Strategies to Battle the BluesDepression is a part of everyone's life at some point. Determining how to handle it is the first step in overcoming it. If these don't seem helpful to you or your depression is debilitating, please seek professional help.
1. Acknowledge and accept your feelings. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”—James Baldwn |
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-don’t panic
-don’t think of yourself as flawed
-don’t let your pride keep you from addressing the issue
Sometimes it’s OK just to be sad.
2. Resist analyzing your feelings
-don’t search endlessly for the source of the depression
-don’t ruminate and “beat yourself up” over situations
Sometimes you don’t need to intensely examine why
3. “act as if”
-do something, no matter how small
-affirmations
Fake it till you make it!!
4. Structure your time
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring.”—Bill
Copeland
“Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take many small steps.”—Helmut Schmidt
-set realistic goals
-let other people know so they can encourage you
5. Accentuate the positive.
“Ten thousand bad traits cannot make a single good one any the less.”—Robert Louis Stevenson
-distract yourself from negativity
-learn to identify your own negative messages
6. Mind your body
“A lot of what passes for depression these days is nothing more than a body saying it needs work.”—Geoffrey Norman
-pay attention to your blood sugar level
-caffeine creates an artificial high
-practice proper nutrition
-EXERCISE!
7. Laugh and Relax!
“Time spend laughing is time spent with the gods.”—Japanese proverb
“Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.”—Arnold H. Glasow
“He does not seem to me to be free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”—Cicero
-watch comedies
-Listen to comedians
-be around a funny friend
-go somewhere and do nothing
-meditate
-do self hypnosis
-learn biofeedback
-try yoga
8. be good to yourself
“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cure for depression.”—Dodie Smith
-eat enjoyable foods that are good for you
-get sufficient rest and exercise
-avoid doing self destructive behaviors
-make time for peace in your daily life
-identify small things you can do daily to make yourself feel special (sit in the morning sunshine and drink coffee, take a long bath, pick wildflowers or buy some at the grocery store)
-monitor what you’re being exposed to
-volunteer
-find your spirituality
-learn something new
-engage in a creative task every day
A thought on rest:
“We are part of the universe and our lives are governed by the same laws that govern the rest of the cosmos. We need to keep a balance as does the rest of nature. We take time to grow and time to heal. Our lives will always move in cycles because that is the universal law. We need time to rest and recuperate, as do all other living things.
Nature always takes her time. Great oaks don’t become great overnight. They also lose a lot of leaves, branches and bark in the process of becoming great. Diamonds aren’t formed in a week either. Everything of value, of beauty, of majesty in the universe took time to become so.
So it will be with our development…..
Nature has a rest from time to time. The soil needs a rest, bears and snakes hibernate; even fish sleep with their eyes open. We can learn from this approach. We need to take time out; to rest, to review, to ponder, to be.
If you decide that you are indispensable and that you must always have your nose to the grindstone, then you can live your life like that. Your belief that you can never rest will be your reality until such time as you decide differently.
When we do make rest a part of our lifestyle, like the soil we become so much more productive when we work…Rohn says, ‘Make rest a necessity, not an objective!’”—Andrew Matthews in Being Happy!
If you are dealing with depression or someone who has depression, knowledge is power. This information is intended as a resource. If symptoms are severe or persistent, seek professional help.
-don’t think of yourself as flawed
-don’t let your pride keep you from addressing the issue
Sometimes it’s OK just to be sad.
2. Resist analyzing your feelings
-don’t search endlessly for the source of the depression
-don’t ruminate and “beat yourself up” over situations
Sometimes you don’t need to intensely examine why
3. “act as if”
-do something, no matter how small
-affirmations
Fake it till you make it!!
4. Structure your time
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring.”—Bill
Copeland
“Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take many small steps.”—Helmut Schmidt
-set realistic goals
-let other people know so they can encourage you
5. Accentuate the positive.
“Ten thousand bad traits cannot make a single good one any the less.”—Robert Louis Stevenson
-distract yourself from negativity
-learn to identify your own negative messages
6. Mind your body
“A lot of what passes for depression these days is nothing more than a body saying it needs work.”—Geoffrey Norman
-pay attention to your blood sugar level
-caffeine creates an artificial high
-practice proper nutrition
-EXERCISE!
7. Laugh and Relax!
“Time spend laughing is time spent with the gods.”—Japanese proverb
“Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.”—Arnold H. Glasow
“He does not seem to me to be free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”—Cicero
-watch comedies
-Listen to comedians
-be around a funny friend
-go somewhere and do nothing
-meditate
-do self hypnosis
-learn biofeedback
-try yoga
8. be good to yourself
“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cure for depression.”—Dodie Smith
-eat enjoyable foods that are good for you
-get sufficient rest and exercise
-avoid doing self destructive behaviors
-make time for peace in your daily life
-identify small things you can do daily to make yourself feel special (sit in the morning sunshine and drink coffee, take a long bath, pick wildflowers or buy some at the grocery store)
-monitor what you’re being exposed to
-volunteer
-find your spirituality
-learn something new
-engage in a creative task every day
A thought on rest:
“We are part of the universe and our lives are governed by the same laws that govern the rest of the cosmos. We need to keep a balance as does the rest of nature. We take time to grow and time to heal. Our lives will always move in cycles because that is the universal law. We need time to rest and recuperate, as do all other living things.
Nature always takes her time. Great oaks don’t become great overnight. They also lose a lot of leaves, branches and bark in the process of becoming great. Diamonds aren’t formed in a week either. Everything of value, of beauty, of majesty in the universe took time to become so.
So it will be with our development…..
Nature has a rest from time to time. The soil needs a rest, bears and snakes hibernate; even fish sleep with their eyes open. We can learn from this approach. We need to take time out; to rest, to review, to ponder, to be.
If you decide that you are indispensable and that you must always have your nose to the grindstone, then you can live your life like that. Your belief that you can never rest will be your reality until such time as you decide differently.
When we do make rest a part of our lifestyle, like the soil we become so much more productive when we work…Rohn says, ‘Make rest a necessity, not an objective!’”—Andrew Matthews in Being Happy!
If you are dealing with depression or someone who has depression, knowledge is power. This information is intended as a resource. If symptoms are severe or persistent, seek professional help.
