@candle When I learned that depression might be a tool animal bodies use to force themselves to slow down and rest when they need to conserve energy, and recover from illness, hard work, or life stress... I guess it helped to put the shitty experience of it into some kind of context?

I don't know if rationalization helps you, but the idea that this kind of self-doubt and low feeling is a crude biological tool that's *ultimately* my body trying to get me to stop working so hard and look after it better... for some reason that thought helps me. Even if it doesn't feel like it at the worst times, my body uses the tools it has to help me preserve myself.

When I frame it that way, it can be a reminder to do restful things and expend less effort, rescope and aim for small day-to-day successes like taking out the trash, or a reminder to change some things that are wearing me out.

Or it can just be permission to take time to recover from an illness, and not worry about one's utility or productivity for a bit. <3