Many people battle depression every day. For some, the weight of their thoughts overwhelms them, and they are unable to even get through their daily routine. Others with high-functioning depression still struggle with depressive thoughts but can carry on, with most people never knowing they have a mental illness and that they need to overcome depression.
Depression can affect you mentally, emotionally and physically. Your doctor is the best person to talk with first about your depression and how it may best be treated. They can take your health and lifestyle into account and present the options for treating your depression effectively.
Medication is one option for treating depression, but many anti-depressive medications come with unpleasant side effects that can deter you from using them consistently. Also, medication is usually a long-term commitment, and many people do not want to be on medication for months, years or even the rest of their lives if it isn’t necessary.
There are many ways to overcome your depression naturally and proactively, from changes in lifestyle to counselling and psychotherapy. Read on to learn some of the many ways you can help yourself overcome depression.
Retrain Your Brain
We all experience loss, frustration, sadness and challenges in our lives. For people with depression, though, these experiences can be overwhelming and lasting. They are not the real cause of the depression, though.
Often, the difficulty in overcoming bouts of depression is rooted in how we think about a situation or experience, and that can be changed.
Disobey the “Depression Voice”
When someone is depressed, they are often battered with thoughts of inability, inadequacy and failure. An effective way to combat this voice isn’t to ignore it; instead, you can choose to disobey it. Counter the negative words of that depression voice with positivity, and act on that instead.
Focus on the Good
Depression casts a blue fog over everything. Even the things you used to love to do can seem dull and uninteresting. You can clear that fog by focusing on the good, positive things happening. Like the sunlight piercing through the clouds, a positive outlook and the ability to focus on the good things happening in your life will lift your spirits.
Practice Gratitude
It may be difficult to see all the blessings and goodness in your life when you’re depressed, but appreciating and practising gratitude can truly make you feel better. When you practice gratitude for things in your life, big and small, they help you shift your perspective and see things more realistically. Though times may be difficult, being grateful for the good things in your life will relieve your depression.
Establish Workable Goals
Depression can make you feel overwhelmed. You may find that the goals and dreams you had don’t seem attainable anymore. Don’t give them up! Those goals and dreams are an important part of who you are as a person.
Instead, establish workable goals. Write down all the dreams and goals you have and break them down into smaller steps that are doable on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Tackle one at a time and reward yourself when you succeed. With this approach, not only are you helping ease your depression but you’re also getting closer to the future you desire.
Practice Mindfulness
Worry is a key ingredient in depression. Financial worries, health worries, relationship worries, work worries — they all add up to stress, frustration and depression when they can’t be quickly overcome.
Mindfulness is a mindset that focuses on living in the present moment. It does not exclude the past or future but makes what you’re doing right now your primary focus. When you shift and practice mindfulness, the worries about the future and what could be fade because you are focused on what is happening right now.
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind
What we eat and how we live have a profound effect on our mental state. It is not uncommon for doctors to discover that their patient with depression has a nutritional imbalance or is deep in an unhealthy lifestyle.
Examining your lifestyle, including how much sleep you get, what you eat and how often you exercise, is an important step forward in overcoming your depression.
Learn When to Rest
Sleep is when the body heals and the mind restores. Loss of sleep can affect you in innumerable ways, including exacerbating depression. The length of time you sleep is less important than the overall quality of sleep. The key is to know your body and mind and how they both feel when you do get enough sleep.
Even when you are not actively sleeping, take the time to rest as needed. Relaxing allows the body to be at ease and the mind to relax, and even 20-30 minutes of awake rest can rejuvenate you and alleviate worry and depressed feelings.
Healthy Eating
Doctors and nutritionists have told us all along that when you eat better, you feel better, and they were right. The quality and quantity of food you take in have a direct effect on your body chemistry, hormones and energy levels, all of which are connected to your depression.
Low levels of hormones and lack of vitamins, minerals and amino acids can make it harder to overcome depression, and these deficiencies can even be the cause of your depression. It is important to talk with your doctor about any gaps in your nutrition and how diet and even supplements may help fill in those gaps and relieve your depression symptoms.
Get Moving
When we exercise, our body releases chemicals called endorphins into the blood. Endorphins are “feel good” chemicals that literally make you feel happier. Exercise also causes the release of a neurotransmitter in the brain called anandamide, which is sometimes referred to as the “bliss compound”. So, if you want to lift your spirits and feel better, get moving.
Reward Yourself
Healthy lifestyles do not mean that you only eat ‘good’ food, avoid alcohol and exercise frequently. Healthy lifestyles are about balance. When you are trying to overcome depression, it is important to hang on to some “vices” if they are only enjoyed in moderation.
Get Social
When you feel depressed, you likely want to stay indoors, away from people and places, and simply enjoy the quiet. This is not a good way to overcome depression, though.
