I become my own psychiatrist.

If I were a psychiatrist, I’d keep asking my patients, ‘Why are you depressed?’ And after listening to their answers, I’d ask if these are legitimate reasons to be depressed? And I’d suggest that the patients have more reasons not to be depressed than to be depressed. One simply gets out of depression by altering one’s state of mind. At least that was thought to be the conventional way to deal with depression. Until discovery of anti-depressants. Now you are supposed to take a pill. And become more or less cured. I’m not sure that I buy into that premise. Instead, I’m an advocate of talk therapy. Mind over matter. I find it relatively easy to talk myself into a positive mood. Into an upbeat frame of mind. If for no other reason than that it feels good. I never did like feeling out of sorts. So, I simply refuse to feel depressed. I find a way out. By talking to myself. Counting my blessings. And then focusing on the blessings. I become my own psychiatrist. And I do it for free. Yes, I give myself a good deal. Gives me another reason not to fall into depression. –Jim Broede