Do It Anyway

I tend to suffer from seasonal depression. To combat the effects, I exercise, go outside as much as possible and try to maintain a positive attitude.

Recently, I found a podcast that discusses mental health issues -- mostly depression -- and how famous people deal with it. At the end of his interview, Adam Carolla recommends acting as if you are not depressed as a way to help get through depression. He said something like this:

If you don't feel like getting out of bed, get out of bed anyway. If you go for a run and feel like quitting, run 1 mile farther. If you don't want to shower, take a shower anyway.

His point was, while you are trying to work through depression, it helps to act the part. When you act as if you are feeling some way (happy, sad, brave, scared), you eventually will start to feel some of it.

So, my goal when the seasonal depression really strikes hard once winter in Ohio turns cold and gray, is to act as if I'm happy and see if it makes a difference. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying that the days are getting longer and that I did get to see sunshine today.