I do with humor and my pets.I am just starting to exercise again.

I used to write and am trying to get back into that as well.

I ensure that I stay chemically altered through prescription medication. (No, seriously.)

I think we must all develop coping mechanisms to deal with depression, as occasionally depression is an APPROPRIATE response to life events.

We have lost sight of this as a society that views depression as an illness only. Yes, unprovoked or prolonged depression is an abnormal state and requires modification, chemical or otherwise. However, depression is also a valid psychological and physiological response to certain situations and the process of emerging from this state can be a valid life experience.

Everyone at some point in their lives will have episodes of depression. The coping skills we need to learn are how to recognise it, accept it and work through it.

My prime example:

My son was killed in a horrific accident. HIs friends were also involved, the entire community was devastated. He had battled heart disease his whole life and was finally well enough to go on his first school trip. A sleep impaired truck driver cut his life short.

I saw my doctor 4 weeks after the funeral. He handed me a packet of prozac samples.

I asked what they would do for me.

He said they would help me feel better.

I asked him how long I would have to take them before my son came back...

The point being, depression can be an appropriate response and having it brushed aside (oh yeah you are obviously depressed, here take these pills...next) can be a true disservice.

Sometimes you have every damn right to be depressed.

We need to validate these feelings. Then work on coping skills so we can handle life things while we deal with the stages of our depression.

There is no pill, no "coping strategy" that will take away the pain of losing a loved one, the break down of a relationship, or many other tragic things life can hurl our way. We WILL get depressed,there would be something wrong with us if we did not.

What we DON'T have to do is stay that way.

But before we develop coping skills for reclaiming small bits of our life, we have to accept that being depressed can be a VALID response.

They tell you "it" gets better with time.

What gets better is your ability to deal with your loss or pain, to try and carry on.

It was nearly 4 years ago that I lost my son. I developed a lot of coping skills..after spending over a year with barely enough energy to live.

BUt if something happened to one of my other kids...would those "coping skills" save me from suffering depression?

No way.

Sorry for the wordiness. Obviously I feel pretty strongly about the way society views depression as a weakness or flaw, something to be quickly corrected.

I can't even imagine going thru your loss and the words I'm sorry for your loss I'm sure you've heard too many times.

I don't like pills,but in that case,would've yanked his arm off to get them.

You're right when you say there are times when depression is valid.

I won't begin to compare my situation but I could just smack a dr or nurse right up side the head when they ask me if I'm depressed as I have endless pain and the level is so bad.

They throw a pill at you for everything in ads.They make it seem like there is a fix for everything.Sometimes there just isn't.

Some loss in life I don't think time heals,some wounds in life are always opened.

And our society makes it seem like there's something wrong with you if you don't cope or deal with things in the cookie cutter mode they've come up with.

You don't have to be sorry for your wordiness.No one knows what you're going thru except another parent that has lost a child.And everyone copes differently.

With just what I go thru with the constant "emotional" questioning,it makes me emotiional.

Music is a great outlet for depression. To help me, I listen to sad music. Yes, it only makes me more depressed, but that's how I handle it. Eventually I go from the sad music to relaxing music to help bring me up from the depths of depression.

It's no fun being depressed.

i have chronic depression, since i was about 12. PTSD has played in there too. my brain chemistry is what it is.

many of my coping mechanisms depend on what is going on around me and what feels right at the time.

my daily maintenance activities are exercise, trying to eat right (presupposes i have an appetite--sometimes i just make myself eat), reading (presupposes i am able to concentrate), going to work anyway, humor (wherever i can find it), connecting with friends through email, keeping with my daily routine (it provides a framework of support so that i dont get lost in nothingness)--

other things that work are singing, being with friends, going to bed, writing, praying, taking a bath. i have lots of pets to care for--sometimes taking care of the needs of others is just the thing to do. other times, it is me i need to focus on.

some days i need to put my head down and just keep moving. other days i need to sit back and rest.

i have never forgotten something i read in Depression: The Noonday Demon----depression loves to be distracted. so, however i can distract myself, that's what i do. the internet is a great place to distract myself. so is simply participating in whatever is going on around me--or not!

I try music too to help with depression but sometimes thst doesnt help either