I would like to share my three tips for the darkest of moments:

1) I absolutely swear by the mantra 'this too shall pass' - for me depression feels like waves are crashing over my head, sometimes they are small enough to fight off and sometimes they are absolutely crushing and try to sweep me out to sea. But they are always transient. They always pass, sometimes an even bigger one will rear up in its place, but it will ALWAYS pass. One day the waters will be still once more.

2) Don't buy in to your own mind. One of the things about an illness in the brain is that it has an ability to LIE TO YOU. You know why? Because it's sick! It doesn't know what's best for it! When people are suffering from Hypothermia they feel like they are burning and so remove all their clothes, it felt like the right thing to do at the time but actually made it so much worse. Depression does this in many ways, don't trust your thoughts - always get an outsiders (trusted) opinion.

3) Remind yourself constantly of your solid reasons for staying on this planet. This can be as big as the people in your life that love you or as small as you really are curious about what happens in the next episode of your favourite TV series. Think of all the people you have yet to meet, the kindness you have yet to give and receive and the beauty that you will once again witness that is so abundant in this world - Keep a list of the things you are grateful for and try to add a new one every day.

Hang in there.

Zoe

A Moodscope member.