Top 10 Tips for Beating Depression
Published on November 21, 2007 - 74 Comments
Due to the comments on our recent list dealing with suicide, I thought it would be useful to put together a list of things you can do to help you overcome depression and improve the quality of your life. This is a list of the top 10 tips for leaving depression behind.
10. Develop Interests
Perhaps one of the most common reasons for depression is a lack of enough interests and activities. A small number of them tend to become routine and often boring. Interests and activities are very important in mental health, contributing to self-esteem and happiness. They give satisfaction, help make you feel good about yourself, and keep your mind off problems and negative thoughts and emotions. Simply cultivating them can sometimes cure depression, grief, addiction, explosive anger, anxiety, excessive worrying, or guilt, especially if you do the activities whenever you feel the negative emotion. There are many things you can do in this area: house work, visiting the sick or elderly, developing a hobby that involves the use of the hands, and so much more.
9. Keep Positive
Negative thinking habits play a very important role in depression. Research shows depressed people tend to minimize their accomplishments, talents, and qualities. Happy people experience failure, disappointment, rejection, negative emotions, pain, and great sorrows, too, just like depressed people. But happy people keep a positive attitude by gracefully accepting sadness and suffering as normal parts of life, while doing what they can about their problems. This also makes them more pleasant to be around and improves their social lives. Part of happiness is a courageous choice of loving life in the face of suffering, a chosen position or view of things.
8. Fix your Personal problems
Work on your personal problems, using small steps to make sure you avoid becoming overwhelmed. Work on only one or two simple things at a time, breaking large or complex problems into goals you can easily accomplish. Use rewards, friends, family, and support groups. What negative or stressful situations exist in your life? What can you do about them? Don’t give up and allow your problems to continue. Brainstorm solutions and ask other people for ideas. Some depressed people reject all the possible solutions, finding reasons to eliminate each one as unacceptable, unpleasant, or unworkable. Don’t let negative thought habits interfere with problem solving. Keep an open mind to all possible solutions.
7. Create a Positive Social Life
Work to make your social interactions more positive by showing warmth toward other people, taking an interest in them, developing and sharing interests and activities, etc. Ask your friends and loved ones to ignore your depressed behaviors and to cut telephone calls and visits short when you dwell on complaints or drown in self-pity, spending more time with you and showing more warmth and interest when you act in more normal ways. Tell them to avoid taking pity on you and feeling guilty for not catering to your depression. Which leads us to point 6:
6. Stop Bad Behavior
When you complain, cry, talk of sad feelings, or discuss problems, your friends and loved ones probably respond with sympathy and tender loving care. Unfortunately, these loving responses reward and help maintain the depressive behaviors. Some friends or family even take over chores for a depressed person who stays in bed or asks for help. Again, this rewards the passive or dependent behavior. Perhaps you reward yourself when you drown in negative thoughts or self-pity. Many depressed people eat, spend money excessively, abuse addictive substances, or have sex without love to feel better. Eliminate these and any other subtle rewards for depressive behavior.
5. Be Realistic
Reexamine your expectations or priorities in life and, if necessary, adjust them to suit reality better. Depressed people often think they can’t be happy without certain things, such as a lover, a particular lover, material possessions, a much higher income, etc. You can eliminate such problems by changing your negative thinking and learning to accept the situation. Certain situations or troublesome people simply won’t change. When you can do something about a problem, however, you should. For example, you may need to leave an alcoholic spouse or to go to school to prepare for a better job.
4. Make Changes
Change bad habits that keep you depressed. Work on replacing negative thoughts with positive thought alternatives every day. If you tend to blame circumstances or other people for your depression, combat these thoughts of helplessness by reading or by repeating, “I made myself down over that. I didn’t have to respond that way.” Use assertiveness skills, good problem-solving skills, or more positive thinking the next time a similar situation arises. If you often assume other people think badly of you read or repeat “I can’t read other people’s minds.” Humor also helps a great deal in facing life’s problems without drowning in negativity.
3. Become active
Exercise and proper nutrition should be looked at, not as a quick fix, but as an ongoing way to make our tomorrow a little better and as an aid to facilitate our other therapeutic endeavors. We are then less likely to give up after a short time because we are not expecting an instant cure, just a little more control over our emotions and our life situation. You don’t have to run a marathon - just a daily walk for 30 minutes can be a huge step in the right direction.
2. Fix your diet
Overeating, starving, and binge drinking are all ways we use to suppress our feelings. When feelings are suppressed, they eventually emerge later in other ways - such as through depression. By overeating, you are just putting off feelings that need to be dealt with. Think of it like this: every time you eat/starve when you are not hungry, you are trying to suppress your feelings which will, in turn, make you eat/starve more. Next time you are going to starve or eat your feelings away, think of a phrase like this: “I want my feelings to come out so I can deal with them - if I eat/starve now I will be hurting myself and making the problem worse. Because of this I am going to wait until my next meal.” You will be surprised how quickly your eating habits come under control with this thinking. Try to eat a balanced meal three times a day with no snacks in between. Remember that hunger is not a bad thing - it is a natural physical reaction to having processed all of the food you have eaten. NOTE: I am not suggesting you go on a health food diet - I believe you should eat whatever you want - as long as you only eat a small portion.
