What is the opposite of depressed?

I have a friend that I am very close to. I've known her for about four years and most of that time I was a total mess (or we weren't in touch). As it turns out, so was she. While I am pretty obvious when something is wrong, she was the type to suppress it. I'm also pretty oblivious but I don't think it was entirely me not noticing. Things progressed and now she is facing these things head on for the first time--including medication. I try to guide her through the process as best I can, especially since she can't stand acting when she doesn't already know the outcome. One thing which came up in a conversation about depression and medication was how do you know when the meds are working/right?

I had a lot of difficulty when starting meds because, unlike many sufferers, I had no idea what normal people felt like on the inside. I had been depressed for as long as I can remember (okay, just since I was 10) and it's hard to know when the antidepressant is working, when you don't have an understanding of another internal state. I'd try to gauge it based on whether or not I felt different than before I started, but was left feeling much the same. My parents would say they could tell a difference but I couldn't feel one.

It wasn't until my third time in the hospital when I was put on the meds I'm on now and, while I did end up overdosing a week later (I don't deal well with med changes it seems), the next morning I knew they were the ones. I cried most of the day but it was out of sadness, not depression, and I just knew. The opposite of depressed isn't happy. I don't think we have a word in English for the state of not being depressed, so I just call it "not-depressed." It's like neutrality--right in between the hyper, manic state and the lethargic, depressive state--a feeling that is an empty palatte. When you experience it, you know. Personally, I value not-depressed much more than I will ever value happiness.

Project: Emergency Self-care Kit

One of the most important skills for a person with a mental disorder is the ability to self soothe. When having any kind of severe episode, a person's ability to plan or figure out how to help themselves goes down drastically. That's why my aftercare therapist assigned us to create an "Emergency Self-care Kit."

An emergency self-care kit is a box or bag that you put together in advance filled with anything and everything that makes you feel relaxed and happy. Because you think about it before you have a problem, you have a clearer mind and when you need it you don't have to worry about what to do, just take it out.

Examples of stuff you can put inside:
A journal (don't forget the pen!!)
A cd of specially picked songs
Tissues or a hanky
Bubble bath
Chocolate
A favorite stuffed animal
...and anything else you think can help.

Optional: After you put it together, leave a comment with some ideas to inspire other's kits!

If you could go back, knowing what you do now?

Disregarding the obvious and ultimately pointless answers like not taking all those pills, this is an easy question for me. Preventing a single regrettable act is a moot point in this case, because people in tough spots are surprisingly hard to deter. If those things didn't happen then/in that way, I don't doubt they would have happened in some other manner. No, if I could change something, anything, I would have sought help much sooner.

It's been only about three years since I was diagnosed with Major Depression. That doesn't seem like long, but I have suffered the effects of it my entire life and I'd just been too scared to come forward. I remember looking up the symptoms and thinking it sounded like me, but dismissing it because surely Depression had to be worse than what I felt. By the time I did learn that I did in fact have it, I had to be hospitalized, withdrawn from school, and gotten myself neck-deep in a destructive friendship.

I am not one of those people that believes that all labels suck or all you need is to take vitamins/think positive and your depression will magically vanish. Maybe those things are true for you and maybe they aren't but I know that two years of therapy have rendered me very capable of dealing with a crisis constructively (and I've got an amazing self-esteem) but only when my meds are in working order. I have a true chemical-depression and understand that now. I am still learning everyday how to work with my disorders to improve my symptoms and quality of life. I've made great strides in three years, but I wish sometimes that I had been able to start sooner. How wonderful four years--five years--would be!