I have over the past 6 months - come to see certain things a lot more simply.
First off I suppose is that having never bought into the whole 'organic disease' model/hypothesis - is that I believe that people can recover (& indeed do) from 'mental illness', whatever the condition. That in itself I do think can effect prognosis. If you believe you have an incurable condition that you can do nothing about; then you'll do nothing about it.
Through seeing a psychologist & with some other therapeutic help & supportive friends - I can see things simply as having experienced a lot of trauma at certain times; & certain things have exasperated that; leading to 'psychosis' & mental/emotional pain.
It is simply a case or 'letting go' & relaxing. I know that although that sounds simple, it can be hard. I have been practising basic meditation, removing as much stress as possible. Doing things I enjoy doing, doing relaxing things. Being as accepting as possible. Also not focusing on negatives, things I don't have, not focusing on problems. But rather focusing on things I do have, positives, things I am grateful for & developing gratitude.
None of this is a magic wand, & it is a cumulative effect.
I have been able to see certain patterns in thought & behaviour in my life. It can help to be aware of certain things. CBT/psychology can help with this. I know that there are certain subjects & trains of thought which can often lead to me being in a very negative space. It may sound a bit trite or simplistic - but it can & does work to simply not think about certain things. 'Mindfulness' techniques can help with this. It appears that thoughts do seem very much tied into environment & circumstances. Things happen which we have no control over - most of what happens we have no control over. But our reactions, & the way we respond to things; is something we have some control with. It doesn't make things easy - but it does provide some solution.
I can get very off days - they do pass - as all things do. There are things which make me feel better throughout the day - I can choose to sit there & do nothing, get very negative & focus on the negatives. Or go & do things; meet a friend for a chat, go for a walk, get a good meal, do something to relax. Also address the circumstances I can do something about, to improve the situation - & accept as much as possible & adapt to the rest.
Yesterday evening the kitchen tap stopped working completely; it has been faulty a long time. I tried turning off one of the stop valves; which broke & started leaking everywhere - so I had to turn it off completely. Which has lead to there being no water in the toilet cistern. The letting agents are useless in getting things fixed. I have made 2 phone calls to them already; still nothing has been sorted. I also have a very bad throat infection, I feel physically ill. I spent most of the day yesterday with an alcoholic friend I know, who just wanted to argue & be very incorrigible.
I have chatted to other people to get perspective, done all I can to sort out the plumbing, arranged to get some throat spray & other medicine. I'm going out for lunch & meeting a very dear friend, & will relax as much as I can, not focus on the problems, & do things to be productive.
It's not to negate the seriousness or difficulty in depression. this time last week I was getting 'black' & suicidal thoughts. I don't act on them - it passed. I focused on other stuff.
that is a very big question Ym. Indeed even professionals would give answers which might be diametrically opposed. Basically I would say different approaches work for different people - not very helpful I guess but still true IMO. It might be possible to summarise three different approaches...
I know you weren't Nick, but I've got to admit I don't have such a laugh next day!! Getting too old!! Or what I actually think is that the government have started putting something in alcohol now that makes hangovers worse in a ploy to stop binge drinking!!