You’re exploring your base, maybe checking on your assembly lines or your berry farms, and you notice a Pal just... sitting there. They aren't moving. There’s a red status icon popping up. You hover over them and see that dreaded word: Depressed. It’s annoying. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mood killer when your favorite Anubis or Lyleen decides they're done with the world. If you want to know how to cure depression Palworld style, you have to realize this isn't just a "wait it out" situation. Your Pals won't just get better because you petted them once.
Pals get Depressed (and develop other nasty ailments like Fractures or Weakened states) when their Sanity (SAN) hits rock bottom. It usually happens because you’re working them too hard, they’re starving, or their living conditions are basically a nightmare. If you’ve got them on a "Brutal" work setting at the Monitoring Stand, you’re basically asking for a mental health crisis in your base.
The Medicine Cabinet: High-Grade Medical Supplies
Let’s get straight to the point. You can't fix this with a regular Berry or even a nice Omelet. To how to cure depression Palworld mechanics require a specific item: High-Grade Medical Supplies.
Don't confuse these with the "Low-Grade" stuff that fixes colds or the standard "Medical Supplies" used for fractures. Depression is the "heavy duty" debuff. You have two real ways to get your hands on the cure. You can craft it, or you can be lazy and buy it. Both are valid.
To craft High-Grade Medical Supplies, you need a Medieval Medicine Patching Bench (unlocked at Level 12) or the later Electric Medicine Bench. The recipe isn't exactly cheap early on. You’ll need 5 Refined Ingots, 5 Horns, and 2 Bones. If you’re mid-game, you’ve probably got chests full of Horns and Bones from hunting Paladius or just farming low-level Mammorests, but those Refined Ingots require a Smelter and some Coal.
Once you have the medicine, you have to actually administer it. You can't just drop it on the floor.
Walk up to the Depressed Pal. Open the command menu (usually '4' on PC or the radial menu on controller). Select "Feed." Then, pick the High-Grade Medical Supplies from your inventory. The Pal will do a little eating animation, the red text will vanish, and they’ll get back to work. Or, if they are currently in your party, just open your inventory, click the medicine, and click the Pal.
Buying the Cure (The Gold Shortcut)
Sometimes crafting is a hassle. Honestly, I usually just buy the meds. If you head to the Small Settlement (the one near the starting area with the Wandering Merchant in red) or the Dune Shelter in the desert, the merchants there usually stock High-Grade Medical Supplies for 3,000 Gold.
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3,000 Gold sounds like a lot when you're starting out. It’s not.
Sell some Precious Dragon Scales or those random rubies you find in dungeons. One trip to a dungeon usually nets you enough loot to buy a stack of five cures. It’s way faster than waiting for your slow-working Mossanda to craft meds at the bench for ten minutes.
Why Your Pals Are Depressed in the First Place
Fixing the problem is one thing. Preventing it is the real trick. If you find yourself constantly searching for how to cure depression Palworld fixes, your base management is likely broken.
The biggest culprit? The Monitoring Stand.
If you set your base to "Hard Working" or "Brutal," your Pals' SAN will drain faster than water through a sieve. Sure, they produce more Ingots, but they’ll be depressed within two day-cycles. It’s rarely worth it. Keep it on "Normal" unless you have a very specific reason to crunch.
Bad pathing is another silent killer.
Pals get stuck. A lot. If a Pal gets stuck on top of a silo or behind a storage chest, they can’t reach their food basket. When they can’t eat, their hunger goes to zero. When hunger is at zero, SAN plummets. When SAN hits zero, they get Depressed.
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If you see a Pal "shaking" or glitching out in a corner, pick them up and throw them back at the Palbox to reset them. Better yet, build your base with lots of open space. Avoid tight corridors. Large Pals like Jormuntide are notorious for getting stuck on a single torch or a thin staircase, leading to an immediate spiral into depression.
Beds and Hot Springs: The Mental Health Toolkit
You wouldn't want to sleep on the cold dirt. Neither do your Pals.
Basic Straw Pal Beds are okay for the beginning, but as soon as you can, upgrade to the Fluffy Pal Bed. It restores SAN much faster during sleep. For the massive Pals, you eventually need the Large Pal Bed, or they won't even fit, and they’ll wake up grumpy and stressed.
Then there are the Hot Springs.
The High-Quality Hot Spring (unlocked at Level 31) is a massive upgrade over the basic one. It’s not just decorative. Pals will periodically path to the spring when their SAN starts to dip. If you have 15-20 Pals in a base, one spring isn't enough. Build two or three. It prevents the "Depressed" status from ever triggering because they'll self-regulate their stress before it becomes a clinical issue.
Better Food, Better Mood
Stop feeding them just Raw Berries. Seriously.
Raw Berries provide 0 SAN recovery. If your Pals only eat berries, they stay at whatever SAN level they currently have. If they have a bad day, they stay stressed.
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Start cooking. Even basic Baked Berries provide a tiny bit of SAN. Jam-Filled Buns are the mid-game meta—they’re easy to make (Flour + Berries) and provide a decent SAN boost. If you really want happy workers, go for Salads (Lettuce + Tomatoes). Salads increase Work Speed and keep SAN high. High-tier foods like Pizza are even better, though they require a more complex farm setup.
A Pal with a full belly of Pizza almost never gets Depressed.
The "Palbox Reset" Myth
You might hear people say you can cure depression by just putting the Pal back in the Palbox.
That’s a lie.
Putting a Depressed Pal in the Palbox stops the status from getting worse, and it might stop them from being incapacitated, but the "Depressed" tag will still be there when you pull them back out. You must use the High-Grade Medical Supplies. There is no shortcut. The Palbox is a freezer, not a hospital.
However, if you notice a Pal’s SAN is getting low (around 30 or 40), putting them in the Palbox for a while will let them slowly recover SAN over time, which prevents the depression from ever happening. It’s a proactive move. Watch your UI. If you see the "Low SAN" warning, rotate that Pal out for a "rest day" in the box and bring in a sub.
Actionable Steps for a Stress-Free Base
To keep your base running without constant medical intervention, follow this checklist.
- Check your Monitoring Stand. Ensure it's on "Normal" or even "Relaxed" if you're going to be AFK for a long time.
- Upgrade your food. Swap out the feed box contents from Raw Berries to Jam-Filled Buns or Salads immediately.
- Build more Hot Springs. One spring per 5-7 Pals is a good rule of thumb to ensure everyone gets a turn to soak.
- Buy a stack of High-Grade Medical Supplies. Keep at least 5 in a chest near your Palbox so you don't have to go hunting for bones when a Pal breaks down.
- Fix your architecture. Delete any walls or decorations that Pals are constantly pathing into.
- Use the "Reset" trick. If a Pal looks like they aren't moving, pick them up and throw them at their bed or the Palbox to refresh their AI.
Depression in Palworld is basically a "neglect" mechanic. If you give them good beds, decent food, and a place to soak, you'll rarely see that red text. When you do, just bite the bullet, spend the gold at the Small Settlement, and get your workforce back on its feet.
Keep an eye on the "Sanity" bar in the Pal menu. It’s the blue circle next to their health. If that circle is empty, your medical bill is about to go up. Keep it full, and your base will run like a well-oiled machine.