The clouds will eventually gather and the skies will darken once again. Some folks find themselves challenged by depression as a result. I have some ideas on what might help, remember this is all coming from my perspective, so read accordingly.

There are some excellent mental health bloggers out there, including Philip Dawdy in Seattle. Read his recent post That Tricky Time of Year, or Depression Hacks

The first thing is to eat. I've watched too many people I know with depression have things spiral out of control because they weren't eating. Or drinking any fluids. Yes, I know food tastes like gruel when times are tough, but you've got to find that one dish you can always eat no matter what.

The web is wide and you can find support and inspiration, browse wisely and take everything with a large grain of salt.

If you aren't yet comfortably surviving, take care of this first. I don't mean comfortable as in making a lot of $, I mean safe and free from abuse.

You can call the Crisis Clinic at 360-586-2800. You can also search through resources online.

If you are dealing with domestic violence and/or sexual assault call Safeplace at 360-754-6300.

Emergency? Call 911.

Are you attending school? Check out what counseling is available. For instance: The Evergreen State College has a counseling center. Belong to a faith community? Learn what kind of help is available there.

Here is what I consume:

The journalist Philip Dawdy keeps this excellent blog Furious Seasons.

Some quotes from his About This Site page:

I am concerned about the state of mental health care in America and elsewhere. We simply are not getting the kind of results that patients, myself included, were promised 20 years ago at the dawn of the psychopharmacological revolution. Yet that's not what you'll read in the American media and it's not what you'll hear from researchers, most advocates and the pharmaceutical companies.

What I am trying to do is get Americans of every stripe to think about mental illness in a different way. I am also hoping to get the mentally-ill to think about their own plight in more expansive ways that they will ever hear from their doctor or therapist.

I've written about Philip Dawdy before here and here and I want to continue to encourage folks to check out his work. He writes a lot about "human determination and personal responsibility". His work and blog are quite inspiring. Plus the blog has an active reading and commenting community.