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The following is a how-to guide with an accompanying mind map that explains step-by-step how to beat depression.
They in fact do have ample control over how they feel, however they are just more prone to suffer depression because they naturally experience lower levels of energy, suffer from poor concentration, make slow and agitated movements, and are often very difficult to cheer up. This form of depression is known as Melancholic depression. It is a more severe form of depression that is often treated with antidepressants and other drugs. However, the good news is that only a very small percentage of people are diagnosed with this form of depression. The vast majority of depression cases are due to psychological causes, and can often be linked to stressful events in a persons life. Likewise depression can be triggered when dealing with some form of loss, or when indulging in limiting thinking patterns that tend to overemphasize the negatives and diminish the positives. This non-melancholic type of depression can also result from having inflexible rules and can often be linked to social pressures. For instance, not meeting social expectations coupled together with unhelpful thinking habits, can very often lead to states of depression.
Symptoms of Depression
Depression is often diagnosed only after you have experienced the following symptoms for a period of two or more weeks in succession. If its been less then two weeks, then clinically you are probably just going through a period of sadness, grief, a severe case of disappointment, etc. These are often temporary emotional experiences that you will tend to cycle in and out of throughout your life. Here are a list of symptoms of non-melancholic depression. Persistent feelings of disappointment. Lack of concentration. Constantly feeling unmotivated. High levels of irritability and stress. Persistent lack of energy. Low self-esteem and self-confidence. Severe mood swings. Feeling socially isolated. A sense of hopelessness. Negative thinking manifesting in a dismal outlook on life. In isolation, many of these symptoms do not signify that you are depressed. However, if you are experiencing most of these symptoms for an extended period of two or more weeks, then its very possible you might have a mild form of depression on your hands. This is nothing to be worried about, as long as you recognize this and youre honest with your assessment. You can certainly make positive changes almost immediately to break out of this limiting stateof-mind. However, you need to fully accept your circumstances and take responsibility for making these changes.
Self-Reflection Questions
Before breaking down several depression-busting strategies, take some time to think about your depression and ask yourself the following set of questions: How does my life change when Im depressed? How does my view of life and my view of myself change when Im depressed? What do I do or dont do when Im feeling depressed? What do other people notice about me when Im feeling depressed? These questions will help you to better understand your behavioral tendencies and thought patterns when in a depressed state. The insights you gain here will be valuable towards helping you make positive decisions moving forward that will allow you to work your way into a more empowering and resourceful state-of-mind.
Things to do Immediately
Its important to work through the following suggestions and guidelines the moment you recognize you are feeling depressed. These guidelines will help you immediately improve your state-of-mind, while also providing you with a strong core of foundational techniques you can work through that will help build more emotional resilience in the long-term.
state-of-mind. All of these adjustments you make in combination will immediately put you in a more positive frame-of-mind.
depression.
Get Social
While feeling depressed its natural to avoid social situations and just sit and wallow in your own problems and negative feelings. However, this is rarely if ever helpful. Instead, make an effort to connect with other people on a social level. You could for instance chat with a close friend in person or over the telephone, or share your thoughts with someone online, or maybe even volunteer your time to help someone or to a good cause. Any one of these options will be helpful. The worst thing you can do is bottle-up your emotions inside and isolate yourself from the world. While youre at it, be sure to connect with positive, happy and inspiring people. There is no point talking with someone who is negative and pessimistic most of the time. They might in fact make you feel even more miserable. Avoid these kinds of people like the plague, and connect instead with people who have the ability to lift you emotionally beyond your current state-of-mind.
empowering ways. Play some inspiring music in the background and allow the music to move you into a better place. Once there, get yourself in front of a mirror and talk to yourself in an encouraging way. The physical act of looking at yourself in the mirror is powerful because its probably the last thing you want to do when in a depressed state. However, it is one of the most important things you can do as long as you approach the process with a positive frame-of-mind. And if after all this you are still struggling and find it difficult to find the courage to talk to yourself in a more positive way, then make an effort to find some gratitude. Ask yourself about all the things you are grateful for in the moment. However, dont just stop there. Find out why you are grateful for these things in order to discover how that really makes you feel. If anything, gratitude will help to refocus your mind on the things that matter most.
changes in your life, and preventing you from moving forward. Have a think about what specifically you believe about yourself and about your circumstances that has led to your current state-of-mind. Ask yourself: What do I believe about my circumstances? What do I believe about myself? What do I believe about myself in relation to these circumstances? What do I believe about myself in terms of my ability to effectively work through these circumstances successfully? Your beliefs will continue to hold you back unless you commit yourself to doing something about them. However, eliminating these beliefs requires you work on weakening the strong-hold they have over you. One way to do this is to challenge these beliefs by asking questions that will hopefully make you doubt the validity of each belief. Ask yourself: What experiences do I have that show that this belief is not completely true all the time? I realize Im feeling depressed about this situation, however what if my interpretation of this situation is completely wrong? How else could I potentially interpret this situation? What else could I believe about this situation? How could this be of value? What do other people believe about this situation? What if I believed? How would that change how I feel about this situation? Behavioral experiments begin with What if scenarios. What if I believe? How will that change how I feel about things? Ask yourself What if questions and then run a variety of scenarios in your mind to determine what could be the best course of action moving forward.
