Hi, Northwoodsboy,

I'm sorry that things really stink for you now...Lots of good ideas in the other replies! I'll try not to repeat any.

I have a couple of "baby step" ideas, which I am trying to follow myself!

Try to get some exercise, but any movement is good. Walking to the bathroom can be a big achievement! Give yourself credit and kudos!

Try to get outside in the fresh air and sunlight. But rolling over in bed to get into the sunlight counts, too. Opening the curtains counts. Opening the window counts, even more! Actually getting outside is an Olympic level achievement! Give yourself the gold medal.

Try to laugh. I read the funny posts here in the Mayo clinic site almost every day. They come up in the "Daily Digest" under "Just to talk," or some wording like that.

Try to help someone else. It's easy to do with this site. Almost every day I read the funny posts here, then I scan the other posts to see if I might have a suggestion for someone else, which is how I found you! : )

You have so much life experience, and it sounds like you have had a lot of difficult situations lately. I bet your insights could be really helpful to some of the folks who post their problems here. And you can post anytime, day or night.

Sometimes I save the funny posts for a reward to myself after posting something (helpful, I hope) for someone else. Some of the funny posts are truly hilarious!

This is a little weird: smile. There's research that indicates that using the smile muscles in our faces can actually induce an improved mood. May not work for clinical depression, but it's worth a try- It's free! And you don't have to get out of bed to try it! When I was a teacher, I used to start my classes with everyone smiling, no matter how they felt. There were some pretty funny fake smiles, including mine! My students seemed to think it worked pretty well.

This is even weirder: flowers. I try to keep a flower, or a blooming plant, or just a plant, or a leaf, or anything pretty (seashell/rock/jewelry), or anything that has been alive recently near me. I just look at it. Sometimes I talk to it-- Do you remember the 1960s and '70s "talk to your plants" craze? My grandmother swore by it.

I hope that some of these ideas might help relieve your symptoms at least a little bit. Every little bit helps.

Please come back and keep us posted on how you are doing. : ) There are nice people here.