On the exercise front, try doing 10 mins a day of something intense. Let the frustration out in a constructive way. Some things I like doing a hitting a tennis ball against a wall, kicking a football/soccer ball or getting some dumbbells and lifting some weight.

If you have more time, a game of squash with a friend can be awesome and very cathartic.

Harry Hexagon, very good post I must say. Recognising one's faulty negative thoughts really does make a huge difference. I know it's helped me a great deal.

Regarding medications, there is more than one sort, one was recently linked to suicidal feelings. That does not mean medication should be ruled out altogether, it has its place. Not only that, you don't self-prescribe these things anyway, it's part of a holistic approach that should be worked out with a health professional, who knows the relative merit of each available option.

Good luck with it.

I want to validate this and everyone here that says exercise. And I am an amateur expert in that I have cured mine.

Your depression, whatever the cause, is expressing through hormones in your brain and body.
The fastest, most effective, and safest way to change the hormones in your brain is to exercise or as bns said, change your overall self-expression and your brain hormones WILL follow.

But do your change, and keep to it.
If you feel even a slight bit of change right away, then keeping at whatever it is wills definitely you.

As for the meditating and therapies, it is often necessary to find out why you are depressed but not always. Sometimes you just need to release it, and who give a damn what it is or how you release it. As for medication, try to wait till a last resort.

The body knows how to release but sometimes you have to change your human expression through it by exercising the body or mind. Simple acts of this kind of thing in consistency will remind the body how it releases normally and then it will show you how it’s done.

No luck needed, just do it.

There is no doubt that over medicating is dangerous but so is trying to work through a bout of clinical depression without medication. Clinical depression is a medical condition. Not something you can talk yourself out of. The chemical imbalances can be very successfully addressed with medication but it can be complicated as it sometimes takes a lot of trial and error to find the medication to suit the particular person. However, untreated clinical depression can be very dangerous.

A lot of people confuse a feeling of general depression with clinical depression. They are very different things. A general feeling of being down, caught in a rut, unmotivated and generally just finding it hard to get up and go is not clinical depression. Its just something we all go through. If you have ever known anyone with clinical depression you would never mistake the two.

To get back to the original question. Taking on two many projects at once or putting projects off until they accumulate into a big ordeal is always a nightmare but it happens to most of us from time to time.

You have been given some very good advice in this thread. Exercise is very good for the mind. This isn't just a saying but a medical fact. All studies on this subject show an improvement in the mental facilities of those who got regular exercise.

Music and other hobbies and interests can also help to improve your mood generally. My favourite though is to have a good rant about it. Get it all out of your system.

An overdose of sexual intercourse and alcohol usually works for me.

I find it amusing that people search for the cure for cancer when it's right under their nose. What is this secret cure? Why, stop eating, drinking, and breathing toxins, of course.

Yet that is a solution no one wants to consider (people because it requires a change of habitual behavior, corporations because it cuts profits). Instead, they want to get cancer, and then try to remove it.

The same can be said of depression. Exercise, medications, meditation, self-help books, etc., may help to treat some of the symptoms. But if the underlying causes are not addressed, the 'cure' either won't work, will rebound as a deeper depression, or will appear to work but leave your life hollow (you may go to work and feel adequate energy, but you won't be truly happy).

Also, depression is a natural response to negativity. When we're feeling negative, this is a poor time to analyze our lives (everything will look bad), or really to take any actions at all. We are likely to hurt ourselves or others. This is why the body goes into a low energy state. It basically sedates us for our own protection, and to get us to go into a state of re-creation. It stops our DOING and encourages our BEING.

Drugs override this feeling of fatigue, without addressing the negativity, which is why they often lead to suicide and psychotic behavior.

Trust your body. It knows what it's doing. If you're feeling lethargic and not like working, then rest, and don't work. Ahhhh... but this gets into your fears. What will happen if you don't work, if you just laze for a bit?

To be honest, it doesn't sound like you are happy with your work, at least for now. Anytime you start using force on yourself, such as forcing yourself to work, it will come back to you in some form. Force begets resistance.

I think you need to get into the question of what you really feel like doing, and give yourself permission to do that, even if it seems financially dangerous, etc.

Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch is an excellent book - it begins with a suicidal person having a conversation with God. You'll receive a lot of insights there (it's not religious, and can benefit you regardless of your beliefs).

The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle is also a good book for understanding the mind, and letting go. It is not a conventional self-help book. It is deeper than that. It won't tell you how to feel, merely help you look at where your feelings are coming from. Again, it begins with a man in utter despair.

I think sitting down with these books would be far more beneficial than forcing yourself to complete some project. The fact that you are tired and don't want to do them may not be the problem. The problem may be that you are unwilling to accept the truth of that feeling, and what it implies. There is a child inside of you who is tired of doing other people's 'busy work' and wants to LIVE.

I think you should look into the actual mechanisms of cancer before you start telling people all they need to do is make some lifestyle changes and they'll be able to avoid it.

Once again... what you say is sometimes right. If a person is going through a period of unhappiness and is not satisfied with their lives, etc, then they may be able to feel better by addressing these underlying causes. However, true depression is a physical disorder, and not just a melancholy mood. Would you tell someone with cystic fibrosis to eat well and live in a pristine environment and expect their chloride channels to just start working?

I decided a long time ago not to lable feelings as 'good' and 'bad'.

My entire life has been filled with ups and downs. In my very young years, my feelings were never a problem. When I began attending school, teachers would constantly ask me what was bothering me and would advise me to 'pick my chin up'. I was just fine, but I began to believe the myth that feelings are either 'good' or 'bad'.

It is easy to try and make others responsible for ones feelings because we live in 'positive thinking' culture.

