do them. I'm having trouble getting going with my thesis again at the moment, so I sat down and went through the first page of it. Despite this being a tiny portion of what I need to achieve I let myself feel good for having done something constructive.

Basically, don't beat yourself up over things that you don't have or can't do, focus on what you do achieve and let yourself feel good about that. Build on those and you'll feel more motivated to continue the next day.

that sounds like a good idea, thanks

'Glad to be of help. It really does work, too!

Things to help depression:

-Ice cream
-Getting to know yourself better (and thereby loving yourself) through quiet contemplation and meditation in the nature around you
-Finding religion
-Doing charity work
-Listening to music
-Working out
-Cooking


And if worse comes to worse, there's always schadenfreude.

When I feel unhappy, I get some bread, put some peanut butter on top and then put a very thin layer of honey on top of that. then I sit down and eat it whilst flicking through music channels on TV. Also, if you play an instrument then you could always play that for a while. I find it's very theraputic.

yes, i do play an instrument, and bread is good, but i heard getting high helps as well as anything else.

That one can go either way so I really wouldn't suggest it.

I don't recomend doing drugs or drinking out of emotion. Doesn't work very well. That said, I'm very pro marijuana and booze, but not as an escapist method to dealing with life's problems.

And I forgot to mention that getting laid or jacking off helps significantly. What with endorphins and everything.

Exercise has pretty much the same effect as sex, in regard to endorphins, with the added benefit of making you more healthy.

Getting high generally isn't a great idea if you're not in a good mood to start off with. Alcohol and pot are both depressants, and will naturally subdue willpower to get yourself into a more positive frame of mind (and pot is illegal, of course). Those two aren't great, but I think with an informed decision can be okay, but pretty much any other drug is just asking for trouble. Most others are addictive as hell and will destroy the life of even the strongest person, let alone someone who isn't feeling too chirpy to begin with. It's up to you, but I'd agree with the others here and say that for some very sensible reasons it's best to avoid getting high when depressed.

There are some emerging statistics that relate smoking pot to depression and even suicide. Such things are always going to struggle to isolate the effect of the drug from social factors, but it's still probably an ingredient in the mix for an undesirable end to things.

Pfft. Anything published that says that kind of right wing conservative bull is tainted inherently. I don't and can't believe any of that. Anyway, Mata's right. I won't touch anything harder than pot, but pot and alcohol are all good.

And Mata - I read that half an hour of sex is one hundred and fifty calories burned!

what about getting high off of house hold items. thats not illegal. anyways, i know getting high off of stuff is bad.

You would have to be a complete and utter moron to get high off of household cleaners, gasoline, markers, glue... Smoke weed if you want, but don't be one of those piss poor stoners who has to buy bullshit and annoy me, the guy at CVS who sells that stuff, with said bull.

Actually Mike there are some very respectable scientific surveys connecting smoking pot with depression and suicide in later life, however, as I said before, the question remains whether the connection is due to environmental factors or to the drug. Let's face it, rich people with great support networks are unlikely to be taking part in such surveys, and they're the ones who, if there is a long-term negative effect, would be the best equipped to cope with it. The survey is most likely skewed towards people who have the least to lose by admitting previous long-term cannabis use, suggesting that they may not be in priviledged sections of society, which will most likely provide more opportunities for difficulties to arise in daily life. Still, even with this taken into account, it would be silly to dismiss something just because we don't like the idea, because the truth is that there haven't been enough long-term studies of most drugs (due to the difficulty of studying the use of illegal substances) to say with any certainty what the effects really are, and in a void even the smallest sliver of evidence should be taken seriously.

TV, definitely avoid household chemicals. They are mostly designed to seal things shut or to kill things. In the case of solvents, for example, they really can kill you very quickly because it's easy to take to much.



From http://talktofrank.com/azofdrugs/G/Gases.aspx

So, if you're alright with the idea of heart-attacks, your throat closing up on you, or simply brain damage then go for it. If you had to do something I'd rather you were smoking pot! Like I say, that's not a great idea if you're feeling down already so it would be best to avoid that too, but at least it's not got the very real risk of killing you straight off the marker.

Call me crazy if you like, but you've probably got enough going on in your head without putting a load of chemicals in there to confuse things more. I've always found that the thing I hate about chemicals is the sensation of 'I am I really thinking this, or is this the chemicals making me think this way?' That applies just as much to alcohol as to anything else, but I personally find that a very important factor in deciding whether something is a good idea or not.

it is the stupidist way to get high. i read that if you sniff house held items when your a teen, you have a better chance of dieing before you even each 18.

Yes, that is true, but I should think that also applies to rockclimbing. The difference being that you have a decent amount of control over the risk when you are rockclimbing, but there are too many factors involved with solvent abuse to ever make it a safe activity for anyone.

That said, I think that pretty much anything that involves needles is probably even more stupid. Do you get the feeling that I don't think drugs are a very sensible thing to do? I'm not against them as such, and I think that decriminalisation of some drugs would significantly decrease the risks associated with taking them, but I still think that there are better things to do with your time, and that they are definitely not a good idea if you're feeling depressed. Blah, blah, yadda, you get the idea. Basically if people want to take them then it's up to them, but I strongly advocate people very seriously evaluating the risks and the benefits before doing anything.

