I should have probably started my article last week with this disclaimer too, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. Or will it be 20/16 after this election? Apologies for lacing the introduction with that political digression.

Disclaimer : Any kind of mental illness is a personal hell for the sufferer. There are many kinds, and they know no boundary when it comes to the person they affect. Race, religion (or a lack thereof), socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality - unfortunately all of these things mean nothing. That does not mean that your troubles are insignificant if compared to those beyond your suffering. We all need help with this, and on some days we may need it more than other days.

Last week, I wrote about what the inside of my mind functions like on a day to day basis because of depression - heavy thoughts combined with mundane day to day routine tasks, with a bit of sardonic humor thrown in for good measure. This week I'll explore things that help make it tolerable - dare I say amicable? - to live with it.

1. Music

It should come as little surprise to those of you who know me even fleetingly, just as an acquaintance, that I wear my music around campus on a frequent basis. Megadeth, Hendrix, Metallica - these are a few of the shirts I wear as a silent thank you to the few of the songs that saved me, all of which, however, are incredibly difficult for a novice on the guitar, such as myself, to figure out how to play. The crucible of essential, everyday catharsis somehow never gets old, and in my humble opinion it is definitely better than medication. Although I would like to have medication available, as a result of an extenuating circumstance at a personal level, that, for now, seems to be a forever unfulfilled eventuality. Music then is a placebo that so far has helped me keep my variables and trials under control.

2. Writing for Odyssey

'Oh, how convenient!' may be what you're thinking right now. A shameless, almost narcissistic, self-serving plug in an article written by the author himself about the very platform he is writing on! You would be fully in the right to be righteously indignant to just such a circumstance as this.

Except that every word of it is true. A weekly vent, an assurance that my voice is heard, even if it's not on person, even if it's just on a screen. A few people, scattered out there in the world. Some of them may relate to what I write. Some of them may even wait for my weekly posts. There may be some who read what I create and say 'this is everything I've wanted to say - now there's an article that does the job for me.'

That feeling of being able to be related to, of connecting with someone just by typing the things you never thought you could say - now that, is something that really helps, because it takes me outside of the fishbowl of my mind, and lets me look in and realize that not everything is dripping negativity and misanthropy after all.

3. My family

I don't say this often, and when I do I say it a lot less than I should. I have differences with my dad, difficulty relating to my mom, and I sometimes think my sister should be twenty one, not me, because she has her life together in a way I could only dream of, and she's just twelve. I think this is one instance where less is more.

Thank you.

4. My friends

You know who you are. I have no idea how you put up with my incoherent ramblings about heavy metal and muscle cars from the 1970s or my obsession with eating at Subway whenever possible. If you follow Campbell's Odyssey regularly, you have the honor and privilege of knowing two of them - Amanda Ritz and Timmy Ryan.

5. James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond

As pictured above, the three mens' lives are every guy's fantasy of life as it should be lived - see your friends everyday, make fun of them, get cool cars and do stupid things with said cool cars. Hosts of a little known show called Top Gear, the ever witty hosts and their friendship dynamic, to me, represents a childhood fantasy of having fast and forever friends. With a bit of luck, however, I too, found the May and Clarkson to my Hammond. (Hammond is the shortest, Clarkson has the blue shirt on and May is just old).

I tried to make this article more cheerful after the heaviness of the one last week, and I think, in the process, I feel a bit more cheerful too. And I wish you the same for the week ahead.

Have a cheerful week.