Practical Ways to Manage Depression
Life with depression can feel like an exhausting uphill climb every day. Stigmas and lack of understanding can make managing your symptoms even more difficult. So often, you’ll hear outsider input to “just get over it” or take medication.
If that’s not where you’re currently at at the moment, thankfully, there are other options available to you for managing your depression. Coping strategies aren’t always a one-size-fits-all, so test things out and see what works for you. This will provide you with some practical ways to start.
Go For a Walk
Depression can create some pretty strong feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Getting up and out of bed can be a struggle and a hurdle all in one.
When you’re feeling down, exercise is likely the last thing you want to do. Physical activity may just be the best thing for you! Exercise has been proven to be as effective as medication in relieving symptoms of depression for some people.
If you’re feeling down with low energy, try to push yourself to go for a simple walk around the block.
Keep a Journal
Managing depression symptoms can be done by writing about what you’re feeling and experiencing. Opening up about your thoughts and putting them down on paper is a good way to relieve yourself.
This is a perfect space to be extremely open, honest, and raw about what is going on. You may find your writing takes you to new places and can help release old, suppressed emotions. Once you let some of that go, you may be surprised by how much better you feel.
Allow yourself a few minutes each day and get into a routine of journaling some things down. If you struggle to get things out, get yourself a guided journal with prompts to fuel some writing.
Spend Time with Friends
When dealing with depression, you may find yourself prone to withdraw from social activities and your loved ones. On a normal day, social interaction is an important part of the human experience. On days when your depression is worse, they are even more important.
Your friends and family can be a great source to keep you from downward spiraling into worsening depressed thoughts. Hang out at a friend’s house, go to a movie, go shopping, or grab a meal at a restaurant. The place doesn’t necessarily matter, but the company you keep will help lift your spirits.
Make a Schedule and Stick to It
A schedule and a routine are important when dealing with depression. One of the side effects is a lack of motivation. When you don’t have a schedule to keep, getting into a rut and being unproductive with your time is very easy.
When you have work or school activities, it’s easy to build a routine around them. More importantly, find something you enjoy doing and schedule some time each day for doing that activity. Set a goal to keep as much of a balance as possible.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Proper amounts of rest and recovery while sleeping are a must-have for combating depression. Sleep disturbances are a common symptom of depression, so some effort may need to be made in this regard.
Too much sleep, likely from low motivation and energy, isn’t a good thing. Too little sleep from too much on your mind at night will make you feel run down and less likely to want to participate in activity.
Create a routine for sleeping and set yourself up with a cozy environment to promote productive sleep.
Avoid Alcohol
While a drink or two may sound like a good idea to take some pressure off the situation, it isn’t going to help in the long run. It could actually have a counterproductive effect on your symptoms. So, if you find yourself turning to alcohol to manage your mood, think again.
If you’re struggling to manage your depression, contact us to discuss depression therapy to control and overcome your symptoms.