depression meals, ranked

a pitchfork rating of my most underwhelming excuses for food

[oluOnline]

"that's a luxury of mental stability we cannot afford" really sent me, so true

when I was vegetarian and depressed I ate hummus and bread to the point hummus as a main piece of a meal still makes me feel vaguely down and sick. also packaged tortellini with packaged sauce, £3 meal for the win

[quirkyblackenby]

I’m autistic and depressed so eating can be very difficult. I’ve found that I can eat instant mashed potatoes with cheese and butter in them no matter what. Sometimes I even get fancy and add sour cream to them. It’s filling and always tastes good

[Mallory-Malkovich]

For me it isn't the cooking that's the struggle, it's the dishes. In my worst depression I used every single dish and piece of cutlery in my house, had a precarious pile of dishes stacked up in and around the sink, and then proceeded to tear cereal boxes in half to use the cardboard as plates (each box becomes at least _two_ plates! Smart, right?). I would use up the paper towels as plates, then the tissues. I ate spaghetti off of a frisbee I got at freshman orientation rather than wash my bowls. I mixed Kool-Aid in an old 2 litre of Pepsi and drank it straight out the bottle rather than wash the cups. Eventually my mom visited and when I went to the bathroom she started washing my dishes for me. Thankfully those days are gone, but it's a low point that I will never forget and hope never to see again.

[melmichel]

Scrambled eggs in a tortilla with salad, tomato and salsa

Scrambled eggs with salsa on top

Toast with peanut butter and banana or jam

Smoothie with raw egg (fresh), banana, fruit that's around the house, spices you can find and sound appealing

[MissTam]

Grits. Boiled in water with a bit of milk. Butter salt and pepper. Fills you quickly reminds me of my childhood.

[evahanson]

My “depression/student crisis mode meal” is a breakfast burrito, aka egg in a tortilla. If I have salsa in the fridge, great! If I have cheese, even better. If I’m feeling fancy I might even put some taco spice in it. Must be eaten at least an hour later than I planned to eat dinner, and gobbled down in two minutes

[TulipsToKiss]

loved this video so much, my go to depression meals are a whole blue box of mac n cheese (gotta be spirals) or a white chocolate macadamia nut cliff bar.

[joystone]

Quesadillas are my go-to too when my mental health starts faltering. I try to keep a can of black beans on hand so I can add those in--it's an extra step to rinse them, but it tricks my mind into feeling more like I'm 'properly' feeding myself

[AngelaTolsma]

I feel called out. Sitting in my depression blanket, eating a quesadilla (with Wisconsin artisan cheddar because someone else brought me it)

[amischerson]

Rice with a fried egg on top, poke a hole and pour soy sauce on it. I find what you said interesting about the quesadilla being a marker of where your depression was. For me, it was too. Now, I see rice with the fried egg as a start. A start of, yeah you know you needed this and good for your to get some food in. I see it as a base to get towards a path of healing, or even a base to put cucumbers, natto, and seaweed. Thank you for your openness, I felt really heard today.

[GhostsOfThings]

The fact that your main depression meal was cheese and a tortilla, and my main depression meal was cream cheese and a tortilla (with cucumbers if I had them) amuses me. And I know what you mean - I had that cucumbers & cream cheese rolled up in a tortilla as the only meal for way too long at my lowest time, and even though that was a couple years ago I can't bring myself to eat it again. However recently I did buy tortillas again and am making other things with them. Maybe I'll get back there some day.

Perhaps my weirdest depression / safe meal is buttered spaghettini cut up small with processed cheese slices like some kind of weird mac and cheese. It's a combination of a nostalgia and a textural thing I can't help it.

[AmandaMcCarthy]

I’ve been depressed for 13 years, OCD and severely anxious for the past 3, hearing you bring humor and hope to little things such as food and having real struggles that are relatable really helped. But I also never thought about quesadillas in my 13 years

[zofiabochenska]

Cannes corn straight from the can, cold sausages (the kind you use for hot dog, and most of the world heat them up), and a lot of Cheetos. Sometimes a youghurt or a fruit, of a kind which you don't have to cut or anything (grapes are great). For an actual meal - frozen veggies with rice and store bought souce.

[saardienn]

I never clicked on a video faster. I was just having my bowl of ridged salted potato chips with some baby carrots and a cup of ginger tea which is like... my all-time depression meal. salt. grease. some healthy stuff. water that doesn't taste like water and soothes my poor stomach.

also YES to quesadillas. sometimes I cant even bring myself to do the cheese bit (I have to pay attention to when it properly melts!!) and I just put (store bought) guac and salsa on a tortilla and eat that.

my mom is kind enough to give me leftovers almost any time I come over, which is a couple of times a week. I don't care what it is, I will eat it, straight out of the container, standing in front of the open fridge, at a decidedly not appropriate hour for that specific leftover.

Finally, a hand full of nuts. Sometimes I put it in my pocket when I go for my little mental health walk around the block and just eat one nut at a time, like a sad little bird.

[sasham]

Can of tuna, opened and drained. One scoop of mayo stirred directly into the can, a little relish too if there is any. Eaten with a fork. Or possibly on crackers.

[The_SOB_II]

I don't know if it's really the same thing, but I've been eating what I call "bachelor food" a lot lately. After dealing with emotional illness for 16 years, life threw me another curveball and decided that I was going to have fatigue for the rest of my life. So I usually don't Have the energy to cook up something "meaningful" or whatever Dr Phil wants to call it.

I really enjoy pasta with spices and a little oil, so I've eaten a lot of that. Doesn't matter what kind of pasta really, I guess far folly and macaroni work best. I also like to eat bread. Pretty much just bread and water. Sometimes I'll eat half a box of Wheat Things

[andrineslife]

My depression meal is usually rice with peanutbutter and soy sauce, it's creamy, salty and a little sweet and none of it goes bad - I even used to make the rice in the oven in foil trays so I didn't have a single dish to clean. I could totally see myself getting into apple sauce in pouches if I can find some here.

[tamatikentwell]

Tin of chickpeas + spices + lemon juice + olive oil. 2min in microwave if it’s dire, 10min in a saucepan (and then eaten directly from the pan) if you have the wherewithal to stand for that long.

[emilyhunsberger]

Smoothie! Make a big batch once and portion into cups for the rest of the week. Yogurt, frozen fruit, spinach, and honey. Maybe some nuts if you splurged on yourself this week.

I have also lived on chicken nuggets and applesauce for months at a time.

[Ostkupa]

These were at one point I think 90 percent of my meals: Noodles + an egg. Cheese sandwiches + chocolate milk. Pre-made proteinshakes that tastes like said chocolate milk.