Best Strategies to Fight Off Darkness of Depression
Everyone has experienced sadness, but when you are depressed, those feelings of intense sadness seem never-ending. Clinical depression is a devastating mental condition that impacts almost 20 million teenagers and adults in the United States. Depression can make everyday chores feel extremely challenging, and people with depression struggle to find the motivation to carry out simple tasks. Depressed people often isolate themselves and struggle to participate in social situations.
Depression is a complex mental illness that can be overwhelming and severely distressing. It affects not only your mood but also the ability to think rationally and function properly. It muffles the sensations of happiness and pleasure, stifles ingenuity and creativity, and immobilizes you from integrating into society. It often results in deep emotional turmoil, not just for the person going through it but also for their close ones.
Depression can often lead to intrusive, suicidal thoughts. Coping with these intrusive thoughts can be hard and painful; the emotional pain may seem excruciating and permanent. While reaching out for help may seem like a daunting task, this pain can be overcome with time and support, and these intense suicidal feelings will pass.
There are a great number of people who know exactly how depression plays out and what it entails. With the coronavirus pandemic last year, the United States observed a historic rise in anxiety and depression rates. Due to the pandemic, the uncertainty and isolation resulted in a surge of mental illness rates throughout the country, pushing America further into a mental health crisis.
While there is no single, all-encompassing treatment for depression, there are comprehensive and effective treatment options out there, one of which is certain to help you heal and get back on your feet. Moreover, there are small steps you can take that can improve your overall health and emotional well-being.
Read on to learn ways to integrate these strategies into your everyday life in ways that work for you:
1. Accepting where you are
Depression is ubiquitous. It affects millions of people, including people you may know or are close with. You may not be aware that they face similar struggles and obstacles and combat similar feelings.
Every day with depression is different. Some days might be hard, but some days may also be better than others. It is vital to come to terms with where you stand and accepting that you are bound to improve your health; this is not where you’ll always stand.
This is key to getting better and alleviating your condition, to be considerate towards yourself as you are healing, and to accept what you are going through.
2. Allowing yourself to be sad, but wallowing constructively
Ignoring and repressing your feelings and emotions may seem like an effective way to handle your negative thoughts and feelings, but it can have devastating effects on your mental health. This technique can ultimately reset any progress you have made.
Emotions and feelings are powerful, and their emotions govern most people. By simply acknowledging how you feel and letting yourself feel sad can be a big step towards working through your negative emotions and improving your mental health.
If you are going through a down day, accept it and let yourself have it, but don’t stay there forever. Consider working through the emotions you are experiencing by writing them down. Then, when you feel better, write down that as well. Seeing how your negative feelings lift and these depressive emotions come and go can help you understand the impermanence of depression.
3. Know that today’s feelings and thoughts don’t determine tomorrow
It is important to know that today’s feelings, thoughts, and emotions don’t determine tomorrow. If you were unable to accomplish your goals today or carry out many tasks, don’t forget that tomorrow is a new day and you haven’t lost time. You will still have the opportunity to try again to achieve the goals tomorrow. Be kind to yourself and what you are going through, and remember that some days will be hard, but you will also have some good days. Try to be hopeful for new opportunities tomorrow may hold.
4. Recognize and assess the individual parts instead of making generalizations
When you are struggling with depression, it can be hard to focus on your day’s good aspects over the bad ones. Depression can imbue your recollections with negative thoughts and feelings, and you may find yourself fixating on an individual bad experience instead of the many good ones. This may result in a deeper feeling of hopelessness.
This overgeneralization can be harmful, so try to avoid generalizing your experiences. Try to recognize the positive aspects of the negative ones. Consider writing or journaling your experiences, what you liked about the day, and what made you happy. Then write about what you disliked and what went wrong. This can direct your thoughts and energy towards positive and happy experiences instead of wallowing negative emotions from bad experiences.
5. Turning off the inner “depressive voice”
Everyone with depression has certainly heard the inner voice that keeps going over everything that’s wrong with you and your life, how it’s pointless to try at all when nothing goes well. You believe everything this voice says is ultimately true. This voice may talk you out of self-help.
However, it is not your true voice, and if you learn to identify it, you can understand when it occurs and substitute it with more positive and realistic thoughts. Combat this irrational, depressive voice with rational and logical thoughts. Remember that these negative thoughts don’t dominate your life.
If you think attending an event may not be worth the effort, consider how you might be right, but it would be better than spending another night in. By directing your thoughts in this way, you will slowly realize that your inner depressive thoughts and voice are not rational or realistic.
6. Take small steps by setting goals that are achievable
A lengthy to-do list with big objectives may seem unrealistic, and you may feel like giving up before even trying to achieve them. Rather than formulating massive goals, take your time by setting a smaller list of more achievable goals. For instance, setting goals like making your bed, taking the trash out, and washing the dishes instead of bigger goals like cleaning out the entire house.
Achieving these smaller goals can feel extremely rewarding and motivating. When you achieve a small goal, set your eyes on another small goal, and then another one. This way, you can get enough motivation to get work done instead of a long, daunting list of tasks.
7. Reward yourself
When you achieve a goal, try to recognize your efforts as it can offer you instant gratification. Remember that every goal is important and deserves to be recognized.
While you may lack the energy to actually celebrate your accomplishments extravagantly, simply recognizing your efforts can go a long way. It can be extremely overpowering against the overwhelming weight of depressive and negative thoughts.
Having the gratifying recollection of your effort and completing a task may help give more weightage to the positive feelings and emotions over negative ones.
