Depression can sometimes feel like a state of paralysis, one you cannot seem to get out of at the moment. Sometimes it makes you feel helpless and other times it may feel like you are in a never-ending sad mood. While depression may seem like something you won’t ever get out of; we are here to tell you that it isn’t impossible. Sure, having depression isn’t easy but there are many people who have come out of it, all you need is to understand your state and know what makes it feel better in those moments. Before we delve any further, let’s understand what depression really is.
Let’s Understand Depression
Depression is a mental state that causes people to lose interest in regular activities and affects their mood, sleeping patterns, fatigue, ability to concentrate, and recurring bad thoughts. Many people who struggle with depression also have thoughts of death. The state of Depression can be triggered by an external situation or predisposition. Some research also says that depression can be genetic. If you still don’t understand depression, here’s a great video for you:
While people with depression can learn to deal with it and feel better, there is no sure shot cure to depression. There are just techniques that can help reduce the emotional paralysis state. The biggest thing with depression is to understand what you are going through and keep a track of the habits that make you feel like that and control them. While you can’t stop depression, you can break the cycle of doing things that cause the same.
Symptoms of Depression
People who have depression generally face multiple of the symptoms stated below:
- Issues with sleep- People who have depression either sleep too much or have trouble getting any sleep.
- Mood swings- They can be in a cheery mood one second and in a sad mood the next second. People who have depression generally don’t know when their mood will just switch.
- Low motivation- Not having any motivation can be a huge symptom of depression. These people can have a sudden change in interests meaning something they loved no longer brings them joy or motivated them.
- Low self-worth- Guilt, low self-image, and self-worth can be a symptom as well
- Low energy
- Not being able to concentrate
- Low appetite- Changing appetite or a drastic reduction in appetite
- Suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm
- Anxiety or panic attacks- Severe anxiety or sudden panic attacks
Ways to Overcoming Depression
Depression is a topic that has been widely researched, by mental health experts and psychologists. The first thing a lot of these people stress on, is the fact that overcoming depression is possible. When you are in a state like that, it is necessary to believe that things will get better, otherwise, you will just end up in a downward spiral.
Over the years, with the help of hit and trial, we know there are a few different techniques and tools that can help people with depression. These techniques can help people cope with depression but also make sure a depressive episode doesn’t arise. It’s necessary to understand that you most probably won’t be motivated to do any of these, as depression sucks the motivation out of you. But once you continue following these, you will ultimately see a change in your mindset and your response to depression. Let’s go through some of these tools/ techniques and see how they can help someone with depression.
1. Exercise–
Physical activity is great for releasing tension and releasing good hormones in your body. It can act as a coping mechanism, distraction from depressive thoughts, and provide temporary relief. It also makes you feel good about your body.
2. Taking Some Time out to Enjoy Yourself-
Finding things that bring you joy is one of the ways of defeating depression. Look out for things that make you happy, improve your relationships and make your insides dance. For some people, it means taking a bubble bath, for others running or watching feel-good movies. When you make time to enjoy yourself, you give depression less time to creep back into your life.
3. Work Towards your Goals–
Depression can make you feel like you are not good at anything in this life. This means you need to find things you love, keep pursuing them and get better at them. You need to find goals you want to achieve and start working towards them. Now the biggest problem with goals is that people set goals that are unreasonable and unrealistic and then feel bad when they are not able to accomplish them. A great way to deal with this dilemma is setting goals that are realistic, achievable, and in your own control. Once you have done that, you need to break down your goals into simpler action steps. Once you do that, you’ll start seeing considerable results. And when you fail, remember to use that as a learning opportunity to see where you went wrong and make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again. This change in attitude from a judgmental one to a proactive one may take some practice, but it’s necessary.
4. Schedule Activities-
If you sit around at home, you just end up giving your brain more time to overthink and find more reasons to be sad and depressed. A great way to get rid of thoughts of depression is by giving your mind something to think about. Try planning activities for yourself and spend more time outdoors. Give yourself some time to pick up hobbies each day. It’s also helpful to have a journal where you jot down all the things you are going to do and plan ahead for activities.
5. Create a Routine for Yourself-
Depression sometimes hampers your ability to do daily tasks and feel in control. Having a routine means you feel more in control of your day and your schedule. You can fix a time for waking up and going to sleep and then schedule regular activities that depression may otherwise stop you from doing.
