Depression is a very serious problem that can negatively impact your quality of life.
Depression can strike at any time in life, and it can be easy to overlook the problem if you’re trying to balance the rest of your life – kids, school, work, family, and the like.
In reality, the most important thing that you should be doing is working on healing your depression.
Once you get depression out of the way, other aspects of your life will improve significantly.
Unfortunately, a lot of people simply aren’t doing enough for their depression.
Despite the fact that depression is quite common, it takes a great deal of dedication to alleviate the problem.
If you really want to change your depression for the better, here are some things you should be doing.
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Therapy
Therapy is one of the most important tactics that you can use to help beat your depression.
Don’t let any fears or stigma prevent you from seeking therapy – therapists and counselors are licensed professionals who have literally dedicated their lives to helping people struggling with problems like depression.
Once you’ve gotten over the initial hurdle of approaching a therapist, you’ll find that they can provide you with innumerable tools and techniques that can help you battle your depression.
Therapist can:
- help you identify any triggers, situations, or events that lead to you having depressive outbreaks so that you can avoid these things
- provide you with mental tools to help you manage better in situations when you are feeling depressed
- help you identify the bright side of things and help you treat your depression as a learning experience instead of something ‘bad’.
Cast away any notions of being seated on a couch and having someone ask you, repeatedly, “how does that make you feel?”
Therapy shouldn’t really be like that.
In fact, there are many things therapists wish people would know before their first session.
A good therapist is really just someone to talk to, who can listen to your problems and help you identify solutions.
Now, it’s understandable that many people simply don’t have access or the money for therapy.
However, a costly mistake is that most people simply give up there.
On the contrary! Get creative and start looking for alternatives.
For example, if you’re not able to access a therapist, there are online therapy sites like Better Help that can help you reach an affordable therapist.
If you’re weary of talking to a therapist online (as anyone would rightly be), read some of the outstanding things that people have said about them.
Mindfulness
You don’t often see a depressed Buddhist.
One of the reasons for this is because Buddhists, as well as many others, are dutiful practitioners of mindfulness.
Mindfulness is an ancient technique that has just as much usefulness in today’s modern world.
Mindfulness can help you avoid reacting to your depression, and can help you generate a state of mind that’s relatively free from emotional turmoil.
By practicing breathwork and mindfulness meditation, you will become able to approach your life in the moment.
This means that when upsetting feelings like sadness or depression enter your bubble, you will be able to recognize them for what they are instead of letting them grab hold of you.
Except in the cases of very severe clinical depression, the real problem lies in whether or not we let our emotions seize us and take control.
Mindfulness is a great way to help you maintain control over your emotions and your life.
Eat Healthier
Schools tend to focus more on the physical health benefits of eating well, but a healthy diet is just as important for managing our mental health.
Our brains and bodies are an infinitely complex system of networks and systems.
These systems require that we provide them with certain nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, so that they can function properly.
If we don’t get these nutrients, the systems will fall out of balance.
Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes is important for addressing all aspects of your physical and mental health.
However, some nutrients target the brain more so than others.
A deficiency in the following nutrients could potentially lead to depression:
The B Complex
The B complex vitamins are all heavily involved in the functioning of our nervous system and our brains.
Without the B complex vitamins, our brain will be unable to send messages properly, making it seem slower and less effective.
This can manifest as depression, cognitive slowness (‘brain fog’) and memory problems.
Vitamin D
Seasonal depressive disorder is an annual issue that many people experience if they live in regions that don’t see much sunlight during the winter months.
This is at least partly because the body can’t absorb vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to depression.
It’s worth talking to a doctor or a nutritionist to see if you have any deficiencies that you could correct by improving your diet.