 My freshman psychology professor told me that the exact opposite of depression is gratitude, which I thought was complete fiddle-faddle. I say fiddle-faddle because I'm not sure I can swear here. I have fought through several years of clinical depression, so the thought of gratitude being the opposite of depression is seen to support the fiddle-faddle that people suffering through depression are just ungrateful and not actually going through debilitating illness. That is just a synonym for feeling greedy and ungrateful. Anyways, this professor challenged me to force myself to change my perspective on life. There's actually a lot of scientific evidence that supports his theory that gratitude reverses depression. For example, Lumbrosky and Sins 2009 study. Through experiencing this month-onk study, we saw changes. Every day before I went to sleep, I had to write three positive experiences or things I was grateful for. It was super simple, three sentences of I am grateful for, I am thankful for, etc. It could be anything like I'm happy I saw the sun or I laughed, but not stuff that compared my life to others like I'm happy to have water because others don't. The point of the project was simply to appreciate, not to force it or be a jerk to anyone suffering through poverty. A month after journalizing, I realized I was acknowledging all the positive things around me. Even the worst of days, good things would still happen. Though this hasn't cured my depression, it's become harder to give in to the dark pits of negativity. It makes my daily life just a little brighter. So why does gratitude affect depression? Actively thinking about positive things in your life releases hormones that are great for mood regulation. Neurotransmitters since his dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin activate pleasure centers and inhibit feelings of grief and worry. I still don't think gratitude is the opposite of depression. It's like what 10pm is to the morning. It's during the night, but it's still only one hour. Gratitude isn't a cure-all to depression, but it's the closest you can get to the opposite of the slippery slope that is depression.