How do you deal with depressing thoughts or bad memories?

I don't so much have bad thoughts about the way things are going in society - eg car crashes etc. I do however have bad memories that come to the surface every now and again. The way I deal with them is to really relive them in my head and ask myself how I felt and what I did, what the other people did in the situation and what I liked or did not like of their behaviour. When I think I am looking at the situation from as honest a view as I can, I then replay it in my head how I would like it to have happened. How my behaviour could have been different to change the outcome in my favour. So that I reacted in a good way to others behaviour. I then tell myself that if a similar situation comes up I wont remember the original way this situation happened but my new version and how I made my behaviour work in my favour. Then I just follow my new coping mechanism steps and see the fruits of my labour so to speak. Do you understand what I mean?

I have lots of depressing thoughts and bad memories unfortunately, and yes, there are also a lot of depressing and sad things that go on in this world. I think that if we tried to handle all of these things then we would go mad and that is why I have a way that I deal with all mine. When things start to get me down, I just put the rubbish in my junk box that I have in my mind, may sound daft but this box has saved me on many occasions. It has helped me get through everything, I just put whatever I do not want to think about in that box, and that is it the memory is gone until I dig in and find it. I do not want to be sad, down, depressed, wasting life on unhappiness I want to be happy and so that is my way of dealing with it.

when depressing thoughts and memories appear in my head, i don't shut them off away at once. i think about it for awhile and reflect on them. maybe there's a lesson to be learned. and then, i move on after reflecting on it and keep on being happy! anne

One thing for sure, there is no use looking back or even thinking back of those sad memories. Obviously it wont make you feel any better, sometimes it will make you feel even worse, and yet, life still goes on. So why not forget about the past and go on with your current life, deciding on your future life? Just remember this quote that I strongly believe and had been proven to me... "God will never take something away from you without giving you something even better."

I never dwell too long on bad memories. Thinking about them way too much, makes me want to have a nervous breakdown. And I did suffer from something like that before. I just fought it and tried to stay as focused as possible about how my life was going. Bad memories for me are better left in the farthest corner of my mind. But sometimes, certain circumstances makes those bad memories come out. And when that happens, I just fight whatever dark and depressing emotions I start to feel. And pull myself right back to the present, the present life that I have as a happy and content mother and wife.

I went through that, and I know I just may go through that again. I stayed with the feeling. I confronted it. What, why, where, when, how. But comes a time, you just have to tell yourself, stop already. I quote here someone I have come to admire: Pain is pain, but I don't have to suffer it forever. She also taught me a few techniques. The one I like most is huffing. When there's this twisting pain in the gut, for remembering a "forever pain", I breathe deep, then huff - you know, like coughing out air from the diaphragm. I huff into the toilet bowl, and flush.

I used to deal with bad event in my life with ignoring it and trying to forget it, I make myself busy with anything to forget, even so , sometime I couldn't do it, some event need longer time to fade away from your memories.

Stop thinking about it. The more you will remember things the more you wont forget. Past is past and no matter what its finish. Remember good things but not the bad things. God Bless.

bad memories I expose to the su nshine outside my window right now and the birds singing, right now,whoosh my bad memories are gone. today is the only time we really' have so enjoy the life you have while you are having it. I am sick with shingles but I am not letting it stop me from smiling or laughing or feeling good emotionally.the sun is still shining, the birds are still 'singing, and I am still smiling so go figure.

When I'm in a bad moon or recall those bad memories, I can hardly come out of it. What I can do is try to forget those things, don't to think them. As times goes, those sad memories, some are become not sad to me, some becomes a good experience. But the time I face it, it's sad to me, so I think just leave them behind, them you will be alright.

Write poems

I learn to make peace with bad memories and let go. They will eat you alive. There are something in your life you simply can not do any thing about. I always try and find one good point in any rotten mess.

I personally deal with bad memories or thoughts by going over them when they come up and deciding if they are worth going over more. If they do, I just deal with them accordingly.

First and foremost I pray to a God who can do anything. And Second I believe there is a time to where you have to take control of your thoughts. Realistically the memories are there but after a while you have to tell yourself enough is enough. I have to continue to live. Have you heard of BRAINSWITCHING: Make yourself busy with mind games such as online games, chess, soduku. Think of your favorite song and close your eyes with FULL Concentration. When you concentrate your mind on a thought or song it blocks the cognitive awareness in the emotional part of your brain called the subcortex. When you do the above said it increases the neuron activity in the neocortex and decreases it in the subcortex thus correcting the chemical imbalance responsible for Depression. Tell depression, it doesn't control you, and the next time it tries. Laugh at it and jump several times. It will leave immediately. (: Smile Let me know if this helps. God Bless

When I am feeling sad or depressed I just turn to God. I pray, listen to Christian Cd's like Jeremy Camp, or I read my Bible. Other times I call and talk to my pastor. Lately the greatest cure for my depression is my boyfriend. He really lifts me up and I couldn't be happier that he is there for me.

When I am feeling depressed or sad, I just turn to mylot and read some of the discussions from the laughter section and that seems to cheer me right up. If I do not feel like doing that than I just think of all the people who have so much more to deal with than I could ever imagine and that always helps me to realize that I am lucky for what I have.

BEFORE..if i feel depressed I would find a place where nobody can see me cry and think hard.After a few minutes and way pass the feeling i go back to the real world.When i reminded of bad memories can't help but reminisce what happened then.Why it happened and have we done otherwise things could have been much better.But as they say...God has reasons why it happened.It's a good thing i can share my thoughts,get to ask advises and views from you guys here.

I think it is best to confront sad thoughts. If you don't locate their source, it is almost inevitable that they will continue to get you down. I believe bad thoughts occur to us so that we will resolve issues in our life that bother us, in order to progress and be happier. Neglecting these will only cause them to return and continue to make you miserable. You never know how many sad thoughts will build up which could later cause stress or mental illness. I think the media does exaggerate the amount of stories of murder, abuse, dictatorship, and war - exaggeration causes hype which in turn generates money. Though I do find it depressing when we come to a realisation of what kind of society we live in, just how unsafe we really are. That makes me miserable. When I get depressed, I like to withdraw and deal with it in my own time. I can't handle being surrounded by people, I especially can't handle people asking how I am. I don't like to talk about my problems with other people. For a while, I like to wallow in them. It's healthy to be sad sometimes and grief is a normal, and crucial, stage when dealing with these problems. After that, I feel I can move onto dealing with the problem and finding possible solutions. I always try to resolve the issue at hand so that they don't continue to bug me, I try not to allow it to distract me from school or let it affect my relationships. I often listen to music if I struggle trying to cope with a problem, but normally, I can sort myself out if I keep a clear head and think about the problem logically.