Wow, I’ve been reading BB since '06 and commenting for a little while now but never noticed there’s boards separate from the article threads
Anyways, what do ya’all do when you’re having a bad day? I’ve been trying the usual… listen to some chill pandora, meditate, netflix, but nothing’s particularly working.
I know a lot of other happy mutants struggle w/ anxiety and depression…
Get outside if possible. Having a dog to walk is good for that.
Yeah that is why I don’t have a dog. I love doggos but feel happy I don’t have one every winter (pissing wet dark season) in Seattle. 8pm pitch black cold rain and gotta walk the dog… nope. Of course my trade off is the cat going “hey you aren’t using that lap are you? good. now don’t move for the next 3 hours.”
But I will go with getting out and walking about doubly so when there is sunshine. Pokemon Go is my primary motivator rain or shine.
And music more than movies TV for making me happy.
It’s hovering near freezing, raining, and I’m stuck in a suburb with no sidewalks 
But I’ll meet you halfway and take a walk to the bathroom to take a long bath at least 
I don’t think it would be moral for me to buy a pet. It’s ok if I get depressed for days at a time and don’t go out, but it wouldn’t be fair to an animal to do that
Layer up a bit and get out. Seriously even for a short walk. I still get out for walks in the worst weather as it really helps my mood in the long run just to have been away from staring at the house insides all day.
Light helps me. I take vitamin D every day, since the latitude where I live doesn’t offer adequate sunlight during the winter, and I have high color temp bulbs in fixtures. Seems to help a bit. Not as consistently helpful as antidepressants though.
I took anti-depressants for a while. Eventually I spoke with my therapist and psychiatrist and expressed concern that they were just treating the symptoms, like if you take too much Dayquil during a cold. I tried many different drugs, none worked fully, all had bad side effects.
They titrated me off and I went for CBT and learned some meditation techniques. Not getting stuck in negative thought loops helped more than any drug.
Unfortunately I just have some pretty stressful things going on, and no amount of therapy or drugs will make you have pleasant feelings in an unpleasant situation.
Your post makes a good case, but one other issue is that I’m battling a cold and I worry if it’s a good idea
If you can, make sure you don’t feel bad about feeling bad. That can really build on itself. A little stoicism can help there.
I spend time playing with my cats or dog. I meditate. I cook. I exercise. I make myself go dancing. I shut out the world, load my vaporizer and read a book. I need lots of sunlight, which is one reason I chose Austin when I was deciding where to move for grad school years ago. I work. There’s always more work waiting and while it doesn’t solve the anxiety and depression, I can distract myself with it.
And it’s good to recognize that there are other states beside happy and unhappy.
I either eat garbage food and watch bad movies.
Or spend all day cooking myself an excellent meal. And watch bad movies.
I regularly celebrate my one private holiday. Steak and explosion day. Which involves cooking up the biggest best steak I can acquire. And watching action movies as well.
Pete Townsend (from “Empty Glass”):
Don’t worry smile and dance
You just can work life out
Don’t let down moods entrance you
Take the wine and shout
The gym, my friend. For ones of a ‘certain’ age (I have no idea if you’re in that category), some health clubs offer extremely generous discounts. And there’s no better place to make friends quite easily; shared goals (working out) and swapping of workout ideas, with that enabling even further social intercourse. Then there’s the research showing that working out can reduce stress; I can attest to that!!
I have to second this. Exercise takes the ‘edge’ off for me.
No excercise == no happy
What I found helped was to write down on scraps of paper happy thoughts, helpful song lyrics, good memories - just anything that lights your little inner spark - and leave them in random places around the house. When I didn’t need the reminders of what makes life good I kept them in a box and read one before bed and try to add a new one every night.
Just the act of focusing on a good thought to add to my collection before bed helps me stop the swirling anxiety that keeps one up at night.
Exercise and nature are also helpful, when you don’t have a cold.
Thirded (fourthed?) on the gym. I’d add that it might not work so well the first or second time for a newbie. But after that, if you’re not pushing it so hard you hurt yourself, the endorphins and such are a great daily lift. And I find that even though I’m burning up energy at the gym, a good workout (including both weights and cardio) makes me more energetic throughout the day, not less.
