I am soo tired and just want this to be over with. (pathetic & depressing)

[Brynda]

For meditation, I prefer audio to a book. I recommend “Drifting Downstream,” which is available as a CD or a download on iTunes.

Feeling Good is an excellent book, as is anything by David Burns.

I heartily concur with the advice to get out of your head and do something worthwhile. It helps.

[salinqmind]

That’s the problem. With depression and anxiety, you feel enervated, listless, useless - sit around mulling over your problems, which feeds the depression and anxiety. Getting outside of your own head is helpful. I did some volunteer work just to get out of the house on the particularly long Sundays, and it worked wonders! Now I’m helping out some elderly relatives, and while I can’t say I enjoy driving them around and stuff, I feel good that I did something helpful after I get home.

[Two_Many_Cats]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

PunditLisa is right.

One must become “other” directed.

For me, that didn’t mean religion, but it did mean being of use to other people.

Francis of Assisi had some good ideas about that, though I don’t go along with his overall theology.

Seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love rather than to be loved.

When I worked to help others, I felt better about myself. Purely as a byproduct, it seems.

This is fine advice to a point. You have to be careful who you choose to be a comfort to. More than once, I’ve been on call to emotionally needy people who damn near sucked what little life spirit I had out of me. Once these types find out you want to help, they never let go. This can be devastating to someone already dealing with feelings of depression because disentangling yourself from these folks makes you feel guilty.

[MyFootsZZZ]

This looks and reads like a post of mine. I was going to PM you Foggy, but you turned it off. If you want to talk to someone who can relate on some level, I would be happy to listen.

Just don’t hurt yourself!

[twickster]

@smee_goan

My mom was the same way, tried to kill herself…
want to know what happened?

gassed herself in a Datsun , 1980

smee goan, regardless of whether what you say is true, the way you presented the information was insensitive in the extreme.

I have given you a warning for being a jerk.

I believe moderators have written you notes before on your tone; I recommend that you take our feedback to heart and make an effort to be much less obnoxious.

twickster, MPSIMS moderator

[Weedy]

@salinqmind

I feel for you. I’ve felt much the same way and have just been keep on slogging on through life. I would say, though, avoiding alcohol, much as it helped for about 15 minutes a day, was a wise decision on my part.

I would be interested if anyone could suggest any useful self-help books. I’d like to find one on meditation - Deepak Chopra? - I know most of them are a waste of time, but I’d like to know if there are ANY that are at all useful. There’s so much of this stuff. (Maybe I should just take a yoga class and exercise more.)

I like The Depression Book: Depression as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth. It comes from a Buddhist perspective, but it is not overtly religious.

[EllyaX]

@Foggy

…

I have been collecting Social Security Disability for 15 years now. I have pulled more out of the system than I ever put in. In other words I’m a leech, a burden on society.

…

So I will wait just 4-5 more weeks. I will collect another $850.40 of your hard earn tax payers dollars for the last time.

I just want to say as an American tax payer I have no problem with my tax dollars going to programs that help you and other people in your situation.

Is there an animal shelter nearby you can volunteer with? It would make a huge difference to the animals there and even if you can’t have a cat right now you could make their lives better

[TubaDiva]

@elbows

It’s probably out of print, so check on line and in second hand book stores, for a book called, The Portable Therapist, (by Susanna McMahon, PhD, Dell, 1994)

I have loved and cherished this book for ages. I easily give away my books as a rule, but never this one, I have lent it out, but not without trepidation.

It’s the most asked questions, by people in therapy, and the answers. If you’ve been in therapy you know, the answer might be easy, but just because you can hear it, doesn’t mean you can ‘hear’ it. Sometimes you need to read it over and over and over, until the words/meaning really gets through.

The answers are all a couple of pages long, at most. And the answers are written in easy to read language, no psycho babble or buzz words. And when you read them, you think, “Well, yeah, duh, it seems so clear now!” But within a few hours it will slip from your knowledge and when you next read it, you’ll think, “How did I manage to forget this again?”

I have had this book for probably a decade and I still go to it and read things. Usually when I find myself thinking over something and feeling, “What am I missing here?”

Of course, not every book speaks to everyone, but this one has proved invaluable to me. See if you can find a copy, try a library maybe.

I’ve read a ton of such books, this one really stands out for me and has proven quite valuable.

Available through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Therapist-Inspiring-Answers-Questions/dp/0440506034