When in a depressed state, its easy to overlook your external appearance. And yet how you look on the surface can affect how you feel about yourself on the inside. Of course that shouldnt be the case, but it is at least for most people. For this very reason its absolutely paramount that you look outside yourself. Take time to groom yourself to improve how you look. Also pamper yourself to improve how you feel. In combination looking and feeling better will help put you in a more positive state-ofmind that will then allow you to work through your core beliefs and self-talk far more effectively.
Instead, in a depressed state all you tend to see is further problems, anguish and misery. For this very reason, its absolutely paramount that you take time to visualize the desired life that you would like to create. Visualize the things you would like to do, be, have and possibly achieve. This might be difficult, however it is necessary. Its after all almost impossible to feel depressed about the future if theres something worthwhile waiting for you around the corner. If visualizing your future in a positive way is difficult to do, then take some time to reflect back on your past successes. Think about all your past successes, achievements and accomplishments. Consider how you managed to create these incredible experiences. Once youre there and living through each of these moments, consider how you might be able to take the lessons you learned from these accomplishments and apply them to your present circumstances and future desired outcomes. Both strategies bring you to the same point, where youre visualizing a desired future free from depression. This will hopefully provide you with the impetus you need to begin making positive changes in your life today.
Avoid Stressors
Depression and stress are difficult to deal with individually. In combination they can be lethal. For this very reason its absolutely paramount that you avoid aggravating your stress-levels throughout the day. This might of course mean cutting down on your commitments and responsibilities; it might mean simplifying your life, tasks and projects; it might mean delegating more responsibility to others; it might mean changing your schedule or routine; it might also mean staying away from very intense people who tend to drain you emotionally. Some things you might of course not be able to avoid. In such instances, you will need to learn more about how to manage stress more effectively throughout your day.
Avoid Addictions
Most addictions provide you with an escape from your emotions and circumstances. On the surface and in the short-term, this works out quite well. When youre distracted youre no longer feeling depressed. However, in the long-run they are rarely helpful and can actually hurt you. Addictions are a form of distraction. They never deal with the cause of your problems and/or emotions, but rather provide you with a temporary relief. Its like taking a painkiller for a headache. The problem is still there. Of course you cant feel it, but you havent really fixed the underlying cause for your headache which could very well be stress related. Its therefore absolutely paramount that you avoid addictions at all costs and instead find more effective ways to handle your depression.
Expressing yourself creatively might include taking art, dance or drama classes, writing short stories or poetry, playing music, etc. The more you allow yourself to let-go and express your creativity, the higher levels of self-control you will have over your emotional tendencies. The activity is not important here. Whats important is your willingness and desire to focus on something that helps unlock your passion and enthusiasm for living once again.
to do, be, have and achieve in your life. You must have inspiring goals with clearly defined deadlines. These are the things that will get you out of bed in the morning, and the things that will encourage you to stay up late at night. And most importantly, these are the things that will keep your spirits high when other things are not working out in your life. In fact, your sense of purpose is the one thing that will give you reason to keep moving forward when everything else seems to be going terribly wrong.
Use Aromatherapy
Have you ever smelt a certain fragrance and found yourself immediately teleported to another place, time or simply another emotional experience? There are certain smells that anchor you to specific emotions. Likewise there are certain smells that have a natural calming effect on the body. Aromatherapy uses essential oils and other aromatic plant compounds which are aimed at improving your health and mood. What this means is that certain smells can in fact be used to awaken very specific emotions that can help to improve your mood throughout the day.
Aromatherapy is a very interesting alternative form of medicine that might be well worth exploring in further detail.
but rather how you respond to what happens that makes all the difference in the end. You are feeling depressed because you have responded to the perceived valleys of your experience in a negative way. Another person might in fact see these valleys as blessings and opportunities. However, you have decided to view and respond to them rather differently. Its your response to what has happened that has made all the difference. Accept the fact that you will experience emotional lows. This is unavoidable. Yet you must also accept that the depths of your emotional experiences are completely in your hands. How deep you go is based on your perspective and how you handle the problems that life throws your way.
In such instances, turn to your spiritual beliefs. Find strength within when you need it most through prayer and meditation. Be open to receiving answers. And most importantly, be willing to let go of everything thats no longer working for you. Open yourself up to receiving open yourself up to a world of unlimited possibilities. If all else fails, your spiritual connection will help see you through lifes most difficult emotional challenges.