1. Control your thinking
Another thing is to consider removing the word “depressed” from your vocabulary. Instead, think of these feelings as low moods. The term “depression” has so much baggage attached to it - by thinking of your feelings as a “low mood” you are more easily able to appreciate the fact that there are also high moods. Low moods seem more controllable.
These tips, and many more can be found
here
.
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1. Twinkle - November 21st, 2007 at 4:15 am
wow nice list! i will tell my friends who are sort of depressed. now i don’t have to make the same mistakes when i feel sad again.
2. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 4:19 am
Twinkle: Thanks - The original article from which the top 10 has been taken was written by a psychologist, so it is all very good advice
3. Tlmabp - November 21st, 2007 at 5:15 am
Nice list, Good counter to “that”. I hope this list helps the people.
4. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 5:17 am
Tlmabp: I am glad to hear it
I think we are all still smarting a little from that “other” list 
5. Tlmabp - November 21st, 2007 at 5:23 am
Wait a minute I just realized Am commenting too much on this site and I dont even made an account yet. let me make an account now.
(this goes to everyone if you like this site too much like me, make an account too Its free and simple.)
6. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 5:33 am
Good idea Tlmabp!
7. aplspud - November 21st, 2007 at 6:00 am
Good list, especially this time of year. Thanks jfrater!
8. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 6:04 am
aplspud: thanks
9. mandysparky - November 21st, 2007 at 6:20 am
great list!
10. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 6:44 am
mandysparky: a little more upbeat than the other one eh?
11. Dan - November 21st, 2007 at 7:18 am
I think a good one to add is laughing. Whenever my friends know I’m in a bad mood, they make me laugh to get over what I was sad/mad about. Or if I’m not around friends, I watch a movie I think is funny, or read something that’s funny. You may not think it’ll make you feel better, but you’ll be surprised.
12. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 7:54 am
Dan: excellent point - and one I use a lot in fact - whenever I feel low I watch a really stupid comedy movie (like Shallow Hal for example) to lift my spirits. It always works too.
13. Knives - November 21st, 2007 at 8:44 am
And never go to a Psychologist.
14. 20Fan20 - November 21st, 2007 at 9:01 am
another unique list.
I think it should have been titled “ways to stop being sad.”
The reason you would be diagnosed(sp?) as depressed is because you can’t do half this list. You know for example to think positive thoughts when sad, and it can work. But it does not for a depressed person. A depressed person, as opposed to a sad or “low mood” person knows all this. When I think positive thoughts they have a positive effect on me. I can even think of new positive thoughts. I can believe them. I can take enjoyment in a walk because it benefits me. A drepressed person can’t think of positive things to say and when they do they don’t believe them.
It’s like telling a person who cuts to just stop it, be happy, get new friends and exercise! They cut cause those thing don’t work. They don’t have the same bank of emotions non-drepressed people do. They cut because it is the only action that gives them feeling. A new juicy hamburger with a buddy ain’t gonna fix that.
How about professional help for those that are depressed? They have tons of therapy styles, including medication based and non-med based. Long term inpatient care or out patient(if you saw One Flew Over the Cookcoos Nest this is for you) care can help. True depression is a mental illness that unfortunately can not be fixed with a few happy thoughts. I will take my sad days everytime compared to being depressed.
15. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 9:13 am
20Fan20: I do agree with you - but I think a lot of people who believe they are depressed would find that they actually aren’t if they followed these guidelines - the author of the base article is a psychologist. It is too easy to say “I am depressed” and fall in to the traps described above because people come to love the attention. I think the need for medicine for depression is really only necessary for a small number of people.
16. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 9:22 am
20Fan20: oh - I forgot to say, if the list were renamed, the very people that need this list would sigh and say “I don’t need this list - I am not sad - I am depressed” when they most likely are not.
17. Juggz - November 21st, 2007 at 11:09 am
Good to find ways to help depression during this time of the year. but one of the tips “Fix you diet” is contradictory (sp?) to this time of the year.
And even thinking of the brady bunch makes me depressed 
18. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 11:14 am
Juggz: there is never a contradiction in my lists
I did say you can eat whatever you like - just small portions 
19. Juggz - November 21st, 2007 at 11:20 am
But who wants to eat rationally around the holiday seasons? All this turkey and ham and pie and candy canes and well you know what i mean.1
20. Yarr - November 21st, 2007 at 11:22 am
Depression is a bitch. I know people who are depressed and they wear their conditions and their prescriptions like a badge. It drives me nuts!
I’ll get overwhelmed with work or have a bad day and be in a shitty mood and then I have to hear, “Well, at least you don’t need a prescription, LIKE ME!!!”
And I always want to say, “Yeah, you’re right, because I don’t medicate my problems. I want to try to solve them and make them go away!”
But I don’t ever actually say that because then I would have to hear about how serious depression actually is and all that. I know.
But, I do think going outside once in a while instead of stewing in prozac and daddy/mommy issues might help. And then this list comes along.
Hooray!!!
