I call the whole approach preemptive depression, which is an original term according to Google. If I don't let myself get too high, the fall won't be so bad. So I think about all of my weaknesses and flaws and everything else I've been avoiding, like reality, and it usually does the trick. The danger with preemptive depression, as with any preemptive measure, is there might not really be anything there to preempt. And so you've gone and wasted a fresh batch of happiness and brought yourself down for nothing, which is a shame, considering that life is perfectly capable of bringing you down all by itself. Of course, there are a couple of different ways to pull yourself out of depression, preemptive or otherwise. One way is to actually address the cause, find real solutions and face your fears. The other way is to watch The O.C. (Chrismukkah!), read Ellen DeGeneres' My Point... And I Do Have One and then write a whole bunch of nonsense in a journal, making at least one person, maybe even yourself, feel better.