So, the whole month of December, I've been depressed. I don't know if it is seasonal depression, or just depression, or even teen angst. I'm going to the doctor Friday, and I'll get it checked out then. Until I do that, how do you all usually deal with depression symptoms? Thanks!

I watch funny YouTube videos, I look at memes, talk with my friends, eat food, play games, the usual. I just try to make myself happy, and memes and other funny stuff like that never fails to lift my mood :3

Glad you're going to a doctor to get it checked out, I'm going to a counselor to make my dysfunctional family maybe a little better and to help me deal with self deprecating thoughts and sometimes suicidal ones :'3.

Another thing that helps is just trying to have a positive mindset, really helps honestly ^^

I've been depressed for many years. It depends on what is depressing you. For instance, with me I get depressed when I think about certain things. These certain things cannot be magically fixed by popping a pill. I don't tell the doctors that though because then they will feel useless and I don't want to hurt their feelings. Just do what the doctor says, take the meds and play along. Try hard to think positive thoughts. Just know some things are meant to be depressing and nothing can really change it unless you tell your mind otherwise.

I was actually diagnosed by a professional years ago with chronic depression and severe depression. I cope with it by finding things to do, like play Magic with some friends at the shop on weekends, or play video games. It just abotu finding out what your own coping mechanisms are. 

Heavily depends on what you are depressed about. For me, I usually play music that I enjoy, or hang out with friends outside the house. As long it gets your mind off what your depressed about, it would work. I agree with Jigsaw on how pills can't help a person's mind from being depressed. Wish you luck on feeling happier!

I can't say there's a one solution for depression. For me, it's a constant situation. I've worked on it for the last few years and few things I've noticed help me balance it out:

• social anxiety- I became a loner for a few years and even now, I go through sporadic moments when I don't socialize much. I've overcome this by touching base with my very close friends and now we all hang out every other week. 

• hobbies- walking, listening to music- I've tried to pay attention to how certain songs make me feel and avoid listening to the ones that do not uplift me. Reading, gaming, and being active so there's less time for thoughts to creep on me.

• family support, helping others- I see my family every other day if not daily and help them in all I can as well as other people whether donating money or time

• Pets- they are great. My mother's dog can sense when I'm down so he becomes overly affectionate

• Accept yourself- figure out who you are, what you want, and who you want to be and stick to it. Don't let anyone walk over you and don't give anyone the power to control your emotions

• Cut off the negativity whether is a family member, friend, partner- if they're not making you feel better and bringing the best of you then, don't let them bring the worse either.

• Don't dwell on things, people, or situations. Don't hold on to anything because everything and everyone has an "expiration date." Learn to meet new people and incorporate new things in your life to help you balance

• When depression creeps in, find a place where you're comfortable. Cry out what you need which is better than other reactions I usually have. Remember that it will get better and it's all a perspective in life.

• Allow others close to you know your struggle so they can help you when you feel helpless

That's just some of the things that I try to do when I feel depressed. I've managed to overcome a lot of bad reactions and thoughts that way and overall, I've focused on my goals, what I want, and being there for those who mean much to me. I recently read a post on Facebook about the 72 Hours Rule which I thought I could implement into how I deal with life.

Depression is an issue that can be very hard to deal with. Sometimes people might just have mild cases of it, and there really isn't much of a reason they're feeling this way. It might be because of the weather or something small that usually goes away. Then there's other times where people become depressed over situations. Some of these situations can be dealt with and others can't. For me, there are a lot of things that are beyond my control, and I'm trying to find a way to cope with them.

The key is to try to stay energized which I have found to be almost impossible at times. It's hard to get motivated to do anything when your life is a mess, and the people around you are so negative all the time. Your environment and circumstances has a lot to do with your mood and mindset. That's whenever medication can help. If you can't do anything to change your environment or the people you have to put up with, medication is about the only solution. Caffeine helps me stay energized, alert, and focused, and it keeps me from getting migraine headaches which is most likely brought on by stress.

I just hope you have a mild case of depression, and it doesn't have to do with money, responsibilities, or stress. That's whenever it becomes a bigger problem. I feel like any other time depression can be dealt with through counseling because it could be something personal that causes depression for some people. Depression all depends on what someone is depressed about, and dealing with it is different for every person. I don't feel like anyone chooses to be this way, and people need to understand it better and find ways to deal with it.

Having people in your life is a necessity. Loneliness causes depression too, but sometimes you can't find the right kind of people that understand you. That's when you have to be alone, and that's why I feel like there really isn't a clear answer on how to deal with depression. If people care, they will show that they care, but if they don't, don't waste your time on them. I've made that mistake enough times. Sometimes, in worst cases, people have to just tough it out or take medication to get them through it, and that's just how it is.     