21. Cyn - November 21st, 2007 at 11:32 am
just bear in mind that clinical depression does not generally respond well to these kinds of suggestions which would signal the need to seek professional diagnosis and treatment. there is a biological difference between clinical depression which is brain based and simple depression that is essentially situational. should there be any doubt or evidence of ‘depression’ persisting for more than 2 weeks..i’d strongly recommend professional assessment. to make light of someone who is depressed or to assume you are ‘enabling’ depression or ‘coddling’ is a very dangerous ’slippery slope’. far better to have a professional assessment before you go off ‘playing doctor’ yourself. i’d much rather have someone seek professional help only to find it was simple reactive depression (in response to life event like death in family or divorce or job loss, etc) than to tell them ‘to buck up’ or its ‘all in your head’ or some other lame excuse and then they commit suicide. better safe than sorry! remember clinical depression is a mental illness and mental illness is as real and devastating as any other physical illness.
(steps off soapbox)
22. jfrater - November 21st, 2007 at 11:44 am
Cyn: I agree - this is a first step to work things out - however, coddling is wrong in all situations surely? If a person just has low moods and is making a big deal, or the person has true clinical depression, coddling won’t help - so don’t coddle a person with depression - advise them to get assistance - even help them get it - but do not coddle. The problem is that I think the majority of people on anti-depression medication probably don’t need it - you can’t trust the doctors always - oftentimes they will simply prescribe - and I also believe that some people go to the doctor and exaggerate symptoms in order to get prescriptions so they can garner the coddling and sympathy they want. Hmm - was the longest sentence on the site?
23. Cyn - November 21st, 2007 at 11:58 am
While the term “depression” is commonly used to describe a temporary decreased mood when one “feels blue”, clinical depression is a serious illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that cannot simply be willed or wished away. It is often a disabling disease that affects a person’s work, family and school life, sleeping and eating habits, general health and ability to enjoy life.[1] The course of clinical depression varies widely: depression can be a once in a life-time event or have multiple recurrences, it can appear either gradually or suddenly, and either last for few months or be a life-long disorder. Having depression is a major risk factor for suicide; in addition, people with depression suffer from higher mortality from other causes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_depression
it is a sore subject for me. i wish like hell there were another term to be used to further distinguish clinical depression from simple depression or ‘the blues’ or ‘feeling down’. everybody can have a bad day or hell, a bad year. or be in a bad mood or just be moody. its that it persists, its pervasive and it does not respond to those kinds of suggestions. there are also physical components to clinical depression that do lead to physical manifestations of illness or contribute to the worsening of other existing physical illness like heart disease. if people really knew how little medical science understands about how medications..any medication..actually work then they might ‘get’ that medications used to treat clinical depression are most often little better than ’shots in the dark’. there is a tremendous need for more clinical research into brain disease and medication. personally..i don’t think medication and/or therapy is much help to a hella lotta clinically depressed people (like me!). for a lotta clinically depressed people life is a daily struggle of will over brain matter. some of us succeed and some of us don’t.
24. Shane S. - November 21st, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Chris “Leave Britney Alone” Crocker offers his own suggestion on beating depression. View at your own risk! LOL
Chris beats depression
25. bonabi - November 21st, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I was on Prozac for about 3 months and it did nothing, and it was the same for 2 or 3 others, but 2 weeks into my Zoloft regime and I totally levelled out. It’s like stepping out of a freaking plastic bubble, it doesn’t make you happy but it allows you to feel it.
26. Kelsi - November 21st, 2007 at 4:54 pm
A lot of those are WAY easier said than done. I would know.
I feel like this is what I have to focus on 24/7 to keep me afloat. I think I’m just not a natural optimist…
27. jen - November 21st, 2007 at 4:59 pm
jfrater- It may be true that some people exaggerate their symptoms in hopes of getting a prescription, but more often it’s the other way around–they have to be convinced that they have a medical problem. I know this from experience. My parents dragged me to a psychiatrist when I was a teenager, and for a long time I didn’t believe that I was depressed, because I rarely actually felt sad. However, I was constantly tired, went from being a straight-A student to not giving a sh*t about school, gained weight, lost my friends because I wasn’t interested in socializing anymore, and felt like my entire existence was pointless. A few years later, after I was medication, I recognized the exact same symptoms in my cousin, and she went through the same pattern. It took months for her to accept that she was depressed and get help.
28. Rey - November 21st, 2007 at 7:48 pm
This is just what I needed. Thanks jfrater.
29. Bacon - November 21st, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Having been diagnosed with clinical depression a few years ago, perhaps I can offer up my own perspective.
Clinical depression results from an imbalance of a chemical in your brain called saratonin. Prescription drugs like Paxil balance out the saratonin. Depression also goes beyond just being sad, as Jen said above. Before starting on my medicine, I didn’t care about many things, including my friends, my schoolwork, and even (or especially) my family. Depression can also stem from having ADD, which, although many people don’t believe it’s actually a disease, can cause a great deal of stress in a young person’s life.
Jen: Your story is almost identical to mine, except I get the feeling I’m a bit younger
30. splodie - November 21st, 2007 at 8:50 pm
It’s serotonin, actually.
Serotonin is only one of the neurotransmitters responsible for mood elevation and decline. Norepinephrine, monoamines, and dopamine are among the neurotransmitters also being studied as a root cause of depression.
I agree that anti-depressants are over prescribed but I think I would also put a caveat on this list that if these actions don’t work and your depression lasts more than two weeks or you start having suicidal thoughts you should seek professional help.
