Just to add to my previous post before starting work...

I think it is true that it does not matter if you do it right or not if it is for fun (like dancing in the street). It is really about having fun, not being professional. Being professional is for work. Fun is just fun and being yourself.

Maybe... instead of being given meds that sometimes have horrible side effects, people with depression should be involved in some fun activities to overcome their dark thoughts. It might be a bit more difficult for them than for normal people at first, but slowly they might really feel better.

I think one of the worst thing we can teach kids is that if they work hard, they can be or do anything they want and that anything you do, has to be done well or to the best of your ability.

You can't necessarily be or do anything you want, no matter how hard you work for it.

And sometimes 'good enough' is fine.

Sometimes we don't need a challenge either, we just need a cruisy day.

Papermoon, not sure about the fun activities for depression. I guess some of them might help but it depends on the type of depression & depth of depression I think. We have been dealing on and off for 3 years with a sister in law suffering from it. She is in a psychiatric hospital right now after an overdose and she had had a fun day doing something she enjoys. But sometimes with depression, if a person feels they are useless and would be better off dead and they are scared of the future, it can be so hard to overcome that.

In fact, there have been times I have wondered the opposite-if maybe instead of activities for them, if they engaged in activities where they were helping others in some way, if that might help (with mild situational depresion.)

I don't know the answers but I think sometimes continuous dark thoughts might be a chemical imbalance in the brain & medication is needed.

It depends on the cause of the depression, and a good doctor is essential too, and sadly very few people are happy with their psychiatrists. That's why many people don't even tell them what really oppresses them, and of course they don't get better.