6. Regular Sleep-
When you feel overwhelmed and not in control, being able to control one part of your life may seem relaxing; even if it’s sleep. Try sleeping at the same time every day and give your mind enough rest. If you nurture your brain, it will do the same for you. Many people try solving their problems late at night when their brains are half asleep and then wonder why they can’t do anything properly. Instead, give your brain some rest and then try again the next day.
7. Limiting Alcohol Intake-
This is another step you can take towards overcoming depression. Consuming alcohol may feel good in the short term, but in the long term, it causes dependency and bad mood swings. Many people with depression or anxiety like alcohol because it reduces inhibitions and alleviates boredom but these fixes are only temporary and may lead to unwanted consequences. Alcohol can also alter mood for the worse and make you think, even more, leading to depressive episodes.
8. Get in some Sunshine-
Sunlight provides a boost in serotonin levels which is always good for the body. Many results prove that people who go out in the sun frequently have a better mood and general outlook towards life. It’s important for people with depression to step out of their homes, get in some sunlight and see people during the day.
9. Focus on the Right People-
Relationships are extremely important in our lives. It is necessary to surround yourself with people who actually care about you and want you to excel in life. You should interact with people who bring you up and avoid people who talk about negative things and try to bring you down. It’s also necessary to interact with people and let them know how you are feeling so you don’t feel isolated
10. Taking the Right Medication-
A change in lifestyle and attitude can do a lot for depression, but at the heart of it, depression still causes chemical changes in your body. Medications like antidepressants that are diagnosed by a doctor can thus help reduce symptoms of a depressive episode or shorten their duration. Although antidepressants can be helpful in diminishing symptoms, it is still necessary to inculcate healthy life habits. You don’t want to stay depressed your whole life or become prey to regular antidepressant needs.
Apart from the things mentioned above, it can also be helpful to read some books on the topic. Being familiar with depression will help you know what’s going on inside your brain and you’ll be able to associate reasoning with the same. If you are interested, here are some book recommendations from us: The Mindful Way Through Depression, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, Undoing Depression: What Therapy Doesn’t Teach You and Medication Can’t Give You. A great book we’ve been liking recently is Don’t F*cking Panic which is a sort of interactive workbook that can be beneficial for anyone who deals with depression/anxiety. The book contains activities and tools that can be helpful for you.
Treatment Of Depression
Other than incorporating healthy life habits, people who have depression also need treatment like you would with a physical problem. The best way to deal with depression is by incorporating therapy along with the healthy habits mentioned above. It can be helpful to understand what triggered our depression. Once you find out what triggered your brain and led to depression you may start understanding your mind and the reason why you behave in a certain way. Therapy is not just good for depression but also for general mental well-being. Some common therapy methods used in depression treatment include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Interpersonal therapy
- Psychodynamic therapy
These methods help people understand the root cause of their depression, triggers for the same, and what to do in order to stay healthy. Some methods used include:
Talk therapy- This is a method of behavioral therapy that lets people see their life through someone else’s lens. The therapist would ideally talk about you and objectively understand why you behave in a certain way and give you a chance to talk through your issues without the fear of being judged. Sometimes depressed people fail to understand why they behave in a certain way, and this method helps them understand the reason for the same and makes them feel less alone.
Positive self-talk- When you constantly say bad things about yourself or have a negative thought, you start believing what you say and start forming a poor judgment of yourself. Positive self-talk helps people change how they see themselves and makes them more appreciative of themselves. The main rule of this method is to not say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t want anyone else to say about your best friend.
Group Therapy- Group therapy can be a great space for understanding others and knowing that someone else is also going through the same things as you.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy- This is a non-invasive treatment that directs magnetic energy pulses at different regions of your brain that are involved in mood-altering. These energy pulses can stimulate your brain cells and improve communication between different parts of your brain and can mellow down the symptoms of depression. This treatment is not a long-term solution but it can provide enough improvement that will make you feel better and more enthusiastic towards trying healthy lifestyle choices mentioned above.
Depression is diagnosable and treatable. While it may feel like the worst thing, knowing you can overcome it is half the battle. Because it is not something that is openly talked about many times, people end up suffering in silence. This will only make you isolate yourself more and you will dig an even deeper hole for yourself. Depression is a complicated illness and generally affects people differently. Hence, the only way to overcome it is by talking about it openly and finding a solution that works for you. Successfully managing and getting over depression takes prolonged therapy and positive choices and a need to look at it from all angles.