31. aplspud - November 21st, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I, like many on here, have struggled with clinical depression since I was a child. After being diagnosed around 17 years old, my mother and I uncovered that what she thought were symptoms of a colicky baby or a fussy toddler were probably early symptoms of the chemical imbalance. I have been on and off medication many times.
Bonabi: I took zoloft for several years, then went off because I was too even (some of you may understand what I mean), went without meds for many years, went back on zoloft but it wasn’t working anymore, went on prozac for awhile, evened out, went off. Everybody reacts to different meds in different ways, part of why there are so many out there.
Those of you who are pointing out the medical issues of depression and the importance of a clinical diagnosis and medical treatment (and I completely agree with you, don’t get me wrong) shouldn’t completely discount the ideas in this list either. I am currently managing my symptoms without medication by using stress management techniques I learned in psychotherapy which include or echo many of the techniques discussed above. I am in no way at all trying to argue against meds or put myself above anyone, its just at this point in my life I’m able to not be on meds and be pretty stable. Just about every day I make a self evaluation of my moods/behaviors/other symptoms and I know very well I may need to go back on meds at some point. But for now, I’m just taking one day at a time.
jfrater: You’re right, coddling is not good, it rewards the symptoms and is not the same thing as being supportive. Everyone can use a little TLC once in a while, but if it feeds into a need for validation of being too weak to care for oneself, it can be quite destructive.
Yarr: I have an idea about the people you are talking about,and they annoy me too. If one is expecting antidepressant medication to make everything all better and uses his or her energy to self-pity, then that person is probably never going to recover. As frustrating as it is, its best to just not respond since, as you said, they’re probably all ready to give you a sermon on their illness. If its someone you really care about and who you think really isn’t addressing the underlying issues, you could compare them to a diabetic who eats candy and then just assumes an extra shot of insulin will fix the problem.
32. eric n. - December 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 am
i recommend creative pursuits and rampant sexual activity as the best cures… along with copious alcohol and caffeine consumption and, in the worst case…cigarettes. also long hours of sleep, no boss or person to answer to, and as stress-free a life as can possibly be managed within financial reason. this lifestyle actually requires quite a lot of self-discipline and planning, but it works.
good friendships help, too.
33. rebelaessedai - December 6th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Actually, you should technically eat about six small meals a day. I have hypoglycemia and don’t do this. It causes a lot of problems, on top of the depression.
And I hate to say it, but I will never get off Prozac and Lamictal. With even a day or two off the meds, I see an immediate difference. These things you mentioned do help, but chemicals in your brain are off if you’re truly depressed. And I’d like to solve it without drugs, but I need to function in a practical manner.
34. jfrater - December 7th, 2007 at 1:56 am
eric n: alcohol is a depressant - probably not a good idea for someone trying to beat depression
rebelaessedai: the problem with six small meals a day is that I think most people don’t even know how big a regular meal should be - let alone a small meal. Chances are, unless someone is advising them, they will end up eating six large or six tiny meals a day - neither of which are helpful.
And you are right - some depression does need drugs for treatment - this list is not intended to replace that.
35. miss_ali1984 - December 19th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I know that many people will not believe me, but I think that even clinical depression can EVENTUALLY be cured with the simple rules listed above.
I am someone who went through the many approaches to treating depression over the course of 7 years, most of it involving the now routine approach of medication, and it almost ruined my life. The constant support and basic pity of my friends and family, coupled with medication that continually cripples a depressed person’s already depleted will to perform basic life tasks were my downfall. It was only after I stopped all the medications and began to practice the above rules (the exercise and diet one goes double) that I saw myself become a regular person again.
36. mainlinemystery - December 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Is it just me or is this list somewhat naive? This list is fine for people who are having a crappy day, but for depression, I don’t think so. It’s hard to be active and think positively when you are fighting for a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Fixing your diet, controlling your thinking, and making changes… that stuff means nothing to someone who doesn’t care about themselves. It’s a chemical imbalance. Smiles don’t produce the chemicals that are lacking.
37. Cyn - December 23rd, 2007 at 11:33 pm
scroll up to #21 and coupla past that…………
38. jfrater - December 24th, 2007 at 12:50 am
Cyn: thanks - that is what I was going to say
39. Cyn - December 24th, 2007 at 12:53 am
J - great minds, think alike!
’sides…this is one of ‘my’ topics.
40. jfrater - December 24th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Cyn: indeed they do
41. Xhm - January 4th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
i go through depression very often, i feel hopeless and dead… im only 21 years old… i cant talk about my problem bc others could not understand… even close friends do not…. i live in lebanon… the problem is that im gay… and in lebanon gays are not welcomed.. i try to live with it but i cant … i would like to get married and have children in the future… since i dont want to be alone … i hate being alone in the future… that thing kills me …
42. Cyn - January 4th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Xhm - unfortunately i’m not familiar w/ the state of mental health therapy in Lebanon. i’m assuming it is not good. i’d suggest Googling depression. online depression support groups. see if there is something you can utilize online. or maybe there is something local. you’ll have to check around. as for homosexuality. again i’m assuming Lebannon is not a good place to be gay. i would strongly recommend being as discrete as possible about pursuing info. online. (but then you prolly already know that) i understand that in some countries homophobia can result in physical violence or worse towards gays. and yes, we still get that kind of barbarism here (in the US) but thankfully not as frequently as i’m assuming it occurs elsewhere in the world. i wish you luck. i hope you can find help w/ your depression. and w/ coping w/ being gay in a safe and discrete way in what i’m assuming is still an extremely unenlightened culture.
stay safe.
