Have you ever suffered from depression? It can be quite debilitating, and if not treated, can spiral out of control until you feel like you’ve lost control.
While there are many medical and chemical reasons for depression, there are also other causes, which are 100% within your control, and today I’m going to discuss what you can do.
One thing I should mention is that if you feel as though you’re suffering from depression, it’s extremely important that you seek professional help, whether you choose to consider the ideas I’m putting here, or not. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting the help you need, when you need it.
What I’m going to talk about today will help you to speed up the process to achieve happiness while you’re receiving the appropriate treatment from a qualified professional. These should be considered as ideas to complement the treatment you’re receiving, rather than being the only treatment.
So here goes:
Stop the pity party
I know this sounds harsh, but many of us (myself included) find ourselves in the midst of the “pity party mindset” where we are totally buying into our misery.
“My life sucks”, “I’ll never meet someone”, “I’m useless and can’t lose weight”, are common statements we make during our pity party, and it achieves nothing, except to keep you down in the midst of your inner darkness.
The first step towards stopping the pity party, is to acknowledge that you’re holding one. Sometimes others join you in this party, because as we know, misery loves happiness! For some reason, some people are just drawn to situations and people of misery!
Secondly, just tell yourself to STOP! Stop saying or thinking these negative statements once you’ve become aware of them.
Thirdly, start replacing the negative statements with positive statements. While you’re feeling depressed, you likely won’t believe the positive statements, but say them anyway! Try (and try HARD) to summon up the feelings that would be associated with those positive statements. And repeat this over and over.
Eventually your little pity party will end, and life will start to feel easier.
A few years ago, I had just been dumped yet again, and I was deep in the depths of my pity party. Why couldn’t I find a good man that “stuck”? Why was this dude telling me I was so perfect last week, and this week he’s suddenly “not ready for a relationship”??? What was really going on? What was wrong with me???
So I allowed myself the wallow in my misery for around two days. Then I told myself to snap out of it. I’d done enough crying and beating myself up, so it was time to be happy again, because that felt SOOOO much better! And that’s what I did!
Turns out the dude in question had decided to go back to his ex, but he didn’t know how else to break the news to me. Not only that, but a little over two months later, I met the man of my dreams, so I guess he was just making way for something better!
You are whom you associate with
Who are you surrounding yourself with? What types of people? Are they happy people, or do they all seem depressed?
If you’re feeling depressed and all of your friends are depressed or in the midst of some crisis, I’m guessing that this is not helping your situation.
I’m not going to tell you to dump all of your miserable friends, but what I AM going to tell you to do, is add more friends to your circle – more happy friends! This happiness will gradually start to wear off on you!
Diet, drugs and exercise
What are you putting into your body, and what activities is your body doing?
Diet plays a huge part in both your mental and physical health, so it’s important to ensure you’re receiving the nutrients you need. Talk to your doctor, dietician or nutritionist to ensure you’re eating food that’s good for you and your moods. Where possible avoid alcohol, or at the very least, minimise it – it’s a depressant, so if you’re feeling depressed, this will only send you down further into the spiral of misery. NOT good.
Drugs are an interesting one. Many antidepressants or antianxiety drugs claim to have side effects that may cause depression/anxiety. WHAT THE?? Other drugs also have the potential to cause the same.
My own experience was with birth control: The Implanon rod, and Yaz (Yasmin). Both of these sent me into major depression, and I urge anyone who’s suffering from any type of depression or anxiety to consider whether other drugs they’re taking may be the cause. It’s a scary and likely possibility, and I know first-hand how damaging these drugs can be. Turns out that once I had the rod removed, my happiness returned. Then after being on Yaz for several months, I stopped taking it and spiralled down into a misery tornado, before finally coming out the other side, several months later once the drug was out of my system.
I’m not saying all drugs are bad, but many drugs are causing more harm than good in many cases. Please do your research, and seek the help of a trusted medical professional if planning a change of any sort.
And finally we have exercise. Exercise is one of the best antidepressants there is, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why so many people resist doing it. Time isn’t an excuse, because unless you’re working or sleeping 24 hours a day, there is always time.
Even a 10 minute walk is better than nothing, and doing something every day or at least every second day, will help you more than you know. Also, the more you exercise, the more energy you will have.
Gratitude
I decided to leave the best till last. Using gratitude is life-changing. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. If you can make an effort every single day to come up with at least five things you are truly grateful for, bringing up the feelings of gratitude while you’re saying/thinking of these things, you’re going to completely change your life.
I found myself forgetting to do my gratitude each day – I would get busy and it just wouldn’t happen. So I bought myself a little silver and cubic zirconia ring, and placed it on my right ring finger. Every time I look at that ring or become conscious of it on my finger, I am reminded to come up with things to feel grateful for.
Clearly I’m doing gratitude stuff all day, every day now, because that darn ring keeps reminding me!
I could talk all day about all of the things you can do to deal with sadness and depression, but it is my hope that the topics I’ve talked about today have resonated with you and have put you on a path to eternal happiness!
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