Joking Out of Depression

I should say it's more like joking myself out of depressed feelings. I joke around a lot with people. Over social media, actual real life interaction etc.. I do this when I'm so desperate to feel better. I make as many people as I can laugh in an effort to feel better. If they laugh, maybe I can smile.

Has anyone else done this in order to live with depression?

This is not quite the same but I joke a lot about my weaknesses. This one made my son laugh: H gave me a box of Whitman chocolates for my B-day (it was earlier this month; I put a fake one on here when I signed up for PC) My son likes chocolate like I do. He took the last chocolate from the top layer. Then he looks and finds there is no chocolate left on the bottom layer. He comes to me. He starts apologizing. He was expecting the bottom layer to be full of chocolate and he is racked with guilt (maybe he has the depression gene?) that he took the last piece. I explain to him that I had switched the layers around because I was embarrassed that I had eaten it all way to fast a few days ago. I was trying to hide what I had done. "I've already gained 2 lbs from it, trust me, you are doing me a huge favor." We both got a bit of a laugh from this.

That's a really sweet story. I like it, it made me smile.

Humor is my main coping mechanism. One of the reasons I ended up in IP was because I, somehow, lost my humor for awhile there. Because normally when things get real bad, I try my best to find the humor and can keep myself afloat, just above drowning. I make others laugh. I make myself laugh. I make jokes. I watch funny movies. I read funny books/comics. I find it wherever I can, because it works. I think laughter is healthy and important.

I agree. It heals more than any other method I've ever used. It's keeping me alive tonight while I talk and joke with a friend. I should go back to my people and try stand up again, it's been a few years but it always made me feel better watching them cry from laughing too hard. With my friends, it's the same deal. I miss it.

I use humor a lot to deal with things. Most people don't get my humor, it is either too nerdy or obscure but it works. I also like to watch really lame comedy shows and sometimes smart ones since I have no friends to crack jokes with. Things like Dumb and Dumber, The Simpsons and George Carlin's(RIP) stuff makes the load a little lighter.

It sounds like a common mechanism and in my opinion it is one of the more helpful things. If I have rivers of pain flowing through me and I can make jokes or laugh, then how bad can it be? Right?

Sometimes though, nothing is funny and those are scary days.

I know what you mean about the days without humor. I really can't trust myself those days.
And hey, you want to crack jokes, you're always welcome here. I'm pretty nerdy about a lot of things; it's my favorite kind of humor. Oh, and I must say "Dumb and Dumber" is one of my favorite comedies out there. I also really love "Bio Dome" and the "Ace Ventura" movies.

I've done a fair job of holding on to a sense of humor, but it's mostly an act.