If you're an Atheist, what comforts you?

[Magilla]

...I know there are techniques which can handle the bad times to get me through. I know that the bad times don't last ad infinitum, they can - and usually do - fall away. Knowing that, is comforting, in that just letting time pass, can be all that's needed to get to better times!!!...

So what are the techniques? This is what I don't have. Tools and techniques. I am very ungrounded.

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Well discussing techniques and specifics is really the job of a professional. Let me reveal that I have a diagnosis of major depression, anxiety, socio-phobia, and a touch of OCD to boot. So I'm talking from experience. What is appropriate depends on why you are depressed and anxious, Dragonfly.

The best I can do is give you a little lesson on that, if I may.

Firstly anxiety and depression are a part of the human condition. Almost everyone experiences those to some extent, throughout each and every week.
The kinds of thought you have about them can drive you further into them , or pull you out, or at least let time do its thing, (you will just feel better doing nothing).

But they can also be designated as mental illnesses. I would not like to suggest that you have any mental illness, (but I do - have mental illness - which I cope with daily). The types of problem you mention, Dragonfly, may just be quite a part of the normalcy of being a human. But if they do constitute a mental illness, it could be that there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, (again, I stress - I'm not talking about you especially, Dragonfly - such a determination should be made by a mental health professional).

The conditions of depression and anxiety come in two flavours ~ namely exogenous, and endogenous.

Exogenous - caused by outside events. If a close family member or loved one were to die, you may experience sadness, grief, (depression). If you did not, then it would be quite unusual. The root of the feeling is the external event - that death - for example.

Endogenous - caused by your own bodily / mental function. This is something in the way your body is made, just like some people have blue eyes, some brown etc. As I said, it may, (or may not), be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain. If it is due chemical imbalance, then anti-depressive drugs can help. The right types will help to redress the chemical imbalance. I'd advise strongly against self medication.

Here endeth the lesson.

I've subscribed to this thread to maintain the conversation if you want to. I think that your approach in handling the problem you describe, Dragonfly, should be appropriate to whether it's endogenous or exogenous. There are techniques for handling the normal every day blues. There are some for handling built-in medically caused dark moods.

I compare my own life's journey, and my own handling of the problems I have, of akin to erecting a pyramid, (think Egyptian), and not to erecting a tent.

To build a pyramid takes along time and a lot of effort. To put up a tent, not so much. In my own life, and WRT my illness,  I consider myself to be building pyramids, not putting up tents.

Finally, guard yourself from letting this posting drag you down in any way. You're still the same person after you read it as you were before.

Cheers,
Magilla.