How to Recover From Depression Without Drugs

Depression is a very common illness afflicting millions of people each year. It can sap your strength, put stress on relationships and make you lose your sense of self. Here are some things you can try to lift your spirits and make you enjoy life again, without drugs or therapy.

Things You'll Need

• Laughter
• Smiles
• Five minutes

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Instructions

• 1

  Laugh. Watch comedy programs on TV. Read humorous books and articles. Rent movies by the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges, or your favorite comedians. Do this every day, and all night long if you feel like it. Go to bed happy and get out of bed if you are unhappy.

• 2

  Spend time doing the things you enjoy, and avoid doing things you don't. Socialize with people you like, and stay away from people you don't. Live every minute like it's your last.

• 3

  Get out of the house. Do some things you always wanted to but never did. Buy yourself something expensive. Take long drives and get far away from home. Sit on a park bench and write. Leave your life behind and become someone else, if only for an hour.

• 4

  Decide what you would do if you could do anything in the world you wanted, and then start to do it. No matter how impossible that goal seems, if you cut it into small enough steps, you can find a way to start. Take one minute at a time.

• 5

  Remember you have two choices in life. You can spend the next five minutes being happy, or the next five minutes being sad. Whether happy or sad, you are using the same amount of energy in that five minutes. The choice you make could change your life forever.