43. luckyaz - January 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
i got a tip for beating depression, man the hell up and stop whining like a 3 year old.
44. Cyn - January 10th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
luckyaz - how compassionate. betcha tell diabetics to have a candy bar and shut up too, eh?
45. Gaara - January 13th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
All this is sheer nonesense. The writer of all this bullcrud is a complete retard who knows nothing of happiness. He’s a moron and anyone who agrees with him is a bigger moron. It’s all bullshit because depression, especially one caused by suffering an intolerable and untakable amount of pain will never cease. It’s not as easy to get rid of sadness as this idiot claims it is… Truth is, only one way has been known to end such large amount of pain… and that is the sentiment of love, which can only be administered by another person. That is the only thing that can heal a shattered heart. Happiness is a lie. Those who are happy are those who deny the true shit that life has in store for them. If one’s ambition cannot be fulfilled, that is what triggers that much pain. Only way to stop is to keep your fingers crossed and try to achieve it, or else you will never heal. People who reject ideas do it because they know it would be a waste of time. They know that they can’t change because that is how destiny made them… to suffer forever… No amount of silly words can change that. We’re all fools who play this game we call life… We’re all to blame…
46. Cyn - January 13th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Gaara..a broken heart is depressing but not a medical condition known as clinical depression. as for your condemnation of the list..i’d suggest you go back and read the comments that this list has generated…you’d see the list in a new light.
IMHO -
the original list i think is best suited for situational depression and not a medical diagnosis of clinical depression but…it is still a good way to figure out the difference. if you’re depressed and follow some of these suggestions w/out relief…then it might be a good idea to seek professional advice. i think the conservative approach to anything that is not immediately life threatening is the way to go..as a general rule of thumb. so if you’re not suicidal and still functioning well enough in daily life to get by..why not try some of this and see if it helps. then if it doesn’t ..seek professional help.
47. romanesco - January 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Too bad…this list is likely to do a lot more harm than good. The person who wrote it must have depression confused with something else– possibly something imaginary. Having gone through it myself, I am here to tell you that depressed people do not pity themselves. They want to kill themselves. Do murderers kill because they pity their victims? No. At any rate, if someone is able to do anything on this list, it means they’re not depressed. But really it’s not good advice in any case. It’s fraught with sarcasm and commands to just behave as someone you’re not. When we are healthy, we do everything on the list automatically. Invalidating your feelings and beating yourself up over having no motivation isn’t going to solve anything. In fact, it’s the main part of the problem to begin with. And encouraging the general public to view depression as some kind of chronic whinerism is literally dangerous. Depressed people do not look for “coddling” or even help. They tend to isolate themselves and often eventually start looking for guns. The only thing to do if you’re depressed is to go directly to a qualified, level-headed counselor and ignore any advice from amateurs. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to approach a depressed person closely enough to talk about their problems, that is the only advice you should give.
48. Cyn - January 15th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
*sigh* i’ve begun to see this list as my personal project. i’ve commented on it so many times. that said…once again into the fray…
i would appreciate people who take the time to comment to take the time to read the entry in its entirety and most especially the comments.
that is one of the true wonders of listverse entries…the comments are sometimes more enlightening and compelling than the original list!
so much in this particular list has been expounded upon, critiqued and clarified in comments …its as if the comments should precede the list!
there is incredible repetition of complaints in the comments. so you have something negative to say…start from the beginning of the comments and read thru…i can almost betcha its already been said and more than once.
just to be clear…again..
this is a site for lists. for entertainment. and if perchance you are enlightened..wonderful! this particular list is not meant to take the place of professional/clinical diagnosis or advice or counseling.
and frankly, at this point..anyone who thinks this is the holy writ and will use this against the advice of a doctor as their prescription to combat depression…should be hospitalized. seriously…if you’re so messed up that you can not tell this is a generalized list on a entertainment site that has been commented ad nauseum about the symptoms and treatments for actual clinical depression as opposed to situational depression…then you’ve not been paying attention. or are incapable of doing so.
yeah..i know …a bit bitchy but seriously…this is gone beyond getting old.
re read the list from the vantage of light information. really read all the comments. then if you’re still not sure if this is not intended as professional advice or counsel….see a therapist yourself.
if in doubt…seek professional help immediately! i always say..better safe than sorry. if you’re not sure if you’re clinically depressed or suicidal and please know this…you can be clinically depressed to point of not functioning and not be suicidal. being depressed and suicidal do not necessarily go hand in hand. being suicidal requires immediate medical attention. being depressed…even clinical depression…can be evaluated professionally over a period of time. situational depression may actually get better over time and not require meds or therapy. if you have any doubt about the differences either in yourself or someone you know….contact a professional.
49. Cyn - January 15th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
wow ..8 and now 9
50. romanesco - January 15th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Interesting how some people’s contempt for those with mental health issues seems to dovetail with the idea that making fun of depression is cool, if that’s what’s meant by “light information.” What’s clear from the comments is that this list can and has been taken seriously, and that’s precisely my point, which still stands. Those who are not yet diagnosed and those who think it’s their job to advise others will likely be harmed by it.
