How do you de-stress or cheer yourself up?

[Landale_Star]

It usually depends why I'm stressed, if its something specific that I have some control over then I'll normally try to get it sorted. For more general stress normally what works best for me is a combination of

1. Doing something I really like, usually something nostalgic like watching an old series I've always liked or replaying an old single player game I really enjoy. But really it could be just reading or watching a ton of documentaries about something that interests me.

and

2. Shut off most of the outside world, no multiplayer games, don't bother with any social media, no forums, no youtube, don't check the news, no social events

and if possible

3. Some basic exercise like a walk or run, this is something I'm bad at sticking with, but at times it has really helped me. I'd recommend not doing this at 1 or 2 AM though like I used to.

Also a good 7-8 hours sleep if possible, my doctor has told me a minimum of 6 but of course getting sleep can be difficult for all sorts of reasons, stress itself being one of them.

When I get a week off work, I'll usually spend 4-5 days just relaxing in solitude and I love it. I try to avoid doing things that will just add to my stress and problems such as excessive drinking or eating since I have done both those and more in the past and they only gave me a brief moment to forget, but added a whole new set of longer lasting problems.