I'm pretty depressed. Anyone care to share your depression stories with me? I'd love to hear them.

That's so cool! I love the Arcade!

Thanks, built it while I was depressed.

It looks like a table top on top of a fridge

Sorry that you feel like shit, I don't really have much in ways of a depressing story. Maybe this song will make you feel better though, It always makes me feel better I don't know why. I think It's just the 'whatever idgaf' attitude of the song.

@Jayro hope you are no longer depressed, but still feel creative!

I love the stuff you've made, great work. I love to play/ make music when I get down. Always makes me forget my worries and cheers me up. Think about how lucky you are and the things you do have, instead of the things you don't. Keep your chin up tho, we all get down sometimes.

Sorry you're feeling that cloud today. For me, the dark days involve a regular practice of exercise, healthy eating, positive community, and doing something I enjoy to try and fight the cloud (and, yes, a good video game is on that list). I'll also say I need to regularly remind myself to preach truth to the voice in my head instead of listening to the lies that are rattling around in there.

@SG854 Yep, it's my mini fridge filled with booze. Stacked on top of a short end table, making the bartop arcade at full height. I just need to buy a barstool for it now.

@tfocosta No worries about me being depressed or losing my creativity. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm also fortunate enough not to be suicidal. The thought of dying scares me to no end.

@BigOnYa Thanks mate, that's good advice. I'm glad your music can get you through shit.

@Anakin1138 I find that certain music on YouTube helps get me through tough times, especially when the artist is uplifting and they touch on serious issues. Icon For Hire and Tom MacDonald are two of my go-to's when I need a musical uplift.

@Jayro That's the way it should be. Anyway, it's always better when you are creative without being depressed. Ain't it?

Despite 2020 being the most depressing year I've ever been though, I somehow managed to work full-time and get a ton of projects done:

- I built a blue DMG Gameboy with IPS screen for my late brother
- I built myself a Gameboy Color with IPS screen, new shell, new buttons, and rechargeable battery
- I upgraded my wireless router to a Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 (Netgear R8000) and flashed it to DD-WRT custom firmware
- I got my arcade fully built up now, just need to buy the artwork for the sides and the marquee
- I built a car stereo boombox for my garage when I do wood-working out there
- I setup my spare Raspberry Pi 4 as an OMV 5 NAS, serving double duty as a MediCat seedbox to torrent-seed my 5 projects as well as providing my PS4 Pro and computers with movies and music on-demand
- I built a Gameboy Advance with new shell, buttons, glass lens, and waiting on the IPS screen to get here so I can finish it up
- I built a new computer this October, right before the prices started to skyrocket again (whew!)

My goal for 2021 is to buy a tablesaw, built a workbench, and get my garage in working order. And if I can, get a small drillpress too. And a wood router. Those would give me the freedom to REALLY get creative with building things. My garage has been a mess since I moved in exactly a year ago today, and It really needs sorted so I can work properly.

Keeping yourself busy on fun projects is the best way to get out of the negative mood for sure.

I have been doing pretty poorly in general as well, so I can relate on the feeling.
However, projects such as making music, building and repairing old hardware, working on game and dev projects, or just taking a day off everything and just relax are certainly good ways to feel good~

You feel like getting something done, or just want to lay back on the chair to a good album, or just want to talk with friends and have a chill time, or anything else, really, just do what you feel like doing if you know you will enjoy yourself.
Any option works as long as you feel better

I know depression isn't something that goes away overnight, and also isn't something that comes into your daily life out of nowhere, but at least any ways are good to make the day enjoyable.
Even when options and motivation are low, there's always something to consider that could improve the mood considerably, even only a few hours in a day, it could make a significant difference.

Just never give up, show life you are better than what it may have brought onto you!
You're the boss, no bad time should tell you otherwise, even if shit happens in the ugliest way, there is always a ray of light awaiting nearby that will bring back some happiness.

Last year I realized how important is my dignity like I wont let anyone to continue to hurts me mentally by joking around or say something bad directly to me so I cut most of them if not all of them. Now I am depressed because it could have been better and re live these sad moments almost everyday. I cant control these memories they come up from no where. However now my dignity is the most important thing to me screw them all.

depression? more like a numb state of mind ever since i'd been 16, then i learned fist time the world wasn't a nice place to those i cared for, the girl i'd fallen in love with back then been sexually abused when she was only 13.
fixing it with narcotics and drugs of the street she pulled me in a part of the depression, just i never needed the drugs.
from that point on i seemed magnetizing such girls around me (at least 4 other girls had same crual disrubted stories), my wife now is one of them.
when i was 19 i found out i also have the syndrome of asperger, wich doesn't help me dealing with depressing and defective emotions.
i don't create that much to get the depression and numb of, i need my music.
i like the music like:

I'm not depressed atm, but I got pretty depressed when I lost my dev badge on psx place. it felt like the site no longer respected me. I don' think of myself as a dev or a modder really, just someone who's knowledgeable, so I don't understand what's changed since when I was given the dev badge 'til now. I haven't released anything at any point, just helped. and, the fact that I rarely get likes makes me feel like they don't want me there anyway. there will come a time when I stop posting on that site, but I don't know when that will be.

I dunno if I've had TRUE depression, but there was a period of time where I thought about killing myself to see what it's like. You know, 'for science' and all that. I'm over it now but usually i ignored it.

I've been depressed, probably because of strong gender dysphoria, for years, but that's something I've learned to deal with. However, I've also recently become single after an 8 year-long relationship with someone and that really stings. I've felt really unmotivated, lazy, bored, scared, and anxious since the breakup about a month ago. While I moved on from the attachment pretty well at this point, the fear of my uncertain future has not subsided. It's quite literally the worst time for this to have happened. Probably worth noting that my partner and I are cohabiting which makes this way more weird than it needs to be. I've never had a relationship or a breakup quite like this. Honestly, without my friends, I'd probably be utterly losing my mind right now. I've definitely spent a good deal more time communicating with friends and hanging out (online, of course) than I would be otherwise. I want to get back into making music and game development like I'm used to but the motivation is just drained. I don't feel like I can commit to anything substantial and I don't know when or if that will change. It's really a shame to want to do things so badly but your mind getting in the way. I may need to find an outlet that my brain actually allows me to do, and I'm really glad you have done so for yourself. Depression is the worst. I know it gets better, but it doesn't go away :|

With your tinkering skills, you outta look into getting a 3D printer. So many cool projects you can make with having one. I can't keep rolls of plastic around once I've got mine, making something new everyday. And you can get em fairly cheap anymore, like a "ANET" model for around $150. Ok good luck ,and have fun!

I'm 49 yrs old and have suffered from depression for most of my life. Sometimes there's a comforting feeling in it all, dependin on how one chooses to look at things. One of my favorite bands, IAMX, has helped me a lot through the hard times. Not only through the music & lyrics, but he also has live streaming mental health well-being chat sessions.

A few examples of his (Chris Corner) music featuring lyrics dealing with mental health.

Creativity is one of the most helpful outlets for me when my depression kicks in. Also forcing yourself to exercise every day and safely getting some time in the sun.

@MohammedQ8 It's so true that getting rid of toxic people in your life is essential.