Forums » Smalltalk » How to deal with depression.

Saw this and its more relevant with whats been going on around my home and I did read a few replies in but not all replies to it so bare in that in mind on what I put in please ^-^

I've struggle with seasonal and situational depression more than a constrant battle of it everyday. For me, I get depressed and drop into a dark hole around the winter time and when my family is at odds with each other. I've always dealt with it on my own because I am an adult right now but I can't afford to go to therapy or get any kind of advice on meds to take for it but my stepsister is 15 and does go to therapy. While growing up, I wasn't nearly as vocal about my problems as she was, I had spent too many years doing things on my own because no one would listen or help me while i lived with my mother that when I went to live with my dad, it took a lot of time to get me into the habit of having someone help me even though I was only 10 years old and thats a habit Ive always had but my sister has always had my dad and her mom there to help her so she's vocal about her issues and struggles with depression. The problem we have now is that my stepmother, her mom, is on a kick against medication and going to a place for a few days to get her mental health back in order so she refuses to think it might help my sister. Honestly, I know the idea of taking meds or talking to someone is hard but depression can make you not want to do those things, its going to make you wanna stay at home and do nothing but cry or scream. I use to go out and walk around and listen to music whenever I had problems and was too young to know how to vocalize my problems. I recommend that if you cant afford the pills or therapy to find outlets to help with it that are healthy like getting a hobby, or walking in nature, or cleaning around your house. Ive been having a bit of fit for the past week now and today is the first time I haven't felt like passing out as soon as I got home so I did my laundry and currently cleaning up my room because the better then environment around you, the better your mood will be.

I have bouts of depression periodically, and I just put in lots of willpower to squash it. It has been going for a while now (4-5 years, I think) but I didn't address anyone nor have I tried taking medication - I have trust issues and I don't want to become dependant on medication just to function. Right now I have a goal to pull me through. "What's next?" after the goal is completed, I can't say. You most likely will be better off reaching out for help, and I honestly think that advices people given you are the ones you should follow. I was just sharing my rather limited experience and added my five cents to the conversation.

Absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever with watching cartoons! Don't listen to anyone that tells you they're immature. A lot of cartoons can offer hope and lessons, and they can remind you of the innocence and magic that you could see when you were a kid.

It's a bit season related - so for full effect, wait until around the Xmas period, but I highly recommend watching The Snowman. It's super old... from the early 80s, but it is a truly magical cartoon that I watched as a kid, and both myself and my brother put on for our kids, and me and my brother both sit there, entranced by it all over again, only now, we're the dads and we're sitting with our children just utterly in love with the story all over again.