Feeling depressed is the most common complaint that I receive from readers who send me emails. It’s only natural that we go through periods where we feel more self-conscious about our white patches of vitiligo; after all, our self-image has been completely altered by the changes to the color of our skin.
I found out that I had hypothyroidism shortly before I noticed little white patches of vitiligo just below my nail beds. So, not only was I feeling a chemical depression from my hormones being out of whack, I started feeling sad because my skin was changing and I worried what other autoimmune disease I might get. After a week of not leaving my house I called my mom to talk about my fears and she helped me find a therapist with whom I could talk about these new issues I was facing.
Happy Gilmore saved my life…sort-of.
Seeking professional help made a huge difference to me because I felt like I wasn’t alone with my problems anymore. This wasn’t a magical cure, though. Even though I now had an unbiased person to talk with, I still felt sad. I knew that it was going to take a while for my new thyroid medicine to show results, which also meant that my brain chemicals were still out of whack. What to do? What to do?
I tell you what I did. I watched Happy Gilmore about a hundred times. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but I had a feeling that maybe laughing would make me feel happier, and I knew for sure that watching a movie would occupy my thoughts. It worked.
I’ve never talked about that to anyone because I didn’t think it was that important to share. However, today I was listening to a podcast on Stuff To Blow Your Mind called, “The Healing Power of Laughter”, and since they talked about laughter healing depression, I decided to share this little tip with you…it might make you feel better.
Here is a link to the podcast page: http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2012/12/05/blow-your-mind-healing-laughter-and-killing-jokes/#mkcpgn=twsftsl
Here is the podcast on iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-healing-power-of-laughter/id350359306?i=125784403&mt=2
Have you purposely used laughter to feel happier or cure your depression? If so, share your story in my comments area.