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Suggestions to alleviate your depression this Spring

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Posted 2/18/2011 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
This forum has always responded well to self help threads so let me start one for spring.


Spring is almost here! What can we do differently to alleviate our depression and start enjoying life again? Small changes followed consistently go a long way.

Have fresh flowers around your house. Buy some inexpensive (in-season) flowers.



Spring flowers can add style and flair to any room in your house and give it a fresh aroma of an outdoor garden. Perfect for just about any room in your house, spring flowers can add a special liveliness to the room as you enter. Not only do fresh spring flowers brighten up your room, research has also proven that flowers are a mood changer and have a positive effect on our mental well being as well.

Look out Daffodils, tulips, Iris, Peony, Freesia, Heather, and Dahlia - I am out to get you !

OK, who has another idea ????

With spring in my step,

Kitt
Posted 2/19/2011 5:36 AM (GMT 0)
... thinking of an idea. In the meantime, you are always so positive, Kitt. It is refreshing and makes me smile.
Posted 2/19/2011 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
This is such a good idea Kitt!!! I like looking at the spring seed catalogs and imagining have flowers all around. I was just think of this yesterday. My husband put up to plant hangers on my greenhouse and I was trying to think of what I would want to hang there. There is one on each side of the door. Usually I buy differnt kind of plants, but this year I am going to get two hanging baskets that match. Probably red geraniums. Not sure, I like the purple wave petunias too. Oh and white bacopa is nice. But red is so bright and pretty. I shall decide when the time comes, but Kitt, thanks for starting this thread.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/19/2011 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
I love the aroma of daffodils in spring. I used to live in a county where daffodils grew heartily and were shipped out by the tractor-trailor loads to New York for spring market sales. Daffodils just fill the home with spring, I feel.

Nice post.

IG
Posted 2/19/2011 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
I just love fragrant flowers. And I have some daffodils that are fragrant too. Not all of them are but the light (almost white) ones are. I love the color of the yellow ones though. They are much brighter.

I have some old time purple irises too that are fragrant. Really strong. And I love hiacynths. They smell so good. Now all I can think about is flowers.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/19/2011 8:34 PM (GMT 0)
I'd love to really get into fishing and i've wanted a waverunner so baaaadly for the last 3-4 years to start taking out on the weekends in teh spring/summertime. Too bad I can never financially make it happen lol. One day though
Posted 2/19/2011 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Walk along the Lake Michigan shoreline, searching for crinoid fossils. I've collected perhaps a hundred of them in the past, but I've gotten away from it the past few years.

From where I go, on a clear day one can see the Chicago skyline.
Posted 2/20/2011 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
Do you do anything with the crinoids? I have a friend that sent me some and I was making jewelry at the time and was going to make a necklace or bracelet. He also sent me some sea glass (fairy's tears). Really pretty. I made a couple of necklaces out of them wrapped with silver wire and put on leather.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/20/2011 2:46 AM (GMT 0)
i burn incense. jamie. very calming. top thread kitt. smile
Posted 2/20/2011 9:20 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, coming here today and reading all your ideas has lifted my spirits as we are getting 8-10 inches of snow again today but I still believe in spring.

I love all your answers and walking by a lake is so peaceful. I stress eat too and yes tomorrow I am going to work hard at doing something else whan I feel stressed.

My tip for the day, stop wearing black-colored clothes for a whole month, except shoes, belts and bags/briefcase. If you need to wear a black suit/uniform for your work, just follow ‘no black’ rule outside your working hours. Use navy, brown, purple, dark green, grey, denim and lots of white, pastel and light colours during this month. Enjoy the art of color coordination.

I find I buy a lot of black as it has always been said that black is slimming and I care about this for what reason ?

Keep the ideas coming.

Love and hugs to all,

Kitt
Posted 2/21/2011 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
I haven't done anything with the crinoids, but, yes, I've heard of people making jewelry out of them.
Posted 2/25/2011 12:14 AM (GMT 0)

I love all the ideas on flowers!  Each spring I've planned to plant some on my balcony and haven't gotten around to it.  I'm going to make it happen this year!

Also, the winter has been so bad, but the weather where I have been has been more mild lately.  I love spring as I can finally get outside again.  My suggestion would be to take your exercise outdoors whenever possible.  You get to enjoy the nicer weather, the flowers! and sunshine helps us all.

Thanks, Kitt, for starting this thread - what a wonderful idea!

-js

Posted 2/25/2011 4:38 AM (GMT 0)
I love love flowers. I love my garden and gardening. It is very therapeutic. I love checking the garden each
day to see how much everything has grown.

I love camping. That is my summer. I love being by the water. It is so calming, so peaceful. Camping touches my soul to the nth degree. I am at peach there. God's country.

Nice thread. We should do this over at the chronic pain forum. That's where i post but i always read here on the depression forum.. You are all such special people.

Jamie, you are one courageous young man. I have been reading your trials for a while now.
Where is your friend shuvykins, is she ok?
Posted 2/25/2011 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
Good Morning All,

I do love the wonderful comments and positive attitudes here in this thread. I would like to contribute another way to decrease depression this spring.

Find a scenic spot nearby that inspires you. Commit to visit it daily or as many times a week as it is reasonable. Note: it does not matter how you get there (drive, walk, cycle etc.). The key point is to get there and spend some time breathing, balancing and taking in the beauty al around you.

My scenic spot is at Riverside Park on the banks of the Mississippi River. I love to sit there with my cup of hot chocolate and watch the river flow by. I even use this in the winter when I have trouble getting out of the house.

Find you happy place and just sit there in the peace around you with no worries for the time you are there.

Blessings to all,

Kitt
Posted 2/25/2011 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
Great suggestion Kitt. And I love that you used the word "spring" in the title of your post.

This truly is a hard time of the year, I think it is even harder than the holidays for us with depression. This is truly an inspirational thread and I am happy that you started it.

I try to listen to music when I am down. And dance around the house. If nothing else, I get a good laugh.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 2/25/2011 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
I used a picture I took of the Japanese gardens at Como Park for the wallpaper on my computer. Everything is so lush, green, and peaceful.

Great thread Kitt.
Posted 2/25/2011 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
If you can't get out, try doing a google search each day on a different flower of spring,
such as jonquils..ects...crocus..or mediate on a place you could go to, one you remembered

Just an idea...
Posted 2/28/2011 2:21 AM (GMT 0)
Even better than keeping cut flowers around...plant something! I know I actually feel depressed when flowers in a vase start to wilt, but watching something grow is incredible! And it lasts for months and months. If you don't have a garden, plant some herbs in your kitchen.
Posted 3/1/2011 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
superE,

Great idea. Growing flowers is a way of showing the world you have sunshine in your heart.

Kindly,

Kitt
Posted 3/1/2011 9:40 PM (GMT 0)
Starting spring bulbs in containers in the house is fun and you can plant them in the ground later. Like tulips, hyacinths and crocus.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/4/2011 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
I wanted to bump this thread up as we have so many newbies atm. I found this thread to be very incouraging and heartfelt. Let's see if we can think of more ideas to get us through the winter. Spring is just around the corner for some of us and hopefully it is helping with the depression. So if you have any ideas on what to do, please post them. Or just read and take the advice to heart.

I try to do a lot of walking but we had freezing rain awhile back and it is icy under the snow. So I have been walking in place inside. Yes, my dogs think I am crazy. But it helps.

Hugs, Karen
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