I finally got my soul back when I deconstructed what society had laid on me regarding feelings and behavior.

I often tell people that half my life has been spent letting others screw me up and now I am spending the second half undoing the damage. The good news for me is I am no longer convinced of the idea that I need to always feel good. Chasing after good feelings is a big waste of time. When your feeling down, enjoy the ride and remember that the lower you go, the higher you'll be when you come out of your funk.

OTOH-I know there is clinical depression and I do not claim to know anything about it. I have a daughter who is in her final year of a masters degree in child phychology and she educates me a little.

I'm not suggesting an individual can avoid the toxins in our environment (including mental and emotional ones, which also create disease).

I am suggesting that if we lived healthfully, cancer would be a thing of the past. And I have "looked into it". People willfully ignore most of the data on what causes cancers and makes them more likely.

Yet that is off-topic - I was merely drawing an analogy to illustrate that health is holistic by nature. Treating symptoms and fighting diseases is not the road to health.

There is no barrier between the physical, mental, and emotional. When one is out of balance they are all out of balance, and a "disorder" in one can lead to disorder in other aspects. You can argue over which came first.

Ultimately, the mind creates the body. But that is on a metaphysical level, which is not what you are addressing.

I believe that too often depression is treated as a physical disease in a rush to make the symptoms go away and make the person "productive", while ignoring underlying mental and spiritual causes. It is a form of denial, often using drugs to avoid rather than address the problems.

As for mood, you can be physically ill and be in a good mood. You can even be depressed and be in a good mood. It all depends on your perspective.

Well said!

Let it be.

I'd much rather have not tried the medication and still have full control over my blinking, thanks.

it's probably not the best idea, but you could always resort to filling yourself with false hope. i'm sure there are people who actually believe in god, but there are some who do choose to believe in god because they need that hope in their lives (i don't blame them for this, but i would think playing the lottery, once a week, might end up being less expensive in the long run).

There is also omega 3 oils... the ones from fish are better than vegetarian sources since they don't have to be converted first

Well I know I will get hit for my spill, wont be the first time.
What do I do? the God thing, ya when I feel like a worm and no-one gives a rats behind I then think...hey what about the Jesus thing, so ya I grab the bible, make some hot tea, sit and read a bit and it always amazes me how I pull out of the dungeon I lay doormat in. I dont know why...but it works, sometimes it like he jumps right out of that book and wakes me up to life again, well it does say in there, come unto me all ye who are weak and weary and I will give you rest. Just something to think about. Ok hit me hard...I am use to it.

Sherri

I'm not going to hit hard Sherri, at least I hope not. If you get comfort from your religion then that is only to the good. However, in my experience people suffering from severe depression can often use religion to make their depression worse. Don't forget that people suffering from severe clinical depression are not just feeling down. This is a disorder that very often precludes rational thinking.

Religion can just become another way of expressing that irrationality. This is not the fault of the religion but simply another symptom of the depression.

Especially when they'd read something like the Book of Revelation...

Well, yes that wouldnt be the first book I would venture in, he-he, I too was clinically depressed, and medicated for it, about 4 years,and... that was even so 4 years ago. In my case it was the empty nest syndrome, wow I was not prepared for that, no kids and just a husband. I have dealt well and all is good now. I have a grandbaby to keep me jumping...and oh she does, I love her so.

Sherri

Doesnt expecting the unexpected make the unexpected the expected?

Yeah UbuntuniX is almost universally right. Anti-depressants can be very bad for you. There are cases where it works, sometimes someone just needs an artificial "pickmeup" to get into a more permanent better mood but I recommend staying away from most medications. Read about the negative side-effects on the Internet or wikipedia. There are some milder medications that carry fewer side-effects you could try.

That being said there are some "herbal" remedies that work for at least mild depression. I don't have much experience w/ depression but I have anxiety and the same anxiety supplements I've tried would appear to work for depression.

St John's Wort is probably the most popular but it's not my favorite. Rhodiola Rosea and Passion Flower work great for anxiety. 5htp works pretty well for depression from what I've read, but really isn't the best thing in the world for anxiety. Just look around there are plenty out there. Some you may have to order over the Internet.

Listen to what everyone is saying, exercise (it really does work, I recommend hitting an actual weight lifting program like rippetoe's, 3x8, etc), and look into some supplements. Just cause it's a supplement doesn't mean it wont have negative side-effects, but you can read about the side-effects on different supplement websites and find out what might work for you.

edit -- oh yeah try to limit masturbating. People like to say that masturbating is OK and everything but it does effect the chemical balance in your head and generally speaking the less often you do it, the better you feel mentally. Look up something called sexual exhaustion.

Again I think I see a difference here between depression and DEPRESSION. Many people use the word depression/depressed for basically those times when they just aren't feeling too wonderful - a bit down in the dumps, etc. That's not depression - that's a mood.

Depression is a medical condition and completely different from the above. Prescribing anti-depressants for depression is more often than not appropriate. Prescribing anti-depressants for feeling down in the dumps is idiotic, bordering (at least) on malpractice, but unfortunately all too common. Basically it is a case of treating a condition that isn't there.

Feeling down/lost/bored/frustrated/etc does not equal depression (although those things would all be typical symptoms of depression). But, a cough is a symptom of Tuberculosis, but you wouldn't treat someone for TB just because they coughed, would you?

I agree totally Kev.

I find it very frustrating when people mix up feeling depressed with the medical condition of depression. If they had ever know anyone with real clinical depression they would realise the difference very quickly.

Not sure what it's like in the states but our Doctors have drawn back big time on prescribing anti-depressants after some major scandals about addiction some 15/20 years ago.