51. Cyn - January 15th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
contempt? oh, i hope that is not an accusation directed at me personally. if so you could not be further from the truth. i have personal history and professional experience w/ depression as well as other mental illnesses. i have nothing but compassion and concern for those who suffer from mental illness either as patients or family and friends of.
what i take issue w/ in some comments made re: this list …is the tired, lame repetition of the same crud over and over again. obviously an indication that the commenter has not bothered to read comments, just spouted off.
depression is no matter for contempt.
lame commenting is.
course if i’ve misread your intent and it was not a personal attack …then…so sorry.
clinical depression is a mental illness that deserves much more clinical research. much greater social understanding and compassion. and those who are affected by it from a loved one, family member or friend. hell..a fellow student or employee(er)….well, it behooves you to take some time to learn more about it and be as supportive of that depressive in your life as you can be. for the depressive…seek professional help. there maybe something that will work for you. help you live a fuller life. you never know til ya try.
and i’ve really gotta stop doing these PSA’s…*sigh*
52. romanesco - January 15th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Cyn, if you do not see that comments like “anyone who thinks this is the holy writ and will use this against the advice of a doctor as their prescription to combat depression…should be hospitalized,” or “if you’re so messed up that …” do not constitute contempt, you’re missing out on what most people must think of you.
Read some books. Pay attention to how things are spelled and written. They’ll guide you away from such credibility-killers as “ad nauseum” and “a entertainment site.”
Oh, and incidentally, there’s no distinction between “clinical” and “situational” depression, much as you may have been misled by your Google searches. Depression can be triggered by any number of things, situational or otherwise. Whether it’s considered “clinical” is a case of magnitude. And since suicidal thoughts are among the top 10 indicators, your defensiveness about whether this list will help trigger it is not only irresponsible but alomst borders on the criminal.
Now, I don’t expect you to get all that right away, little girlie, and It’s OK that you are as silly as you are right now, but you really need to start getting more serious about your high (or perhaps middle) school classes before you decide you can start tricking adults.
The subject of depression is no place to start with that. It’s a serious, life-threatening illness, and certainly no subject for levity.
53. Cyn - January 15th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
check your email later. i’ll not hash this out in comments.
btw..i’m more than happy to take this kinda crap ‘off campus’. beats displacing valid commentary.
54. crystalclear - January 17th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’d like to say to those that think medication isn’t needed for depression. I know that it is needed. I have been diagnosed with Major Clinical Depression and have been on all sorts of medications to help me cope with this illness. My doctor has finally found the right cocktail of medications that work for me, but like many people that have this illness when they start to ‘feel’ better they tend to go off their medication thinking they don’t need it anymore. EVERY TIME I have gone off my meds because of feeling better I would sink down so low. I think of suicide a lot, even on meds but when I go off them the thoughts turn into planning. Then I have to start all over again getting back up to the dose that I need for even a little bit of relief.Many times in order for me to that I have been hospitalized to keep me safe. I’m thankful that I have a counselor that doesn’t play the coddling game with me but says it like it is. This list is exactly what she tells me to practice. Although it is tough for me to do some of the things on the list I know when I make myself do some of them I can face life a lot easier. Thank you for this list and for letting me make this comment.
55. Cyn - January 17th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
crystalclear - your comment is a good example of the importance of seeking professional help. also of being patient…each person’s course of treatment, whether talk therapy/meds, meds alone or whatever is recommended by a medical professional…will be unique to that person. so some trial and error is to be expected. thank goodness you’ve found what works for you. even better that you understand the importance of sticking to the treatment plan as prescribed. i wish you only the best in your continuing treatment. it is truly ‘one day at a time’ w/ some days better than others, as you well know.
56. Monkey Nuts - January 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am
This is a good list, but it comes with the false assumption that anyone actually knows how you feel. A lot of the time it is the people who are seemingly the happiest and most fulfilled who suffer from depression. Secondly, people seem to make a distinction between clinical depression and the after effects of an emotional cataclysm in one’s life. I believe that a lot of people who suffer from the latter are contemptous of people who suffer from the former, being that there is no direct causal stimulus that would explain it.
57. Cyn - January 18th, 2008 at 10:57 am
well there is still such stigma attached to mental illness of any kind so there is tremendous ignorance and misunderstanding about the complexities of clinical depression and other mental illness. it being called ‘depression’ doesn’t help. reason i do try to call it ‘clinical depression’ to differentiate it from just being down or blue or having a bad day (week/month/year/whatever) this entry is intended for a general audience not medical professionals. i do think it serves a purpose. but..its like anything else anyone sees online (or for that matter in real life anywhere) it behooves the ‘reader’ or ‘consumer’ to do their own homework. to take anything (these days) at face value is folly. read it w/ an eye towards it being very general and if it compels you to dig deeper and do your own research …all the better. the more informed folks there are out there in regards clinical depression and other mental illness..the better!
58. avi - January 24th, 2008 at 4:02 am
great i tried no. 1 this morning!
