If you are sad or feeling down...

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...what do you do to cheer yourself up?

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:21 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont. i am probably feeling this way for a reason, so i shouldnt deny myself those emotions.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Eat chocolate. Look at pictures of pretty boys. Listen to music.

Whassamatter, Pink? You OK?

::sends virtual hugs::

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont. i am probably feeling this way for a reason, so i shouldnt deny myself those emotions.
So you just hang around & wait to feel better, fuck that!
K - cheers for the hug.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:25 (twenty-one years ago)

.push ups
..falty towers
...think of my kids
....& of late, a li'l shakin stevens goes a long way (fast)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i tend to get really really really drunk. you ok pinX?

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah cheers guys, not looking for sympathy here, some of y'all know what's up anyways. Thanks for your concerns, just tell me what I need to do to cheer the fupp up!! :-)

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:29 (twenty-one years ago)

i admit the alcohol tends to make me wallow...but the next day i feel SO stupid that the other badness seems minor.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know what's up, but are there are positive steps you can take to elimiate the cause of your unhappiness? Or is it all out of your control?

I like to go for long drives with the volume turned up way too loud on the in-car CD player. THat blasts the blues away pretty well for me.

Hope things work out okay and you cheer up soon :)

― C J (C J), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

If it's just random "down for no reason" down, rather than actually depressed over something specific, then looking at pictures of pretty boys is definitely the way forward. Gets the Oxytocin going, which is almost as good as serotonin. I mean, what do you think all those crush threads are for? I just go and look at them when I'm feeling a bit mizzy.

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Not depression or anything, just sad (for a reason) & I need to try to keep myself going as it were.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Morning Pink, there are some hugs coming your way from here too...

More helpfully:

Look at frivolous websites. Read the excelsior threads on ILE. Eat all your favourite foods. Have hot baths with essential oils, wine and a good book (admittedly you can't do that one at work...). Do some physical exercise. Watch comedy. Book tickets for something you can look forward to. Buy gifts for people (this works better for me than buying stuff for myself, for some reason). Have sex.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to drink until it went away. Can't really do that anymore.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:39 (twenty-one years ago)

archel is right!

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I've found that stopping drinking until it goes away works wonders, funnily enough.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:40 (twenty-one years ago)

When it's about a specific thing, drinking is probably a bad idea. Because all that will happen is that you'll wake up the next day and the thing making you sad will still be there, AND you'll have a hangover to deal with.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Watch comedy. Book tickets for something you can look forward to.

Very, very OTM.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Also the problem with drinking in this regard is that as long as you're with other people you will be having the time of your life and as soon as you are on your way home the thing that got you down in the first place will be back with a vengeance and seem a hundred times worse than it actually is. And, xpost, you will have a hangover to deal with.

Anyway, thinking good thoughts Pink :)

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:43 (twenty-one years ago)

hey, drink can be damn tricky...

(as i can tell by the behaviour
of my ex
who's still living in the same flat with me,
two months after we were divorced)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Ouch...

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I went to a wedding on Friday which was pretty emotional, but it was cool. I had a fair bit to drink, but I was fine. I haven't drunk anything since. I have, however, smoked the most amount of weed (ironically!) & eaten loads of munchies. I just cannot concentrate at work though. It's tough cos my boss (it was his wedding) is away all week too. Lots of long lunches with my boy are in order i reckon.
x-post
cheers matt. Red wine makes me cry anyway, so it's never a good combination!! ;-)

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno Matt and Archel, neither of those things used to apply particularly.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:46 (twenty-one years ago)

there is also the question of your place in this sadness. maybe you can feel you are a strong good person (i get this feeling from you), & this is a "random act of senseless difficulty" that has come to you through no fault of your own...the working through it might come easier.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:47 (twenty-one years ago)

It's testing my strength tbh gaz, that's probably not helping as I'm not as strong as I thought I was.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Sometimes when you're not feeling very strong, the best thing that you can do is admit that you're not strong, and not feel like you *have* to cope. Sorry if that sounds weird. It's OK to be down, it's OK to ask your friends for help, even if it's just a bit of cheering up.

