[chantavanna]

know any good coping mechanisms besides alcohol, sleeping or overeating?

[Rebound]

Listening to music in a quiet place helps me a lot.

[Berries]

Finding a hobbie. Going to a movie or renting a DVD. Going out with friends. Getting a pet.

[owllover99]

Doing what I'm doing Sunday and getting a pet. They work wonders. I've been without one since 2002. It's gonna be hard to wait till Sunday.

[Fire_Star]

I learnt to sew. Helps me sooo much though when I realised I buggered up something a tad too late to fix it, oooooooo the rage that follows. Ooops. :-P

[Yoda]

Distraction, distraction, distraction.

Find what you enjoy. For me the best has been being with my horse, burying my face in his neck. And focusing on his soft calm eyes. Petting cats and dogs helps me too. I like furry things. My Pdoc gave me a stuffed animal when I was having a really tough time and sometimes I would hold it close to me. Listening to music. If you can concentrate watching a favorite movie is good. And another I am learning now is how to be Mindful based on the teachings of Buddha (not a religion). Sometimes journaling helps me especially when I can reread earlier entries and see that I have made some progress.

[AlexNT]

nice ways! I'm hoping there's more coping mechanisms too though.

[romanjames2004]

Ha, I love this question. I have lived to find the fright thing that makes me, well, happy lol. I happen to love hearing my own loud and obnoxiously "Tom Ford-ish (look it up on youtube.com)" voice. So, I love to talk to people and lecture things that I know about or find extremely interesting. I kow its sounding like and "it's all about me" thing when really it does help. Becasue I have found that though alot of people don't listen to me, My little cry for attention boosts my self esteem. I find that , hopefully, people find me interesting, and I find that I feel a good amount of self accomplishment.

I know I just made a very large mountain out of a mole hill but yeah... That's what I like to do.

Hope it works.

Roman.


P.s.... Please understand that I am not a self absorbed freak lol. I also like to watch a good movie or read or even exercise and lissten to music.

Hope it you find that one little thing to make yourself happy!

[missmoonshine]

For me my dog is probably the best distraction, and friends, that can support me with this. At night time a bath, or shower is good.
Some friends and my family are not good for me to be around so I just stay clear at times where things are hard.

[FeelingHopeful]

Maybe Try Reading,I have been reading a whole bunch to keep my mind off things,it is a distraction for me.So maybe a nice book would help?

[Navygrrl]

I read in a bubble bath - with too many bubbles so some spill over the side. I also will play music really loudly and sing along, sometimes I dance along, but I'm really, really clumsy so that's not really recommended, LOL. Oh, and journalling or blogging is a nice outlet for me, although when I'm not depressed, it tends to fall by the wayside. I play an MMORPG, and virtually killing orcs and whatnot is somewhat therapeutic.

[Dailysurfer]

Definately listening to music. I usually listen to some very uplifting house music, which I sing along to, and dance as well. Sometimes cleaning helps me too.

[BNLsMOM]

I like writing in my journal and reading. Sometimes I have several open books at once because I like to get lost in the ideas and an idea from one book reminds me of one I read before, so I go and look it up, etc, etc. It sounds kind of manic, and it can be at times, but it keeps me safe at home instead of going out and doing something I will regret later.

[Dave255]

I just started meditation. I've been doing 8 minutes of just breathing slowly. It helps relax me.

Excersise is also very good.