While I'm here, I guess you missed my note in another thread: could you use capitals where appropriate please? I rate the use of correct English as being very important. I know it's only a small thing but it does bug me, and because it's small it shouldn't be too much trouble should it? Thanks!

If you can find a way to not factor drugs into the equation at all, that would probably make it better on you.

As said before, drugs can make on more deppresed and do reckless things. instead of trying to get rid of your troubles with substances, why write? It's a good way to get out everything that needs to be gotten out. If that doesnt work, drawing or blasting music always seems to be a cheer upper.

The reason for all the diffrent options is I don't want to see anybody get hurt. The people on this forum are amazing and I wouldnt want anything to happen to anyone.

I do all the 3 things you just listed. Sorry Mata for the inproper english.
Anyways, it also depends on what you write, what you draw, and what music you listen to.

Try listening to somew Joe Hisaishi. His music is modern-classical. It's really background music I think but is good for chilling out and even better for going to sleep. And everyone knows that troubles seem to vanish after a good sleep.

Listen to some rage Against the Machine, do some abstract painting (large scale) and prance round the house naked. If there is no-one else there. Seriously, you soon forget to be depressed if you have no clothes on, and are jumping around. Try it.

wow, i would think that would be something i do regulary. sounds fun. i like abstract stuff, im just not god at it.

Aha! That's the thing with abstract- it doesn't have to be anything. it could just be emmotions transcripted into colours.

Have you tried the prancing? As long as you don't fall over/ down the stairs, it should be a safe and fun thing to do

Whenever I was depressed (right after we moved for the 7th time) I would finger-paint a huge, metalic-blue abstract picture on my wall. They ended up being quite pretty, and they caught the sun that came through in the morning. One of the things that I love most is art, and the fact that I had a giant Piece of art surrounding me in the morning when I woke up, seemed to make the whole day a little better.

yes. i am very fond of abstract art, but if i painted on my wall in my room, my parents would kill me.

I have a picture of a view looking down a beach with my friend walking- it was from a photo taken last summer. It's great to wake up to.

Hmmmm... Get yourself some cardboard... or a canvass! I managed to find some new ones in a charity shop and I am pretty excited as I have never had a proper canvass before!

umm...ok. thats sounds cool

I like to run it off, or go for a bike ride. It makes me see how beautiful life is. It also makes me feel good, with all the fresh air and stuff. I also like to listen to music to make me happy.( that doesn't include emo. bands)

emo is cool tho you are blasphamus!!

Try watching the Muppet Movie... the first is still the best... It may sound corny, but it's difficult NOT to smile while watching this movie... Not exactly a cure for depression, mind you, but it will take your mind off things for a couple of hours...

interesting salutoin...

Yes!

Muppet Treasure Island is one of the greatest films evar!

To make this less spammy, I suggest listening to some Basement Jaxx and getting your groove on. Seriously, that stuff can make anyone want to dance. Also, if you fancy some "F*ck yeah!" music to cheer you up, listen to Take the Power Back by Rage Against the Machine or Lose Yourself by Eminem. Those two really work for me.

*dances away singing "Cabin Fever"*

Anything involving the Muppets or Roger Rabbit should do the trick. "Rainbow Connection" sung by Kermit the Frog will make you smile.

Personally 'I should cocoa' by Supergrass is the album that always makes me happy, but it's a small-doses thing.

Dancing about to Queen's "We Will Rock You" and thumping a drumstick on anything that will produce noise is always fun. I would prance around the house doing this naked, but the air conditiong in my house is set to frozen arctic tundra. Posting usually cheers me up, especially posting here where people actually respond. I was posting in a fantasy RPG for a while, but people gradually stopped responding and now the thread has died. Lazy bums. Try talking to your friends or go do something fun with them.
One thing that cheers me up a lot is watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and quoting along with the characters. There's very little that watching the French knights, the Killer Rabbit, and all the other crazy things won't make me feel better about.

Spinning works too. It's the same idea of not falling down stairs or tripping over badely placed chairs (take it from me on the second one). But it can be very fun and when you're very dizzy, you can't think much of anything.

I hope that you are feeling better about everything and if you ever need to talk, I have an ear (or perferablly both) open.

Whenever I'm feeling sad, I play my piano. It's amazing how much that can keep your mind off things. I noticed earlier in the thread you said you play an instrument, so maybe you could try that. It's really quite relaxing.

I just grab a pair of sticks and crash about on the drums for a while. Then, once I'm feeling better I'll go grab my guitar and learn a song that I've been meaning to learn. Or listen to some feel-good power ballads, like Toto songs (They're good! Honest!) or Van Halen. I also have a keyboard somewhere so I go hunt for that and learn some cool piano parts from yet again more Toto songs.

I'll shut up about Toto, but you get the picture. Music is a great cure for boredom/depression/unhappiness. Like Kurt Cobain said, sell your TV and buy a better Hifi.

That's just my outlook, you might not be into music quite so much as me...

Hope this helps!