― Danger Whore (kate), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:51 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i just wait until my mood changes. im not pro-depression or part of the whole "happiness is overrated" club [which is something my trenchcoated friends in high school would espouse to] but i just dont feel the need to force myself to be happy when i am not. being sad sucks but it will pass.

strangely enough, the times when i am sad are sometimes when i am at my most creative; sometimes i am really sad when my ability to be creative is thwarted [ie, no time to photograph, write in my journal, etc]. my entire college thesis was the byproduct of being unhappy about a lot of things. its cathartic for me, i guess but i wouldnt say that it was a solution to make myself happier.

if you're feeling down though, im sorry to hear that! drinking is a bad idea because alcohol is a depressant.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:51 (twenty-one years ago)

How can you smoke weed ironically?

I find tidying up the house while listening to loud music (Queen or Bon Jovi are particularly conducive) to be a good way to blow away the cobwebs. Also what Archel said about the bath/wine/book combination. And the sex.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Go for a walk. Cry in the loos. Wallow so much that when the realisation that you're overplaying this hits you can start laughing at yourself. Write it all up and realise by the end of what you've written you've started rambling about landscape gardening/crime fighting series "Rosemary & Thyme" instead, so consider yourself over it.

― Starry (hello chickens), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:52 (twenty-one years ago)

good luck with everything, pink, i'm really hopeful that it'll turn out ok for you.

when i've been really quite sad in the past, i found that exercising regularly was the biggest mood-lifter for me. at first it was really hard to motivate, but i spent a little extra money and found a gym that had a nicer pool than the public ones, and started going almost every day, and i could really feel the difference.

i also listen to extra sad/angry music, as i never feel as bad as the people that are in sad bastard bands.

i also found that taking st john's wort worked for me, although i know it doesn't for everyone.

(the first and last suggestions were from when i was going through a bad time related to a specific situation, so maybe they can help you as well?)

― colette (a2lette), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:54 (twenty-one years ago)

PinX, but you do have good friends (beyond the interweb also) you can talk to, don't you?

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:55 (twenty-one years ago)

colette, the gym is definately a good way to lift a mood. i feel that sometimes my "sanity" has been preserved after a good bout of running.

but what do i know? it is almost 6AM and i awoke from my sleep because of an anxiety attack. im bonkers.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:58 (twenty-one years ago)

being sad sucks but it will pass.
I am sure it will pass, but at the moment it is all consuming, which is not very constructive for me trying to carry on with things.

I think that's spot on Kate actually. J is being a rock, as usual, but I haven't actually really told any of my friends that would actually come round & try to cheer me up as such. I have pretty much hibernated over the w/e with J.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

How can you smoke weed ironically?
That sounds stupid I know, I know what I mean though.
And the sex.
Archel & Ailsa are otm.
i also found that taking st john's wort worked for me, although i know it doesn't for everyone.
I've always benefitted from this Colette, sadly it interfers with the pill though!
Cry in the loos.
Are you spying? ;-) I'm glad to know it's not only me!!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Does it really interfere with teh pill? I had no idea.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:05 (twenty-one years ago)

i just keep my sadness inside, don't tell anybody about anything and just get on with life pretending it's not there and when more unhappiness arrives I just cram that inside my head too.
(tick, tock, tick, tock ...)

seriously though, hope things work out PP. I can't offer any advice on dealing with sadness the joke above is not too far removed from how I deal with mine to be honest.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Apparently so Arch!
x-post
Thanks again guys!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

PinX, but you do have good friends (beyond the interweb also) you can talk to, don't you?
Oh yeah, don't worry about that one. Just have been too busy hibernating with my boy to contact anyone else.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Cleaning, totally. Hope you're OK.

