Fourth, there are better ways of handling all of our feelings than turning them inward. If we turn the feelings inward (bottle them up), they will consume us from within. We must feel them and deal with them to get rid of them.

We can learn to express those feelings in a variety of ways. For instance, anger can be expressed by telling someone about it, by taking a tennis racket and beating (violently) on the seat of a stuffed chair, and by writing and expressing the anger. Also, we could express our feelings in painting, music, acting, dance, or other arts. And, of course, if we're going to point that anger at someone, we should point it towards the people that caused and deserve it. We should never direct it at innocent people.

Fifth, exercise is vital to healthy living. I can't tell you how important this is to our well-being. If you think that you can do nothing (and I know how depression can paralyze people) and be happy, you are wrong. Exercise is the most effective way to feel better right now. If you will do some exercise daily, you will feel better and sleep better. If you make it a regimen, you can do it from habit even if you have a bad day or several bad days.

This is a very concentrated version of things that have made me able to live a better life in the last few years than I have ever had before. I have suffered depression all of my life, and I know the desolate feelings that were in Edgar Allen Poe's poems, in Van Gogh's paintings, and the feelings that make us think the world will be better off without us, that we are burdens to other people; and the self-hate that makes us want to die. Those are false and distorted thoughts that uselessly cost thousands of people their lives every year from suicide. The loss of those lives to the world is incalculable.

I hope this helps to put things in better order for you, and I pray that you will never be one of those people. This is a total package and should be interpreted as an overall view of what is going on with your depression. It is as good of a summary as I could muster.

It has taken me years to understand these things, and be able to put them in a form that I could communicate to other people. With these tools, you can start to see the way things really are, and start to rebuild your life if it is out of control. Being out of our control make us feel worthless. This should also change your approach to fighting depression and suicidal thinking to fighting the source of the disease (To change, so that we are in charge of our lives, and we decide and we control how we live) instead of unsuccessfully trying to fight the symptoms.

It may not cure you, but it will help you to live a more successful and a happier life, even with depression. Remember that you are the person to decide your wants and needs and you determine how you will live. Learn by starting small, to decide and take responsibility for your life, then progress slowly.

next: Major Depression and Treating Depression With Antidepressants Q and A