I had a talk with my mother

[Japher]

I think it's harder for some than others to "get over it" or "deal with it"... Some of us never get over it without dealing with it for a time. The best way to have that time pass is to do something to keep your mind off of it. DaShi

I'm not prone to depression, but I get into slumps that lasts for maybe a week at most. So, no big deal. I'm an alcoholic and quite sociable so my mood changes like the weather. It makes happy times happy, and when I'm depressed I ussually just remind myself that I was sad before, than happy, now I'm sad again, I will be happy again... Maybe I'm bipolar?

Anyway, a song I like says "It takes sometime to get away..." and it does.

[DaShi]

Yes, it takes time. But you must actively work toward getting better during that time or you won't. The point of my post agrees with you: find something to get your mind off of unhappy things and thinking about happy things. However, it's not simply ignoring it. Instead it's not letting it get to you. When you're really depressed, this is hard. And sometimes just letting it out like in this thread is healthy and beneficial.

[Footie Mad]

Originally posted by Agathon
Footie mad - is your team doing badly? I always get depressed when mine does.

Well it's preseason now and we're the reigning champs, so no.

[Provost Harrison]

It is a problem with mothers - they often worry more than the person themselves does - I know this is the case with mine, and she generally feels what I feel about the situations that happen.

[RGBVideo]

Footie: What's your problem?

[Urban Ranger]

Depression, it appears.

[RGBVideo]

How about doing something which makes you happy, then?

[Urban Ranger]

Clinical depression is generally held to be a biological disorder, caused by an abnormally low level of a particular chemical, usually serotonin, in the brain.

[trev]

Often the best solution to depression and similar illnesses is to focus your thoughts on someone other than yourself, ie involve yourself in to lives of other people through helping them (maybe offer a weaker or handicapped person physical help or if you know more about computers than other people, assist them in that area), this makes you feel useful and helps in lifting feelings of depression.

[Ben Kenobi]

I did counselling. The first thing they asked me was if there were any feelings I was holding back. That's the thing. We think that we can hold just one emotion and show all the others, but it doesn't work that way.

As for doing something fun, the problem is that everything that is usually 'fun' no longer feels fun. So you start to lose interest in things that gave you pleasure before.

The first thing that has to be done, is to let go of whatever you are holding onto. For me, it was anger that I kept bottled up. I had to find an appropriate outlet before I could get better.

The second part is the hard part. You have to overcome your isolation. The more you sit by yourself, the worse you are going to feel. You have to get yourself out around other people before you are getting better. Now, that being said, you don't have to spend all day with others, the key is to do just a little bit every day.

The third part is physical activity. Most of us are too sedentary, and that contributes to depression. Once we get out there, we will start to get better. Again, it's not about going to a full workload, but more about doing a little bit more each day.

For me, I also had the support of a church, which gave me an anchor when nothing else seemed to be steady. It gave me some structure that I could build everything else around. It also gave me the comfort to hope for the best, rather than worrying about my situation.

[Sikander]

Footie Mad, what has your treatment for depression consisted of so far?

Also, it's interesting how different people react to depression in those close to them. Two of my closest friends I made while I was really depressed. My gf on the other hand avoids me if I'm depressed, she just can't deal with it.

[Alexander's Horse]

Football Crazy

I have a favourite brother
And his Christian name is Paul.
He's lately joined a football club
For he's mad about football.
He's two black eyes already
And teeth lost from his gob,
Since Paul became a member of
That terrible football club.

(Chorus)
For he's football crazy,
He's football mad,
The football it has taken away
The little bit o' sense he had,
And it would take a dozen servants
To wash his clothes and scrub,
Since Paul became a member of
That terrible football club.

In the middle of the field, one afternoon,
The captain says, "Now Paul,
Would you kindly take this place-kick
Since you're mad about football?"
So he took forty paces backwards,
Shot off from the mark.
The ball went sailing over the bar
And landed in New York.

For he's football crazy ...

His wife says she'll leave him
If Paulie doesn't keep
Away from football kicking
At night-time in his sleep.
He calls out 'Pass, McGinty!"
And other things so droll
Last night he kicked her out of bed
And swore it was a goal!

For he's football crazy ...



Source: Singing Together, Autumn 1968, BBC Publications

Notes:
This is credited as an 'Irish Song.' According to a Mudcat thread from 2001 (quoting Adam MacNaughton), it was written by Glaswegian James Curran (born in Donegal, but grew up in Scotland) who died in 1900.