I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, positive thinking can help. No, it can't fix everything.

If I hear anything to the effect of "just think your way out of depression" one more time I'll stab someone in the eye. If I could just think happy thoughts and make things better, I would have done that already. I'm pretty optimistic by nature, but when my brain basically shuts down, there's just not a lot I can do to "decide" to be better. Even when things are really bad, I keep myself going and attempt to do what needs to be done. Whether it works or not is something else, but I always feel worse if I don't at least try.

I'm already tired of hearing that I need to "accept my limitations." Yes, I realize that it's important to be realistic about what I can do when I'm depressed. But lowering my expectations in general is never going to make my life better. Setting my sights lower just robs me of the opportunity to accomplish something amazing.

Before I had this dx, everyone (including me) expected that I could do anything I put my mind to, and my abilities and potential have not changed at all because of the dx. But since the dx, I had a psych tell me that I should look for a lower-stress job than the one I've been working towards for 7 years. I told her that's not an option and I refuse to give up before I've really tried. I'm not going to stop doing the work that I love unless I truly cannot handle it, but I have to give it a go before I'll know what I can manage. I just have to remind myself that sometimes it's OK to take things a little more slowly for awhile - that's the extent of "accepting my limitations" that I'm willing to accept.

\rant