Make Plans
Even if you don’t feel like you want to go and do anything, when you plan to attend a concert or see an opera or even just go for coffee with a friend, you give yourself something to look forward to, something to focus on. That is a valuable way to help overcome a depressive state.
Don’t Isolate
Depression makes you feel tired, drawn, haggard, ugly — the list goes on. The last thing you want to do is go out and see people. Isolation, however, is not a solution. It’s hard to be depressed when you’re having fun and feeling distracted by others, and making a determined effort to socialize can lift you out of a depressed funk quickly.
Find Your Calm
Stress, worry and anxiety are a part of depression. Each person has them to some degree, and they combine to influence the severity of your depression and hamper your ability to overcome it. Sometimes, the key to overcoming your depression is to address the symptoms in various ways.
Meditate
Whether you approach it from a holistic or spiritual angle, meditation stands out as one of the most effective ways to calm the mind and soothe the body. Meditation may be guided by an expert or self-guided. When practising meditation, you may focus on:
- Enabling physical healing.
- Calming the mind.
- Processing emotions.
- Focusing energy.
To get started here is some meditation music we thought you might enjoy. Click here
Get Creative
Sometimes the best way to release anxiety and stress is to literally release them. Creative activities, from painting and crafting to carpentry and gardening, all allow your mind to relax and rest while you focus your thoughts and energy on creating.
Creative endeavours are also a wonderful way to release specific worries and stressors. Many famous artists who suffered from depression, most notably Vincent Van Gogh, used art to release their feelings of melancholy and anxiety.
Journal
Writing is another creative activity that can help you through your depression. While creative writing can be cleansing, journaling is one of the most valuable ways to write yourself free of many issues. In fact, many counsellors and psychotherapists utilize journaling as a part of their treatment plans for many mental health issues, including depression.
You may keep a journal to write down your feelings and thoughts, good or bad. This allows you to free them from your mind and pursue some closure by putting it all on paper. It can even be helpful and encouraging to go back and re-read entries to see how you have grown and progressed as you overcome your depression.
Spend Time in Nature
There is a good reason that so many meditative and rejuvenating retreats take place in nature. The grounding effect, when surrounded by nature, is notable, and even spending a short time walking in the fresh air can have a profound effect on your mood and well-being.
What’s another reason time in nature is helpful for depression? Vitamin D. Sunlight converts an inactive compound in your skin into active vitamin D. While you still need to obtain vitamin D from your food and even supplements, the effect of sunlight on your mood and outlook goes far beyond seasonal sadness and depression.
Overcoming Depression with Therapy
Talking to someone about your depression is one of the most helpful and proactive things you can do. There are many different types of depression counselling options, all with specific approaches, so you can find a course of therapy that works best for you.
Choosing to pursue therapy for your depression is a clear signal that you are taking responsible steps toward healing. At Energetics Institute in Perth, WA, we offer a wide range of specialized counselling and psychotherapy services to treat depression.
Energetics Institute Therapy Tools
At Energetics Institute, we blend various therapy tools and techniques to create an individual holistic plan for our clients.
Psychotherapy
Talking it out is sometimes the best treatment for depression and many other mental health issues. Psychotherapy allows you to identify unhealthy behaviours and thoughts and work on ways to change those behaviours and thoughts, thereby alleviating the negative emotional consequences.
- Body psychotherapy is a form of somatic psychotherapy that focuses on how the body and mind interact when repressed emotions are released and muscle tension eases.
- Reichian characterology is a diagnostic tool which explains how your childhood experience from birth to puberty can effect your mental, emotional and body development.
- Sensorimotor psychotherapy is a form of body talk therapy in which you learn how to release unresolved trauma in a passive way. By tracking your emotional, mental and physical states, you can find safe ways to resolve those past traumas.
Breathwork
Breathwork is all about relaxation. By changing the way that you breathe, you can help your body and mind more deeply relax and rest, which is important for the maintenance of optimum overall health.
Coaching
Coaching is an outcome-focused talk therapy that addresses specific problems and seeks to bring you clarity and understanding of your issues and, ultimately, yourself.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) effectively treats a variety of mood disorders, including depression. The heart of CBT is challenging the negative patterns of thought that you have created about yourself.
Core Energetics
Integrating body and mind, emotions and spirit, Core Energetics focuses on removing blocks from your personality, allowing your core energy to move freely through your entire body.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy deals with the past and your ‘inner child’. Many adult issues can be traced back to conditioning and experiences from childhood, and this type of therapy brings those unconscious aspects forward so they may be resolved.
Voice Dialogue
Voice Dialogue is a therapy modality that increases self-awareness through identifying and experiencing different aspects of yourself.
Learn More About Energetics Institute
Located in Inglewood, Perth, Energetics Institute uses a blend of counselling, psychotherapy, and body psychotherapy to help clients resolve emotional issues and find solutions to problems within their relationships.
If you would like more information about our family-run practice or would like to schedule an appointment, call us on 0414 897024.
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