8. Creating a schedule
When you feel like you have been losing a grasp on the things and events in your life, creating a schedule that you can easily follow through may help with these feelings. By following and sticking to a structured routine, you may find that it dispels those negative feelings and makes you feel more in control of your life.
You don’t have to map out these activities or the entire day, and you can choose to focus on creating a schedule at times you feel most disoriented and disorganized. This can help keep your scattered thoughts and feelings at bay.
You could also choose to focus on the time right before going to bed or perhaps on the weekends when you have more time. Setting a gentle schedule can help feeling more organised and keep your daily pace up.
9. Spending time doing something you enjoy
Dealing with depression can leave you exhausted and push you to be so tired you don’t feel like doing anything else. Try to muster up some energy and direct it towards something you enjoy doing- something that can be relaxing and cathartic. It could be watching a movie, going for a walk, riding a bicycle, or playing an instrument.
Doing activities like this can help improve your mood significantly and can feel energizing, which may help improve your overall well-being.
10. Listening to music
Research suggests that listening to music works great to improve your mood significantly. Listening to music, you enjoy can fill you with joy, which can help alleviate your depressive symptoms. It can also assist in fortifying your receptors to perceive and experience positive emotions.
This works especially well if you are listening to musical performance of a group, like a band or orchestra.
11. Spending time outside and getting sufficient exposure to light
Evidently, spending time outside in a natural setting may also reap benefits for your mental condition. Particularly, exposure to natural light from the sun has been shown to boost your mood and increase serotonin levels, which can alleviate your depressive symptoms. Activities like taking a walk in the park, going for a hike, or going for a picnic outside can significantly improve your mood.
12. Spending time with close ones
Participating in social situations and spending time with someone you love can be hard when you are depressed. But if you do your best to spend time with your friends and family, you may experience a significant improvement in your mood. If spending time face-to-face is hard, you can also connect with your loved ones over a call or Skype.
Remember that your friends and family care about you, and they care about spending time with you.
13. Trying new things
Life with depression can feel monotonous, and doing the same thing every day can feel boring, but you are using the same brain parts. By trying something entirely new, you can challenge your brain, which can be fun and assist in alleviating your emotions and mood. You can also take this time to try new things with your friends, strengthening your relationships and making you feel significantly better.
You can try many new activities, like learning an instrument, playing a new sport, learning a language, and so much more, the possibilities are endless.
14. Try meditation to lower your stress
Intense stress and anxiety can aggravate your depressive symptoms. Consider trying meditation to feel more relaxed, calm your thoughts, and lower your stress. Meditation can help consolidate your thoughts and emotions and make you feel more organized and balanced. Similar activities like yoga, deep breathing may also help to improve your overall physical and emotional well-being. Journaling and writing down your thoughts works great if you feel overwhelmed by stress; it can help you rationalize your thoughts and feelings and temporarily improve your mood.
15. Your diet can impact the way you feel
Research has shown that what you eat and drink throughout the day can significantly affect your mood and how you feel. Although there is no standardized diet that will cure your depression, increasing the consumption of vegetables, lean meats, and protein-filled lentils can give you more energy and make you feel healthier.
Avoid stimulants like caffeine, sugar, and foods high in preservatives. You should also try avoiding consumption of depressants like alcohol.
16. Try to get some form of physical activity or exercise
When you are feeling exhausted and tired, exercise may seem like an incredibly daunting task. However, you may find that exercise and physical activity are powerful factors that can significantly alleviate your depressive symptoms. In fact, research has shown the exercise is as effective as medication at alleviating depression in some people. It can also help prevent future spirals and relapse into depression.
If you are not up for it, simply going down to the park or taking a walk around your neighborhood can also prove to be beneficial. You can take your time and slowly increase the amount of physical activity you are doing, nothing too strenuous.
17. Make sure you are getting sufficient sleep
When you are experiencing depression, you may also experience sleep disturbances. Sleep problems are common in depression. Some nights you may not be able to sleep at all, and some nights you may sleep excessively. Both are common in depressed people. Not getting sufficient sleep can also aggravate your symptoms.
Try to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Aim to get into a healthy sleep schedule. You can do this by going to sleep and waking up at the same time every single day. Avoid consuming stimulants like caffeine and excessive sugar near bedtime. You may find that getting sufficient sleep every night can help you feel more energized throughout the day and improve your condition.
18. Practicing gratitude for the good things in life
When you find something that makes you happy or does something you enjoy, it is sure to acknowledge it and express your gratitude towards it. You may find that it helps improve your mental health by directing your focus and energy towards the positive things in your life that make you happy.
Taking the time to write down and journal these things and express your gratitude can also prove beneficial and make you feel better. It can show you that life is full of great things that are worth experiencing and living for.
19. Consider professional treatment
Although your depression may talk you out of seeking professional help, speaking to a professional about what you are experiencing may make you feel significantly better. Talking your experiences through and venting to a therapist or other specialist may make you feel better. You can consult a general practitioner to refer you to a psychologist and therapist.
A specialist can help determine the course of action that you require and formulate an effective treatment personalized for you that caters to your needs. This may include medication and traditional therapy, or other options like music or art therapy, guided meditation, and acupuncture.
Now we have learnt the Best Strategies to Fight Off Darkness of Depression, Finding the right treatment and what works best for you may take time, so try to be open to different treatment options so that you can narrow down the most effective plan for you. In the meantime, you can incorporate these strategies into your life slowly but surely. You will find that when you’re in a slump, doing small activities may seem incredibly hard but will assist in alleviating your depressive symptoms and improve your overall emotional well-being. Most importantly, be kind to yourself, and remember, every day is a fresh start.
also read: Why do I suck at everything? How to overcome the negative feeling
