If you've been clinically depressed and/or diagnosed with depression by a medical professional, here are 5 natural ways to help cope with depression.
Depression is a treatable illness that can be coped with everything that you do. There will be hard days, exceptionally hard days, and some ok days. Before we begin with our top list of coping with depression, please make sure you consult with your MD and/or a medical, mental health professional to ensure you seek proper assistance and help.
Go here if you need additional information regarding depression and call the hotline number immediately if you are in danger of harming yourself.
“...make sure you consult with your MD and/or a medical, mental health professional to ensure you seek proper assistance ...”
Mindfulness has been taking off for the last 5 years. If you aren't familiar with it, I will post a blog about this separately. An easy way to swallow this topic is to notice everything you do with intention, and in a non-judgmental way. For example, you may find when you're driving you go on auto-pilot, heading to your destination without any sense of what's happening around you. The music drones out your thoughts, or your own thoughts of things to do drone out what's currently around you.
What's effective about Mindfulness is its ability to focus on the present; what you are doing at this very moment (like reading this blog post). You utilize your senses around you to help ground you and stay in the present. Coping with depression often deals with an internal struggle that cycles within yourself. When you use Mindfulness you utilize "the now." For example, when driving to the store, you put your window down and smell the air. At the red light, you identify the colors of the cars around you. You feel your weight press against the seat. You use slow, intentional breathing to calm yourself. Incidentally, Mindfulness also treats anxiety very well.
This may not be novel but you are doing two major things. 1) Socializing increases engagement with the person you are with and 2) You're obtaining not only exercise but vitamin D, naturally known to reduce levels of depression. Research has shown that socializing with peers not only helps contribute to longer life but also reduce stress in your life. If there's a topic that both of you passionately discuss and debate, you may not realize that you stopped thinking about your depression for that 15 minutes, which is does show real progress.
Click here regarding scientific study on walking and depression
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues that afflicts millions of Americans everyday. Roughty 16 million Americans are affected. (ADAA 2016)
The best people who can talk about depression are the people who deal with it everyday. Blogging or journaling privately helps keep track of your emotions everyday. This log can help you determine patterns in your life, triggers, or things that happened before it happens. You may be able to see something in yourself because you wrote it down. Additionally, there's a connection you receive with the community who is dealing with it by creating forums and discussion boards, and you can inspire and help others cope because we're all on the same boat.
Turns out that if you eat bad, you feel bad. Easy old saying. If you have depression, you know your chemical imbalance can make this highly susceptible to feeling low. If you can incorporate as much vegetables into your diet (it really doesn't have to be salads all day, every day LONG), you help reduce any amounts of triggers or feelings of sadness. Any ways to contribute to helping your body who is already feeling imbalanced will help the overall fight. Click on the pic on specific vegetables you can eat.
When I worked with my clients, I found that when we sat down and did a day by day of their schedule for the following week, more than 50% of them saw improvement in their attitude and energy. Keeping a routine schedule with regular wake up times (sleep hygiene is vitally important especially if you are clinically depressed) having well rounded meals, and sleeping at a regular sleep schedule, increased their engagement with others around them and found more meaning and purpose in their lives. Especially when there's those most difficult mornings, they pushed themselves through, showing strength and endurance.
Closing Thoughts
Work on the here and now by using Mindfulness
Exercise at least 3x a week with a friend
Utilize a routine schedule
Sleep consistently at night
For more information on Self-Care
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