Rachael, what a pretty name! Hmm, how do I overcome or deal with it?

Well, we can't pretend it away. Let my 35+ years in denial help everyone to know THAT!

In my opinion, the heart of the controllable issues are is self acceptance, understanding and temperance.

I work on that by praising myself OFTEN. Example: In your case: You came on psych central - you reached out, you are evaluating if you could be better, you care if you were not fully involved in a family function. There are huge complimentary actions in just that!

We get up. YAY - we are contributing to a picture bigger then ourselves. We shower - YAY - we care not to be offensive to others.

Dear Rachael, you would not be asking yourself these things if you were not a good person, so I think what you need to learn is how to find good things about yourself. Each and every hour you will be doing SOMETHING good. If you learn to see it. And that will help some in lifting the depression.

We need never forget that our friends, sadness and outstanding joy will always be around. We need to just learn how to handle them when they do.

Best of luck to us all!
Annie