I've been trying to think of something helpful to say about this; whole books have been written to address these questions!Originally Posted by Leaf
The short answer is that no-one enjoys life all the time; we all have ups and downs. But it is very important to avoid comparing oneself to other people [Jim seems much happier than me, Susan is much more successful than me, etc]; or if you must make comparisons, than compare yourself to the citizens of Syria or North Korea.
The ideal was set down in a letter written by a bloke in a prison cell nearly 2000 years ago:
"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation . . ." *
Easier said than done! Contentment comes from inside, which brings us back to: how to cope with Depression. Mr B's earlier post (on 30/07) contains a lot of good advice, but what concerns me is that his project is dealing with depression by oneself. This seems to me like trying to pull yourself out of a Pennine peat bog by yourself when you are up to your thighs in the sticky black stuff. You need help! This can be from friends, but you probably also need professional help. Like Mr B, my instinct is to avoid the use of drugs; the counter-argument is that if the depression is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, a chemical problem demands a chemical solution. [The difficulty with this is that our chemical solutions are too crude, and have unwanted side-effects.]
Anyway, I hope that all of you suffering from depression do find some long-term relief. It really is a horrible illness.
* Philippians 4:12
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