For me it was alcohol. At least there is a very strong link between alcohol and my mood.
Just a few drinks and I feel sad and anxious for a couple of days. My mood recovers by staying abstinent for one or two weeks after drinking alcohol. My solution is to avoid alcohol as much as I can.
I would like to add "don't drink any alcohol" to the list. I know that even a teatotaler can have a major depression but for me the decision to stop drinking any alcohol was THE key to make my depression much better.
It took me years to realize but drinking alcohol makes me sad and anxious for a a couple of days. The more I drink the worse the mood on the next day.
... and stop drinking any alcohol. That has really solved my depression problems. A few drinks and the next day I feel at least a little sad and anxious.
I, as a German, feel good about the Marshall Plan. Do you suggest to implement something similar for Greece? I don't think a lot of Greeks will be in favor for it.
I'm pretty sure it is fear of being judged. I try to convince myself that most people are open and positive towards me. If you would ask me I'd tell you that most people are even sympathetic towards me in case I panic, stutter, or somehow f'up a presentation. But as soon as I'm in such a situation rationality is gone.
Find a couple of friends to be a sympathetic audience, then give your 90-second speech as a description of the emotions and reactions that are running through your head. Describe them in real time, use the emotions as fuel instead of reasoning with them.
"... Once you learn to accept offers, then accidents can no longer interrupt the action. When someone's chair collapsed, Stanislavsky berated him for not continuing, for not apologising to the character whose house he was in. This attitude makes for something really amazing in the theatre. The actor who will accept anything that happens seems supernatural; it's the most marvellous thing about improvisation: you are suddently in contact with people who are unbounded, whose imagination seems to function without limit."
Just a few drinks and I feel sad and anxious for a couple of days. My mood recovers by staying abstinent for one or two weeks after drinking alcohol. My solution is to avoid alcohol as much as I can.