― Madchen (Madchen), Monday, 27 September 2004 09:20 (twenty-one years ago)

(as i can tell by the behaviour
of my ex
who's still living in the same flat with me,
two months after we were divorced)

Been there, done that, for 18 months. When there were sex noises, I'd play Belle and Sebastian albums very loudly to drown them out, because my ex hated Belle and Sebastian.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 27 September 2004 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

When I'm really low I am incapable of making any sane moves to improve matters, but at a more moderate level, I'll do things like play favourite happy records (late '50s Louis Prima is the best), or watch TV things like the Simpsons. Giving myself something to look forward to is a good thing, but given how rarely I can manage to get myself out of the house when I want to of late, that never seems a terribly good idea for me. Sex would be good, but it seems unavailable right now, and masturbation doesn't seem to cheer me up significantly. I guess at the moment I'm sort of holding on to one thing I am hugely looking forward to (can't talk about it here), but no dates for it yet, so it's not contributing as much as it will when I do know when it will happen.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 27 September 2004 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

read as much as possible. i usually cocoon into something light but absorbing (jane austen works well) and stay in the land of fiction until i feel less vulnerable.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

...masturbation doesn't seem to cheer me up significantly. I guess at the moment I'm sort of holding on to one thing I am hugely looking forward to...

Rather unfortunate juxtaposition there, eh Martin? ;-)

― Jasper Milvain, Monday, 27 September 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I just learned yesterday that both my sisters have a little ritual they do to cheer themselves up. At some point they each wrote a bajillion cheer up activities on slips of paper and put them in their own box. They also put happy photos, happy pix from magazines, etc. into the box. Whenever they get upset, they grab something out of the box. It might say go watch this particular movie again or listen to this song or take a hot bath or what-have-you. The idea is to have so many ideas in there that the box never gets empty. It's kind of corny, but makes sense, because when you're down you can't think straight. It's a way of allowing your happy self to cheer up your sad self. Also, one sister puts chocolate in her box too, which makes a lot of sense to me.

Personally, I like to go on walks or call friends or write in a journal (I know, so teenager-like of me), or work on a creative project, or people watch, or sleep, or do something productive to distract myself (and also make my life seem more organized later)...

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that where Eno got the idea for Oblique Strategies then?

― Jasper Milvain, Monday, 27 September 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Does it really interfere with teh pill? I had no idea.

yep, it does. decreases effectiveness quite a bit. i don't know why, but i've read about it several places, and think i've even asked a doctor about it.

― colette (a2lette), Monday, 27 September 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I go for long walks, preferably in the evening, listening to something neutral or something completely gripping that stops me thinking anything else. Baking's good, too, and cleaning the kitchen. I used to swear by James Bond novels, but I've run out of them at the moment.

I hope you find something on this thread that works for you, Pink.

― cis (cis), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

listen to music - its the cure for most things.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

if i'm sad i have to find some activity that distracts my brain from defaulting to "sad." it doesn't cure anything, but it passes the time. arbeit macht frei, etc.

― Cripps Pink (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I eat ice cream with a big spoon when I'm feeling down.

― Towelette Pettatucci (Homosexual II), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Read lots of PG Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Robert B Parker and Jane Austen. Baking's good but quite often I am disappointed by my results and feel like a big fat failure which hardly helps. So, it depends how good you are at baking I guess.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Ice cream and exercise - the exercise both justifies the ice cream, focuses your pain into the physical, and gives you an endorphin rush.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I buy a music cd that I've wanted for ages, and then go for a long walk while listening to it.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

cigarettes... ice cream... cadillacs... blue jeans..

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

laugh at people who are more depressed than i am.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah but exercise makes me feel better most times, and also.. grocery shopping.

― Towelette Pettatucci (Homosexual II), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

* Go for a walk
* Listen to the Philistines Jr
* Watch Return of the Jedi

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

* Buy muffins whilst on my walk, eat them with a nice cup of tea when I get home.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

* That's toasted muffins, not American style muffins. I'm not sure if they'd have quite the same affect.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

english muffins?

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.bays.com/

English Muffins were invented by an American after all! I never knew!

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:09 (twenty-one years ago)

but do toasted muffins=english muffins? i am confused.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Yep, toasted muffins are the only true muffin.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

i find them foul. i don't enjoy the texture.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

They need to be properly toasted with melted butter.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 27 September 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I go into town because there's a dog full of money in the arcade.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 27 September 2004 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

...what do you do to cheer yourself up?