59. mimi - January 25th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
although there are some interesting points within the list itself, this might be the least helpful thing i’ve ever read, and i doubt the author knew anything at all about clinical depression.
there’s a real difference between someone with major depressive disorder (MDD-NOS) and someone who’s “having a bad week”.
and honestly, number 6, which basically says “stop complaining”… sure! why didn’t i think of that; i’ll do that right away. while i’m at it, i’ll just internalize all of my bad feelings and let them rot away, because i wouldn’t want to disturb those who love me and want to help me feel better about myself. =/
i hope the so-called psychologist who wrote this isn’t practicing anymore.
60. Cyn - January 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
mimi - most of your points have been covered in previous comments.
if you check the source the author is a psychologist.
~ ~ ~
again..people need to understand the distinction (which is made in the source article) between feeling depressed and clinical depression. the first being a temporary mood that will pass in a while. the 2nd being a mental illness requiring medical attention.
that said…all the suggestions in this list make sense as a means of making that distinction. if you’re simply depressed any of these suggestions might actually help you cope til it passes.
if you’re not sure if it is just being depressed or actual clinical depression requiring medical assessment and intervention (and you are not suicidal) then trying these suggestions w/out relief should prompt you to seek medical attention. or if you know of someone who has tried these suggestions w/out relief then urge that person to seek medical attention.
unless someone is suicidal or is a danger to others…taking some time to see if any of these suggestions might help should not be a problem.
if you are suicidal or feel you might harm someone else call 911 or the nearest hospital emergency room for immediate assistance.
if you have any doubts as to your condition contact your doctor. go to the nearest mental health clinic. students have access to school nurses. college students have access to campus clinics. if you are a member of a church ..seek counsel there.
there are any number of ways to seek help. to find clarification.
reading a list on an entertainment site…maybe be entertaining but it is not the be all end all answer to your mental health issues or questions.
for that matter…online research should be but one avenue of educating yourself about mental illness. make an appointment w/ your doctor to discuss your situation and options.
and do yourself a favor by actually reading the list, the source noted at the end the list and the previous comments before passing judgement on this list or its source author or the list submitter.
61. Greg - February 19th, 2008 at 6:40 am
This stuff is garbage…
Depression isn’t something you can just change.
I tried to get active i ended up getting tired more and sleeping for maybe up to 20 hours at a time.
All this bullshit i tried changed my life to the point where i was more depressed and i almost killed myself.
i had a gun in my hand when my step brother walked in the room and nearly beat the hell out of me. i then spent tome in a hospital where they ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO HELP!
don’t listen to this shit. seek real help.
62. Corella - February 20th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Have any of you heard of Bipolar disorder…i was diagnosed as being depressed when i was 7 and i was accuarately diagnosed with Bipolar disorder when i was 9, i have the whole inherited gene. Ive taken prescription medication my whole life for various reasons concerning my disorder…i read this list and think it is just bullshit, no matter what i have tried to do, the only thing that has helped me is seeing a psychologist. Being able to get my problems out to someone i dont know helps me more than any medication i have ever taken. Who ever wrote this list has never experienced true depression. I’m 19 now and i have went through so much suffering for no reason other than an inherited gene, this list is pure bullshit and doesnt help anyone who ACTUALLY has clinical depression…get your facts straight before you write a list about something this serious…
63. me - February 22nd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
true chemical depression means that you no longer have the ability to care about anything. therefore, this shit is useless. i really think you might want to avoid depressing people further by removing this list.
64. jfrater - February 22nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
me: I think point 6 might apply to you.
65. toolnut - February 22nd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
buuuuuurn!!
66. no - February 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
the last thing a person who is actually clinically depressed needs to do is:
1)be told that they can help themselves out of it, and that they have control over it.
2)be told that it will just pass, that it’s mind over matter.
3)be advised to make major life changes. when you are depressed, you are NOT yourself anymore. You are angry/apathetic/in constant agony/desperate, etc.
Your body cannot produce or retain the correct chemicals to counteract these feelings. you can’t fight chemistry, and while i agree that you shouldn’t give in, you do not always have the ability to decide. the only reason a depressed person will seek help is because of their loved ones; they no longer care about themselves at all.
your list disturbs me greatly because it displays all the ignorance about the condition.
IF YOU CAN COUNTERACT YOUR SADNESS, IT IS NOT DEPRESSION. end of story.
67. Cyn - February 22nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
this list works on so many different levels. the text itself is sound advice presented in a understandable and positive way. no where in the text does it imply that it is the end all be all treatise on depression. so i still think this list stands on its own. especially when read in proper context and taking the time to check its sources.
the comments it has generated actually exceed the merit of the list itself.
which is the truly awesome thing about listverse. that a simple list could generate such commentary…well, its what makes listverse…listverse and not some knock off copy/paste piece of crap you’ve seen everywhere else.
having said all that…how much i appreciate this particular list. how much i appreciate the commenters.
i think its time to change the title to
TOP 10 WAYS TO BEAT A DEAD HORSE
seriously…does no one read the list? read supporting links?
and does no one actually read the preceding comments?
so many people are simply not reading. not paying attention. and spouting off on their own little soapbox. and yeah, i can be guilty of that last part too.
okay…so first off. this is an excellent list. there is sound advice to be found here. the supporting articles have to be read to keep this list in proper context. otherwise commenters come off looking like fools for repeating exactly what is said in the list or supporting text or THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS.
i know, i know…no one is paying attention but i’ve gotten this off my mind.
clinical depression is a mental illness that requires assessment and treatment by professionals. anyone suspecting they or someone they love is clinically depressed should seek professional help immediately. suicide is never the answer. if you or someone you love is suicidal…STOP call 911 or seek emergency medical intervention available in your area immediately.
i’d highly recommend anyone reading this list pay close attention to what it actually stated. check supporting articles. most importantly read every comment. before you spout off about what crap this is.
