What do you do when you feel unbearably sad?

[whatausername]

Just that really. Everything passes eventually but what do you do meantime?

Exercise. It got me through the hardest times of life. Even when I really didn’t want to or had no energy, I always felt better afterwards.

I go and see friends. Go for a walk by the sea, watch a film and remember that sadness is a temporary state a d tomorrow will be much better

Go for a walk outside, hug my DH and DC, relax on the sofa with a cuppa watching mindless rubbish on TV, try to remember that favourite MN a phrase 'this too shall pass'

If I'm hungry, eat. I get miserable or hangry if blood sugar drops.

After my mum died I spent a lot of time sitting by the window farting about on my phone. Ate too much crap. (Not recommended)

Crying phase hit around 3 months plus. 5months on still miserable a lot of the time and everything's an effort but I am having a few more productive days. (Things were delayed due to another big life event needing lots of energy)

Go for a walk, as brisk as you can manage - it's a bit of a cliche but it really does clear your head, and lifts that feeling of gloom. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning but after a walk that feeling subsided.

Things that helped: eating healthy food. (Premade salads)

Exercise outside near trees.

Gardening.

Seeing sunshine and flowers and garden.

In the moment i cry
If its an ongoing, i exercise

Binge watch Jane Austen costume dramas with happy endings

Happy music and dance if appropriate.
Luxurious bath with good escape fiction
Murder mystery on TV with a jigsaw
Ice cream

Self care, talk myself up etc. It depends what you're sad about. If it's just general depression then making your life easier to live for a few days can help e.g. ordering in dinner/buying ready meals, bringing essentials in to bed with you so you can rest. Let yourself feel and express emotion, talk/rant to a friend or a helpline.

Sometimes distraction helps. Go for a walk with some loud music or a podcast, drive somewhere new, go window shopping, set yourself a challenge like sorting through your wardrobe.

Tea/warm blanket
tears (if they come- sometimes deep sadness is beyond tears)
dog walk
meditate, pray
listen to spiritualists I like who remind me of presence in the present (I like Adyashanti a lot).

Yes! And the lovely BBC adaptation of North And South.
And The Durrells.
And All Creatures Great And Small as remade recently on Channel 5, with lovely Samuel West.

Plant flowers in the garden

I have recurring depression so often my sadness has no external cause- it just comes on me.

In theory what i try and do is take myself to the cinema; take myself to the pub; go swimming or go for a walk.
Sometimes I do do these things, but more often I watch netflix and drink too much.

I think I will try and do some of the things other posters do to help.

OP

I get outside and walk in some nature. It never fails to take my mind off things and reset me. Then lots of self care, cancel what can be cancelled, pj's, box sets, takeaway. Focus on the good things.

I allow myself to be sad and have a down day/few hours.

I’ll stay inside in my PJs, eat junk, watch trash TV, not clean, shower or talk to anyone etc.

Then I’m done.
The next day I wake up early, shower, go for a long walk, eat healthy etc.

Cry
Walk the dog
Watch a sad movie
Listen to music
Cry
Get under the duvet, and let it all out
And as Breen Brown would say lean into how I'm feeling and really feel those emotions

This is all such great advice!

My current go to is run and cry while I’m running.
Run some more.
Cuddling DH, kids, visitors, anyone who calls.
Stroking my dogs ears.
more crying.
Spotify: I have a playlist of my dad’s favourite music, I listen to it while I’m crying as it brings a bittersweet comfort. Podcasts. Random podcasts. Especially light hearted rubbish.
Then I run some more. The snow is not helping this last two days though.

I can’t say my heart isn’t still broken, it very much is, but I’m in survival mode at the moment and just rolling with it.

Watch a sad, gentle movie like collateral beauty or a hospital drama and have a cry.
Eat chocolate.
Take a bath or go for a swim and float for a while, releases me from the physical weight of sadness, I am bad at crying though.
Run as fast as I can through the woods near my house.
Listen to sad songs on my headphones, and since discovering 8D music then that.
Go sit on the beach, or high up on a hill, and watch the world go round for a bit.
Cuddle my DC.
Go for a lie down, with a weighted eye mask and a heavy blanket
Grown up colouring books
Sing in the shower, cry in the shower.

Sit and think and go over everything. But then I go running and meditate. Learning to meditate is one of the best things I’ve done, it helps me a lot with any sadness and stress.

I think it depends why you are sad.
I generally shut myself away, sleep, eat far too much junk food. I don’t have any positive coping strategies. Sometimes I binge watch comedies. I love a lot of stand-up comedians, so I generally watch back to back ‘live at the Apollo’. Sometimes the sadness isn’t something that can be lifted though if it’s caused by something more serious.
I hope you are ok 💐

I am sad most of the time since DH died but when it is particularly bad I try to get out for a walk, I try to find beauty in what is around me and that sometimes helps.

I threw a punnet of blueberries at a wall once. One by one by one. It made me feel oddly better when they splatted. So maybe being destructive.

Hold a hot cup of tea. Sit in a hot bath.

Run away and breathe in a view: something really wide from the top of a hill or the ocean horizon. It has to be wide. Breathe deep.

Chuck out the rules. Eg don’t think “oh it’s noon I should be up.” Give yourself time to sleep if you need. Or equally stay up all night if you want. When you do sleep it doesn’t have to be in a bed; make a fort, nest on the sofa, etc.

Sending a hug to all.

If it’s daytime, I walk. Evening, I sleep.

I regularly have overwhelming sadness, but I remember that it passes.

Hope you’re ok.