CHEERLEADER CARWASH!!

― JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 27 September 2004 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

right now this pastels cd is making everything all better.

― Cripps Pink (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 27 September 2004 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I am sad and feeling down.

― adam. (nordicskilla), Monday, 27 September 2004 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Drink two cups of coffee, go for a walk, and STAY OFF THE BBS SITES.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 02:56 (twenty-one years ago)

when I'm feelin blue, all I have to do...

― Kim (Kim), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 04:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I eat. Voraciously. I gained almost 50 lbs when my life started to go to shit last spring and I've only managed to get about 16 of those lbs off so far. So try not to eat, Pink, or develop a hankering for something noncaloric.

― Bryan (Bryan), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 04:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I usually eat, too.

Pink, hon, I'm terribly sorry you're going through this down period. I can see how you might be experiencing some trials and tribulations and how difficult your life might be at this moment. Hopefully it's just a momentary thing. *huge hugs*

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Listen to angry music and allow yourself to dance violently -- throwing fists, kicking, punching pillows or whatever. I'm not joking, this really helps me.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

i go to the beach for a long walk or buy myself a new cd

― gem (trisk), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Pinkpanther & James buy a house, yay
Happy Birthday Pinkpanther!
Pinkpanther is loaded on prescription drugs, how about some encouragement and pretty pics to help her through her mellow afternoon and impending comedown

The non-caloric way I get myself feeling better is to read the birthday thread that was started for me last year. Maybe reading these threads and seeing how many people here have been on your corner in the past, as well as recognizing how highly you are thought here, would help lift your spirits.

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Cook! I find cooking gets me into a nice humming busyness, and its all warm and smells nice and keeps you occupied. And then at the end you have some kind of YUMZOR food to eat! Obv baking cakes, bread or roasts would work best for the sads I reckon. Or maybe custard. Or mashed potato.

Oh god I'm hungry now.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, *hugs* to you pink, hope things are ok :/

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 05:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Cheers for all of your suggestions & well wishes.
I am finding that cooking is definitely helping, but not to worry it's mostly veggies that I'm cooking. Now where did I put those chocolate biscuits again....

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 07:01 (twenty-one years ago)

YOU CAN'T COOK CHOCOLATE BISCUITS!

Actually you can, though you might as well use normal digestives, say, and add the chocolate separately. I'm sure there's some delicious childhood treat I'm sort of but not quite remembering...

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 08:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I am not cooking the chocolate biscuits, that was the point!!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I go for walks. long ones, with music.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 09:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I have just cried at a Busted song, don't ask me this morning.

― Starry (hello chickens), Tuesday, 28 September 2004 09:16 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

Hmmm.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:08 (eighteen years ago)

A dog full of money.

― the next grozart, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:12 (eighteen years ago)

That would be something.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:12 (eighteen years ago)

something you'd have to take to the vet!

― haitch, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:43 (eighteen years ago)

read "song of myself"

― ryan, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:53 (eighteen years ago)

Stevie Wonder, pets, hugs 'n' smooches, Daily Show/Colbert report, skipping out on news proper for a couple of days (news can really exacerbate my bad moods), buy some delicious fruit and eat it.

― Abbott, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:57 (eighteen years ago)

drinking for a week sure didn't help. now i just have a cold. will try eating shortly.

― strgn, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 02:58 (eighteen years ago)

Seeing friends usually helps, if I'm alone chocolate + Marlena Shaw + comics is nice.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 08:42 (eighteen years ago)

right now achewood is sure doing it for me

― strgn, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 08:48 (eighteen years ago)

I'm not really sure what I do to get out of it. Usually I fret over what the cause could be, watch lots of telly, eat, cry a bit and then after some time I just sort of *forget* it. All depends on the amount of crapness. If it's depression, then it takes some more serious tackling. If it's just bluesiness then usually I just let it sort of pass.

― nathalie, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 09:13 (eighteen years ago)

I usually surf around for hilarious links.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14140253/detail.html

― StanM, Wednesday, 19 September 2007 09:45 (eighteen years ago)

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