No it doesn't, and there is no such thing as a former alcoholic, just FYI. :D

Yes there is. I have a friend who quite drinking, now he only gets drunk half to death every two weeks, and he's perfectly sober the rest of the time .

That isn't an alcoholic, that's a binge drinker. An alcoholic needs to be drunk 24/7. An alcoholic can't go ten minutes without a drink much less two weeks. Trust me. I know.

No, he used to be drunk all the time, but he stopped of his own initiative, and started "binge" drinking, as you call it.

I'm not having this argument with you. I'm too tired. :P

Easier said than done but try ensure you have a bit of the following in your life on a regular basis:

- Physical (Excercise & Diet)
- Social (Friends, family or group sessions)
- Creative (Can be anything from colouring in to creating sculptures - don't be afraid to try something new)
- Nature (Pets, plants, walking through fields or woods)

These aren't mutually exclusive. For instance if you like and spent time gardening on an allotment you would be ticking physical, nature and social boxes.

Don't be scared to go talk to someone and see if medication is for you. A lot of times it is chemical.

Outside of that... literally you have to be forced to go outside and involve yourself. Engineering a situation where you are forced to do so is a good way to "snap out of it."

I think I am probably too stupid to realize I should be depressed about my life.
I've never really been depressed for longer than a day (except deaths in the family). Some things get me down, but I never really dwell on stuff long enough for it to affect me. I never let shit stress me out. My weekends are usually times when I recharge from the ills of the world, stress from the job, etc. Usually, the 3 or 4 hours after work are enough.
I wish I could give others pointers for shedding any depression or stress as easily as I do.
Normally, when I am feeling down...a gaming session, my favorite meal or dessert will usually pick me right up.

Funny and true. See a professional :)

Agree with medication but I cringed when I saw the phrase "snap out of it". The analogy that comes up often is would you tell someone with a broken leg to just get up and go jogging?

It probably sounds really trite but, when you're depressed, I think it's always good to get 'out of yourself' as the tendency is to sit and wallow which, as you probably know, just makes you feel worse and worse.

My recommendation? Do some volunteer work at an organization you'd be interested in (there's tons of them in the UK). And I'm not saying that in order to say "Then you'll meet people worse off than you", that's not what I mean at all.

It's more like, when you do a bit of volunteer work (and it can be as little as a couple of hours a week), it gets you out of the house, you really do meet new people and, in my experience, some pretty interesting people, and you start to feel a bit better about yourself as you feel you're actually "contributing". Then the snowball effect is a little less depression.

Oh and never ever ever feel like a whiner. Want to bitch, or just feel sorry for yourself? Someone on GOG will listen to you. It's better than the alternative, which in some people leads to chucking themselves under a bus. Would hate to see that happen.

BTW, I've never been depressed, by the way, as it just doesn't seem to be in my make up but I've had friends that have and my uncle suffers from severe depression. In most cases, I've noticed those who talked about it instead of keeping it hidden, and those who got out and did something a bit different than they normally do , whether it's volunteering or anything else that gets you out of the house and more 'engaged with others' has felt better much faster.

EDIT: Oh and I also agree with whoever said "Exercise". Not only kicks in the endorphins, but it also makes you feel better about yourself because you HAVE got off the couch and made an effort to make yourself look better, whether it's to lose weight or just to gain muscles.

It is, but people tend to avoid people that are depressed. Or do sort of the opposite thing of meddling a lot, which can make things worse.

In either case, exercise is generally going to help with depression. It's known to increase various neurotransmitters in the brain and help bring them back into the appropriate limits.
Medication is not for long term use on depression. If the OP is still using it after a year or two, that most likely means that he isn't getting qualified medical advice. What's more, the theory under which medication is prescribed has never been proven scientifically. It's known that people with depression are more likely to be low on certain neurotransmitters, but it's never been shown to be the cause.

So, propping up the neurotransmitters can buy some time and room to make changes, but it's not an appropriate long term strategy in most cases. Pills do not teach skills and if you want to keep periods of depression short, you need skills, not pills.

Therapy does work long term once you've learned the appropriate skills and put them into practice. Getting your butt out the door to take in some sunshine does help, any vigorous exercise will help.

But, pills themselves are something which are greatly overstated in their efficacy.
I'm not sure motivation is quite the right word. But, it is more or less correct. I've known a ton of people over the years with depression, and the belief that things can't or won't change seems to be the core. And that itself tends to lead to a lack of motivation.

Which makes sense as it's not evolutionarily advantageous to waste time and energy on something that's doomed. Unfortunately, or I suppose fortunately, in this case it's not normally doomed, just requiring a change of strategy to move on and do the things that lead to a better mood.

As a side note, often times when people say they're depressed, it's not actually depression it's insomnia. The two conditions look very similar and unfortunately if you treat insomnia as depression or depression as insomnia and use medication to do it, you're not likely to see good results. The medications for depression tend to make insomnia worse and the medications for insomnia don't really help much with depression.

However, in both cases, therapy and exercise are likely to help improve the situation.

Your last sentence is closer to reality.

Sometimes, it's a mindset and sometimes, it's really the chemicals in your brain.

The later always require the intervention of a professional or if you are lucky, a serious change in lifestyle.

Ideas are ideas, but the system generating them (the brain) is a physical system and it's functioning is not solely dictated by circuits like a computer. It reacts to chemicals the body generates as well and when those chemicals are not well calibrated, it can really screw up with your mind.

Egoistic bastards are at an evolutionary disadvantage, because the significance of any lone individuals is limited by this:

And the fact that we are a social specie.

Our well beings are inherently tied to the well being of our social framework and the more individuals you have who undermine it, the less successful we'll be as a specie (or society).

Don't forget that we aren't characterized only by competition between individuals, we also compete between groups and would you really want to be in the group that has an abundance of psychos and people who always put themselves first before the group? Sure, egoistical bastards will thrive in that group right up to the point where the entire group comes crashing down.

Also, true psychos (as opposed to individuals who simply have strong selfish tendencies) tend to be highly impulsive individuals which is often their downfall. They don't just take calculated risks, they take stupid risks. They are literally addicted to risk taking behavior. It makes for a good movie, but not a good life.

Sorry for the long quotes but wanted to address your points.

To clarify; I agree with the various advice regarding excercise, socialising etc. Indeed, one of my previous posts in this thread suggested that someone with depression should do just that.

The impression I got with the phrase "snap out of it" sits uncomfortably with me. My interpretation is that there's almost an element of laziness to get going.

Also, I do believe that long term medication with regular reviews can help some people. Unfortunately, unlike most physical conditions there's no "one size fits all" solution. Someone with a difficult upbringing may have deep routed issues that need addressing whereas others may just find their current lifestyle or pressures are causing a feeling of depression and/or hopelessness.

To the OP: the recurring advise regarding excerise, socialising etc is a good way to help with depression. However, doing this without external assistance is never easy and you should be patient and forgiving to yourself as you would be with others in the same situation.