Don't ask me how I am. Just don't do it. Asking me how I'm doing will only do one of two things: a dishonest answer or sincere tears. I don't particularly care for either outcome. It's because I'm unhappy. I am very depressed and have had a few unfortunate situations recently. I try my best to ignore it all – after all, nothing can be done – but when I think about how I am, it makes me very angry. I know how I am. I'm terrible.

Why Am I Unhappy?

It doesn't matter why I'm unhappy, I don't think. You can be unhappy for any number of reasons. For me, it's a cross between interpersonal rejection, moving out, and depression. Any one of these things can make a person unhappy, but having all three is a sure ticket to unhappiness.

How Being Unhappy Affects Me

For me, depression and misery represent the biggest arc of my day. I wake up miserable. I live unhappiness. I'm going to be miserable. If you've ever been seriously depressed, you know how true this is. Some people experience fluctuating amounts of depression throughout the day, but I'm not in that group right now. I'm in the group of people who experience depression and unhappiness and that's it.

I know that sounds relentlessly, unflinchingly awful. And so it is. But this is not intended to depress you, the reader. It is meant to represent the reality many people face.

How I deal with being unhappy

There are many methods of dealing with depression there. I have written about many of them. But on bad days, this is what I use most: distraction. Distraction is my most useful misery-fighting skill. When the depression is deep enough and dark enough, distraction is the only thing that gets me through the day.

Avoid being unhappy

Distraction comes in many forms. I often find myself distracted in several ways at once. For example, I often turn on the TV while writing. The writing itself is distracting, but if my mind wanders off topic, the noise of the TV will be what it focuses on. If the TV wasn't on, the writing wouldn't be enough to distract me from my misery.

When I'm not writing, it's a phone news feed-TV combo. Sometimes it's a puzzle-TV combo. Sometimes it's a food-music combination. The point is that one stimulus is not enough. My depression and unhappiness is so strong that it defeats a stimulus. Distraction must be across multiple domains to work.

And I absolutely can't think of ever how i really am. Other than that, I have to focus on everything else. Where is the reality my mind and my brain it destroys the soul.

Can you distract yourself from Eternal Misery?

I have been depressed for a long time it feels like forever, but no, avoiding misery is not a permanent solution. You can't solve a problem you can't see. You can't solve a problem you can't explain. You need to understand your unhappiness and depression to have any hope of alleviating it.

But in my experience, misery and depression need to be looked at very carefully. If you move too fast or allow yourself to absorb too much, you'll get a painful, possibly severe burn. You only need to glance at it at a time. You just need to brush against it. That way, you can get to know him before he swallows you.

How to beat unhappiness

Like I said, there are a million ways to deal with depression out there. There are also a million psychotherapy suggestions and drug options, also. Any of these can work to defeat unhappiness. But in my experience, in endless, internal, complex black depression, narrative is the drug that shirts. While coping techniques can save your life, it's the actual treatment that makes you want to live.

like I'm in a particularly bad situation I am mostly resistant to treatment. But that doesn't mean it's time to give up. The urge to surrender is real. Unhappiness feels impossible to live with. But I can handle it. I have been through this before and I will go through it again. If I can do it, so can you.

Image courtesy of Flickr super awesome.

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