I don't know that I've ever evaluated my feelings and thoughts and went, "Yup, must be depression."

But when I don't feel all that great I try to get outside or I move around.  I exercise, I play sports, I stay active and move my body instead of sitting in one spot and watch tv or play video games.  That, to me, makes things worse because you're cutting yourself off from the great outdoors, sunshine, getting your blood flowing, and being around other people.

I also take a lot of energy from others.  I love being around people and it helps when there are other people near me.  I go out with friends, I play team games or sports with friends or strangers, or I go to an area where there is an energy from the crowd or from a group of people there.  That's what I like to do.

I've never been clinically depressed and it's never been something a doctor has talked about.  But, saying that, maybe it's because I take steps early when i don't feel like myself and I engage my mind, body, and social side to doing more things.  That knocks me out of any funk I happen to be in.

I cannot say too much about the subject since I myself have not had a full blown wave of depression, though I have felt several instances of self-loathing, fear, uncertainty, and all the likes. Take what you want out of this if you will.

If it has to come right down to it, look inside yourself and drag that positivity right out of your negative system. It's difficult when the depression is stronger than your actual feelings about wanting to be positive, let alone plain natural happy positivity. But eventually, perhaps when you least expect it, your desire to not be negative and depressed will arise from your bowels of depression, and from there, give yourself the time to reflect. Think about your current feelings, past feelings, feelings you might feel in a future time. Give it the whole Who-What-When-Where-Why-How Questionnaire, and ask yourself if it is truly worth it to let these feelings be a part of your living life.

The will to live is always stronger than the will to die, and depression is a self-inflicted distraction that often leads to suicides and the like. Find your will to live, so that you can find your will to love, and spread that love to others under similar circumstances.

It depends a lot on the situation and what I can do about it.

Sometimes I will be self-loathing and actually do other depressing things. Listen to sad music or watch an episode of a show that I know is sad. Quite often feeling sad about something else helps me move past what I was sad about.

Other times I try and fight the bad mood with things that make me feel good. Going out with friends, playing games I really enjoy or other things like that can help.


Sometimes there isn't anything you can do though. This might be a medical problem or might require more intensive help like therapy. If the depression is as persistent as you say then it probably requires more help than just trying to "be happy".

Personally, I try to keep myself busy. Especially if some things have happened to cause me to be upset or feeling down, it could be a death of someone close, a relationship gone bad, etc. It's been a while since I have been depressed, but really I don't get extremely depressed, I find ways to keep my mind occupied, and to keep myself from doing something stupid. Then again, I don't get to that point where I feel suicidal. I never really have either, and I know that's rare, but I just don't think I could ever go through with something like that. Maybe it's because I have lost friends who were depressed, and ended their life, or I have this "fight the BS" and hopefully things will get better.

I think in some of my most upset moments, or feeling really down and worthless. I have put that into my Youtube channel. Some of my most ridiculous and possibly my best content, I was mad at a lot of things in my life, or feeling really down. I know there was a time I was going through a bad break up, and was feeling awful for quite a while, and I put that into content, and a few of those videos have over 1000 views, and are quite ridiculous, even with bloopers at the end that are just stupid, crude, and funny. Other ways I try to deal with it is just try to look at the bright side of things, it will get better, may not be a day, week, month, 3 months, but in time things get better. I know this may not help everyone, but hopefully it helps someone.

To be real I have been depressed since I was 13 and I started martial arts since I had nothing better to do. I now hold a black belt in Ninjutsu, Kung Fu San Soo, and Brazilian Jujitsu...

I'm not trying to glorify my years as a teen, but just saying that they were crappy.

That is how I dealt with my depression.

I became depressed because of my parents divorced it was really rough for them my brother would blame my mom for this, I was so sad onetime I cried at work I try to hide my tears but my friends new I was sad, sometimes I cry for no reason at all, so what I did was play video games on vizzed or watch my favorite show like my little pony to try to cheer me up.

Excuse my interjection from someone who hasn't actually been diagnosed, but I went through a tough time around the time my father passed away. I won't bore you with specifics of that, so I'll just say that for coping, I searched for more passions. Since I had to keep my mind off pops, I had to explore more of what, perhaps, I would have wanted to take up in the future. I was young and really didn't have much to do. However, I eventually discovered my love for early 20th century music (Jazz, traditional pop, some rock n' roll, very uplifting stuff), hiking, debate, vintage film, studying history and geography, and hell, even getting a little bit into fashion. Even though some of this stuff reminded me of what pops was like, it actually helped me connect more with him, as I realized how many similarities we had. This eased the pain of his passing indefinitely.

TL;DR: Find something you really love, and love doing it. I don't know how I could live without my ancient suits or Duke Ellington albums today!