Depression can drain your energy, leaving you feeling empty and fatigued. This can make it difficult to muster the strength or desire to seek treatment.
However, there are small steps you can take to help you feel more in control and improve your overall sense of well being. The key to self-treatment for depression is to be open, accepting, and loving toward yourself and what you’re going through. It’s important to accept that where you are right now isn’t where you’ll always be.
Steps you can take to reduce symptoms
1} If you’re having a down day, have it. Let yourself feel the emotions — but don’t stay there. Consider writing or journaling about what you’re experiencing. Journaling is a written record of our thoughts & feelings. The process involves writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t overthink it.
Then, when the feelings lift, write about that, too.
2} Do something you enjoy even if you don’t feel like it. When your feeling down, often the last thing you want to do is to make the effort to get involved in an activity.
Make a list of things that you enjoy doing. Pick one of these activities, even if it is only “short and sweet”, and commit to engaging in it a specified number of days per week, even if it is only once a week if that is all you can do. You can build up your ability to engage in it more frequently as you begin to feel better. For best results, be realistic with yourself about what you are really willing to commit to doing.
3} Practice Gratitude Research shows gratitude can have lasting positive effects on your overall mental health. A helpful exercise is to make it a habit at the end of each day to think back about your day and what you were grateful for. Was there an event that happened or someone you dealt with or even a loved one or friend that you can think about for whom you are grateful for? Look for even the little things that made a difference. I
4} Challenge negative thoughts When someone is depressed, they often engage in negative thinking. Thoughts such as, “I’m a failure,” “No one likes me,” or “I’ll always feel this way,” are common in a depressed person’s mind. Negative thoughts like these become an unconscious habit, reinforcing the feeling of depression.
We often accept our thoughts as real without challenging them. A simple solution is challenging negative thoughts with positive thinking. For example, a challenge to the idea “I’ll always feel this way.” might be, “How do I know that?” or by thinking of a time when you did feel differently about life.
When to Seek Professional Help
Everyone feels low and depressed every now and then. How then, are you supposed to know when your depressive symptoms have reached a point when professional help would be a good idea? Here’s a good rule of thumb: If your depressed mood lasts for more than two weeks, or is seriously interfering with your ability to function at work, with your family, and in your social life, or is causing you to contemplate or plan to commit suicide, it would be a very good idea for you to consult with a mental health professional as soon as possible.
Photo credit: Unsplash – Paola Chaaya
Your partner in restoring inner peace,
Christine Reid, MSW, LCSW