We've all been there. Whether due to a particularly bad break-up, a death in the family, or just a general feeling of malaise: You're in a funk and it's incredibly difficult to shake the feeling of sadness no matter how many scoops of ice cream you consume. Usually it's a great idea to get out with your friends and have a little talk therapy.

While it's true that there are some things that a night out with friends can cure, other times it's deeper than that. Of course when you're in the middle of it, it can be difficult to figure out if it's time to hit the couch, or head out for ladies night.

Here are four signs that you need to head to a therapist, and let your friends go back to their day jobs.

Those of us who are always looking around for the key to happiness and good health (I'm sure it's around here somewhere ...) might want to try to stop focusing on what's missing from our lives and start focusing on all the great things we do have.

The key to a more upbeat outlook and a healthier you just might be ... gratitude.

Studies have shown that expressing gratitude can have a major positive effect on not only our moods, but also our physical health and the well-being of our relationships. Plus, research has indicated that people who regularly express gratitude about their own lives tend to help other people with their problems more. Inspiringly, the good will you extend to yourself just spreads.

When someone in their 20s is diagnosed with cancer, it's very sad and wrong. When two people from the same family are both diagnosed within hours of one another, it's a near-tragedy. And yet for two sisters in the UK, that is exactly what happened.

Leanne Barber, 29, was diagnosed with leukemia. Two days later (48 hours), her sister Hayley Todd, 22, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the blood. The cancers weren't related and doctors were baffled. 

Though the two sisters often couldn't help one another since they were both so sick, the fact that they knew they weren't alone did help in the hard times. Both sisters are now (miraculously) finished with treatment and have been given the all-clear. Hayley said:

Mothers-in-Law.

It's one of the most complicated relationships I know. Dealing with your own mother can be hard enough, but a mother who didn't raise you? One who you don't necessarily love? One who views you as competition? That can be torture.

If you are a MIL, here are some tips to help you peacefully co-exist with your precious one's chosen mate. Truly: We want to like you. We want to have a decent relationship with you, really we do.

Help us help you, won't you?

Okay ladies, it's time to complete that annual rite of passage called spring cleaning. But this year, I'm going to clean more than just my house. I'm taking a fresh look at my marriage, getting the cobwebs out, and figuring out what I need to work on.

I got started last weekend on both the house and the marriage. Cleaning out the house gave me such physical gratification; having a well-organized, scrubbed down pantry and no clutter in my kitchen clutter drawer. Cleaning the other, my marriage, gave me physical gratification as well. But more importantly, it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you're on the same page as your partner. Even in the same paragraph. But that takes some attention to detail from time to time.

So put on your non-latex relationship gloves and let's get started:

I have always been petrified of cruises. Being in the middle of the ocean without any land for miles, the lack of laws, the Titanic -- none of it is appealing to me. My husband and family have brought up going on one numerous times, but I simply can't do it. And now, after learning about Janet Richardson, I'm really never going.

Janet Richardson, a grandmother of eight, recently was on a cruise along the coast of Norway with her husband when she suddenly started feeling unwell. After spending a few hours in the cruise hospital, the captain thought it would be best if she was taken somewhere on land, so he radioed for a rescue boat. Fair enough.

Well, it turns out the rescue boat was actually more of an un-rescue boat. Because when the squad was transferring Janet from the ship to the boat, they dropped her in the freezing Arctic. While her husband looked on.

Even after starring in Knight and Day opposite Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz is still the coolest actress around. From confessing to her love of watching porn to her ability to act like one of the guys and still be sexy. So I’m really looking forward to seeing her and co-star/ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake in the movie Bad Teacher coming out in June.

The trailer for the movie is raunchy and laugh out loud funny. Just my sense of humor. And the pairing up of Timberlake and Diaz is genius. The chemistry, the history, whew. Diaz has been singing Timberlake's praises, saying that, “We wanted the best person for the job, and Justin was that person. He's such a great comedian.”

The couple, who broke up in 2007 after being together for four years, also have a raunchy sex scene in the movie. I wonder how Timberlake's now ex-girlfriend Jessica Biel and Diaz's boyfriend Alex Rodriguez felt about that.

Ashley JuddIn case you think those talented Judds are a bunch of gorgeous women who have always had it all, then you might want to hear about Ashley Judd's new shocking tell-all memoir All That Is Bitter & Sweet, which reveals quite the opposite.

I have heard, through interviews with the Judds over the years, that the early years for their family were tough and included divorce, poverty, and lots of moving about; however, the details being released from Ashley Judd's new book tell an even darker story -- but one that Ashley manages to mold into something beautiful and inspiring today.