High functioning depressed people, how do you get through it?

1. Inertia. Just get up, do the same shit every day, rinse and repeat. Keep stumbling forward and try not to fall.
   — NatalieJersey


2. All the usual stuff, medication, therapy, etc. But my extra special secret is that, while it is true that my ability to be motivated by joy or the pursuit of pleasure is reduced, the part of my brain that generates motivation from spite or rage is actually functioning perfectly fine. So with a little cognitive reframing, even simple tasks such as showering and getting out bed can be reunderstood as acts of vengeance against enemies both real and imagined. This probably reads like a joke, but I'm 100% serious.
   — Septic_Elbow


3. Honestly I've never felt like I have to "get through" anything, I've just thought I was lazy for years. I've kept a job and not ever wanted to harm myself or die so I guess I'm high-functioning. I didn't even consider that I was depressed until a friend of a friend pointed out how "flat" I was. I'm not motivated by success (be it completing a sudoku or scoring a new job) and I'm not upset by loss (be it dying in a game or having a loved one die). Beyond basic survival (eat, sleep, retain employment) I don't want anything. I laugh a lot but I don't get happy, I'll cry very rarely but I don't get sad. So yeah there's nothing to cope with I'm just kinda waiting for death, and not in a "I'm sad and want to die" way. Just "I'm here and one day I won't be" way.
   — Zeruvi






4. Push myself, and pretend that I am happy even when I am not. Stay very, very busy at work. Get daily exercise.
   — CallMeGilligan


5. I have really bad depression, and it’s taken 7 years of self-discipline to be a productive and vaguely successful member of society. I have a ton of rules I set for myself, some are dumb, some are important, most are both. 1. **Only use my room to sleep, or prepare to sleep/go out.** It’s really, really damn tempting to just lie in bed all day. 2. **Have my brother text me pictures of my pet turtle twice a week.** A small reminder of the important things 3. **Text/talk to at least 3 friends per day**. Doesn’t matter if they respond (they usually do). Just getting out there helps 4. **Plan outfits the night before**. For me, knowing that I’m going to look good the night before I go out helps with anxiety. As opposed to the opposite, where I go out half-dressed in the dark and insecure. 5. **Volunteer with people I look up to**. It’s not enough to just do something for a cause or with my friends, I actually have to have the threat of disappointing someone I like behind me. 6. ***Safe* drug use**. The weekend drink, the morning smoke, an occasional hydrocodone, it keeps my life interesting and helps me forget sometimes 7. **ASMR/meditation youtube**. The mental concentration does wonders for my psyche. I can’t tell you how sleepy an ASMR eye exam role play makes me 8. **Money Rules**. A bit of a catchall, but I have $10 a week for any non-essentials. Or basically, anything I’d be ashamed to buy if I was grocery shopping with my grandma. Soy milk? Great. Smokes? Not with grannie’s disappointing glare. I have a note in my phone, I just bolded the actual rules and wrote in the context. edit: since this took off, here are some fun additional things I do: • When you go to piss in the morning, splash your face with cold water. Do it for your skin. it helps me actually start the day • About #3, even just sending a funny meme counts.
   — PM-ME-YOUR-REPTILES


6. I’m depressed but at the same time i also have high anxiety. I care too much about what others think. So my motivation for getting up and going to work is so my boss doesn’t cuss me out.
   — papaweir






7. - Routine. Total hypocrite here since it's midday and I'm in my PJs on Reddit, but if I'm not up and showered by a certain time the day's probably going to be a write-off. - Spend time outside. Talk to people. Make plans with friends/family if you're able. - Eat food that's healthy, but you know you'll actually enjoy. All very well buying a week's worth of salad until three days in when you crack, order a pizza, and feel horrible. Try to cook as many of your meals yourself as you can. - Take everything in baby steps. Now cut those baby steps into baby steps. Make your to-do list include eating, showering, checking your email if you have to. Having a physical list of things I need to accomplish in a certain amount of time makes me way more likely to at least try. - Don't eat/smoke/buy shit just to fill a void. Actually, let yourself do it occasionally, but remind yourself how good it feels to do as a treat and how fucking bad it feels to make a habit. Recognize when you need to break your own rules and let yourself every once in a while. I *know* I'm a more productive and happier person when I'm up, showered, and have spent time outside. Implementing it is the difficult part. Sometimes, when I'm feeling good, I write notes to my 'down' self. It doesn't have to be a cheesy "this is what I'm thankful for", just telling myself to get my shit together and that I *am* capable of feeling happy (and getting my arse out of bed can help that) is sometimes the push to make me go outside for a walk, which is the push to make me feel more relaxed, which is the push to make me come back and do some work. Etc etc. The whole 'eat well, sleep well, socialise' thing is fucking maddening when you're deep in a fog and can't see how any of that could possibly help, but it does.
   — sensibleusername69


8. I spent 3 years in therapy and now I can switch out from 1st to 3rd person POV at will. When the 1st person perspective is basically just my inner monologue calling me worthless and gross, I count on the 3rd person perspective to go: "Hey. Look at how you're talking to yourself. Stop." And so then I stop. I also use that 3rd person / silent witness / omniscience to recognize that depression is a series of chemicals happening TO ME. I am not my depression, I am not trapped inside of depression, it is merely a set of feelings that comes and goes. Therapy also taught me about the emotional plateau -- people feel anxiety rising and smoke weed or drink alcohol or go shopping or turn on the tv or eat, whatever it is they do to stop the rising anxiety. But the better response is to simply avoid all distractions, sit in a quiet room, and introspectively investigate the anxiety. 10m later, it's naturally gone and you didn't have to do anything. In fact, doing nothing about your anxiety IS the answer to curing it. Let it happen and stop fighting it. But all of these tips are to say--- I got through it with therapy. I wanted a therapist, I looked for ones who responded in ways I liked to my emails, I met several, I chose one, and I went to my appointments even when I felt like skipping them. It isn't easy but I made the decision "I'm doing these appointments no matter what" IN ADVANCE and I didn't let anything, not even my own thoughts, get in the way.
   — AndNowAStoryAboutMe


9. Pretending to be fine.
   — Devilsteeth






10. Medication and acceptance. When I feel especially low, I remind myself that I don’t need to do anything, because the passage of time will float me through this period regardless. That makes me feel better sooner.
    — ziggaziggazow