What an excellent collection of advice! Thank you so much for posting this. I hope personal stories are okay here at WA...

Tomorrow is my six month check up for my stage 4 breast cancer and I've been stable the last 5 years (out of 16). They are waiting for it to go from spine & bones into an organ - but most days I know it's not going to happen.

But I have to admit I get a bit depressed between the scans and the doctor saying "yes, it's still stable."

Sometimes that nasty little voice chirps in with -"what if this time is when they find the one that's going to kill you? Mmm? What'll you do then?"

I try to crush it with positive thinking, but then I usually have bad dreams about dying! lol.

I'll go and ring someone and see if they need a hand with anything. Then I'll ring my Grandkids this arvo and make sure they're good. That always gives me a laugh!

Thanks for breaking into my funk.
x
Cheryl

Even if I think that depression is something very complex and very difficult to treat sometimes, it is true that my job which allows me to treat autistic children, dyslelexic and others with many disabilities, it allows me to put my problems into perspective. I am not someone depressed so I cannot know if it really helps depressed people to see the world differently. But I hope this can be a solution, caring for others is a real gift.

Ingrid

I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but I gotta say something.

As a person who struggled with depression her whole life, I can tell you that it's not a matter of just hopping up and doing the things on this list.

I think what you're talking about is 'having the blues', not depression. "Thinking about yourself and all your troubles" isn't the cause of depression, it is a symptom. Your mind gets frozen into one track. And your body gets frozen along with it.

Depression isn't a 'pity party'; it is a life threatening disease, and should be treated as such. People who struggle with depression are stigmatized enough, I think. So perhaps let's not downplay the seriousness of it, by acting like we should just 'cheer up'. Not helpful.

Now, if you've got the 'blues', then yes, playing your harmonica will definitely help! 😎

Cheers
Tracy

Einstein once wrote that the whole duty of man is to help his fellow man.

This is excellent advice. You may not like what he did in his personal life but he had the right idea about helping others.

In fact. One of the primary causes of depression is thinking about yourself and all your troubles instead of thinking about others and what they might need and how you might help them in their need.

I believe the happiest people on earth are those who have made it their goal in life to help others in some way. This is the key to success in business and here at Wealthy Affiliate. Earl Nightingale put it this way. "The only way to increase your income is to increase your service to others."

Hi Pastor Derrence.

Thank you for sharing the above.

We should always create and do things that get us out of our own personal depression.

You are very correct.

When all else fails...

"Stop thinking about yourself..."

You are gifted.

Thank you for sharing.

Paul Mindra - Southern Ontario, Canada.

Remain safe. Remain awesome. You have come a very long way.

My pleasure, Pastor.

The writer, Paul.

Thank you Derry.
Carol