Dealing with sadness

["Hard Tack" Tom]

2 things - 1 question:
How do i deal with this sadness moodle long term? All I've found are books and a couple foods and since neither of those are renewable and my survivor is a depresso espresso 24/7

And 1 suggestion:
I know the game doesnt work like this but if simple things like fishing, harvesting a crop or finding a rare item like a shotgun gave your character a small amount of happiness it would be nice, and realistic (Cause i know when my survivor finds a box of ammo or catches a fish in game, Mr. brain gives me a fat dose of dopamine in real life)

[Radiosity]

Best way is to avoid letting it build to the point of sadness. Being outdoors naturally lowers depression build up, so don't spend too much time inside (unless you have the agoraphobic trait, in which case you'll just have to deal with it and read books/magazines/comics).

Doing stuff like fighting zombies also alleviates depression moodles by ensuring you don't get bored. Also, cook food, most of the recipes have some amount of joy boost that will also help keep it under control.

["Hard Tack" Tom]

so once youve got sadness the only renewable way of lowering it is cooked food?

[CON10PL8.]

For foraging for berries, grab and empty bowl and make fruit salad. Easy +10-20 mood per bowl.

[The early worm deserves the bird]

Originally posted by Annonar:

(Cause i know when my survivor finds a box of ammo or catches a fish in game, Mr. brain gives me a fat dose of dopamine in real life)

TRUTH!

I would suggest for the time being check out some mods. There is a mod that allows you to play video games and that reduces stress and makes you happy. You have to find a console and the games but it's another tool you can use to be happy. It's kinda cool too as when you are using it the mod plays the intro to the games

*Edit also you can take antidepressants takes awhile for them to kick in though. But mechanically speaking sadness only effects how quickly you pack things in and out of your bag. And frankly if you are out looting you probably aren't going to have the sad moodle because zombies will be trying to kill you

[Sick Boy]

Originally posted by Annonar:

I know the game doesnt work like this but if simple things like fishing, harvesting a crop or finding a rare item like a shotgun gave your character a small amount of happiness it would be nice, and realistic (Cause i know when my survivor finds a box of ammo or catches a fish in game, Mr. brain gives me a fat dose of dopamine in real life)

Genuinely a great idea.

[[CT] Forced Jaketh]

Try Bleach

[_TheBunnymaster_]

Early game dropping sadness: occasionally a tick happens while learning something new on TV.
I agree with all comments on boredom tie-ins.
Books lower sadness as well.
Cooking is the best one-shot help for sadness if the food is prepared correctly.
Smoking (with trait) is consistently the close second. Probably the biggest help once you get a nice inventory of ciggies going. Fair warning: go long-term without a smoke and the situation will reverse itself.
Like finding the random stick of butter will help against starvation, a random bottle of orange soda, pop, peanut butter or chocolate will help.

[Concrete Galoshes]

Strawberries give a boost to happiness. I suggest you plant some. You also don't have to replant them after harvest, plus they give buku seeds upon harvest.