/rant
68. panopticism - March 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
i think this list really needs to be renamed, you can’t cure depression by thinking positively, i’ve had severe depression for years, taken 13 different medications, tried everything in the book short of electro-convulsive therapy, tried everything on this list (which has done nothing.) these are ways to cope with sadness, not real clinical depression.
69. dave - March 27th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I find the best way to treat real depression is to learn a few tricks that prisoners of war use to make it through the hell that life as dealt them at that point in time.
The object is to make it. This implies hope. You have to accept there is hope for feeling better to feel better.
Another thing is to make time seem to go by faster by taking as much time as you can on simple tasks as brushing your teeth and other daily tasks.
Give yourself time to accomplish a better life. do not expect to feel good if you are tough on yourself. Just keep working on fixing the bad in your life a little each day.
Don’t tally up the negatives. Don’t worry about finances.
Work on having hope and knowing there is a way to be different.
Depression comes hardest when you think of all the bad things in your life and your mistakes and opportunities you missed.
We all have done the same things wrong in life, depressed people just dwell on it.
Many things will fix themselves as you fix a small bad thing, it adds up and with a little synergy of things fixed, it can snowball and fix bigger things without you having to do anything.
As you become happier, more opportunities come to you. As you have less negative thoughts, new happier thoughts will replace them.
You can’t see the sunrise if you are looking at the dirt.
70. -cherio- - April 2nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
tip 1. control your thinking = deny the truth shy away from your problems when you need to sort them out the most
tip 2. fix your diet = eating healthily depresses people it can make them think oh god i have to eat this or that and a little bit of that or i’ll end up even worse off than i am now
tip 3. become active = sport creates competition or standards that have to be met and challenged or if the activity is something alone like track or i don’t know then you tend to think of the past the future your happiness leading ultimately to deppression.
tip 4. make changes = what to change where to startdeppressed people don’t have good features (well at least not to ourselves) so make changes to us means you’re right you do suck change!
tip 5. be realistic = to us how we think THAT IS REALISM damn stupid idea or what!
tip 6. stop bad behaviour = we’re deppressed not juvinial delinquents. deppressed people find it a lot harder to trust and talk to people FACT
tip 7. create a positive social life = deppression creates shyness making social interaction a lot lot lot harder try create a social life first
tip 8. fix your personal problems = if we knew what they were we wouldn’t be fucking deppressed would we?! you’re the shrink site
tip 9. keep positive = *positive thoughts* oh my my life does suck oh happy day -_-
thing
tip 10. develop interests = interests need interest deppressed people have less and less interest in everything day by day
could you get much worse ?!
this is ridiculous
71. Cyn - April 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
68. panopticism
69. dave
70. -cherio
your comments would be much more effective had you bothered to read the preceding comments. most of what you’ve stated in your comments has been previously covered..w/ some exceptions….more than a few times.
i would highly recommend anyone thinking of commenting on this list read the list carefully and all the ensuing comments before you sit in judgment of this list or make the same comment many others have already made before you.
as a starting point for educating oneself on depression..this list works fine. anyone should know a single list on a single website is grossly insufficient information on which to treat a life altering and at times life threatening mental illness such as depression.
if you need professional help for yourself or someone one you know…..contact medical professionals not a website on the internet.
72. Rylan - April 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Before taking the antidepressants I am currently on, I was in lock-down at a psychiatric hospital, and every second consumed with the feeling that I was one second away from urinating and defecating (caused by OCD), experiencing virtually nonstop panic attacks, and depressed to the point where I wanted to die.
Antidepressants do not make me happy or anxiety-free, far from it, but they give me a foundation that makes living (as opposed to merely surviving) possible, as my mind was for all intents and purposes complete chaos without them.
It took years of trying about two dozen prescription medications and a number of illicit drugs that did nothing positive for me before finding the antidepressants I am on now.
73. Jack - May 7th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I have to object to the notion that sympathy ‘rewards’ depressive behaviour. It isn’t like giving a sweet to a dog. During depression, you hate yourself. It’s like constantly bullying yourself. The affection of freinds makes you feel only more wretched for not being able to attend to them, or for placing a burden upon them.
It’s ironic, and kinda sad, that depressed people often reached their stae of being precisely through practicing the ’stop whining’ method on themselves. I have expereinced depression, and I know that I reached it through constantly telling myself that I was lazy, worthless, unlovable and a burden to others. I did not reach it through having my ‘passivity reinforced’, or obtaining a ‘victim mentality’. I reached it through the very opposte conviction that I was contemptible for my (perceived) incompetence.
As for one commentator who claimed that most depressive people wear their diagnoses like a badge: I can’t say I’ve ever met such people. Of course, its skewed by he fact that he probably knows plenty of depressives without knowing it, and that he’s probably just met loud-mouthed people desprerate for sympathy rather than actually spoke to depressed people.
74. kelsie - May 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
i hope it works im so depressed l8rly ive lost my boyfriend and friends =/ x