In many ways depression is a lot like diabetes. Though you can administer insulin alone to a diabetic, combining the medication with positive lifestyle changes makes treatment twice as effective. If a diabetic takes their insulin sporadically, continues eating a diet heavy in sugar and gets no exercise, how effective will the insulin be? An improved diet and exercise will not only decrease the reliance on insulin and help stabilize the blood sugar; it will also decrease the debilitating symptoms of the disease and allow the patient to participate more fully in their own recovery.
Likewise, antidepressants may decrease some of the symptoms of depression and may lift a person’s mood a bit. But if they take their antidepressants sporadically, do not eat well, get no exercise, sit in a dark house and do not interact with anyone, they are doing things that not only exacerbate the depression, but make it harder for the medication to do its job.
The tips listed below will help lift your mood with or without medication. However, they must be done consistently and on a daily basis in order to be the most effective.
- Diet. Eating a lot of simple sugars and carbs cause your body to be hit with a lot of instant energy, which feels when you are depressed. But when they wear off you crash. This roller coaster of high energy, then crashing will not help the depression. A balanced, healthy diet with complex carbs, quality protein, fruits and vegetables and plenty of water will give your body the nutrients it needs to feel healthier. It will also provide the building blocks for the neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, which your brain need to feel better.
- Exercise. Research has shown that just 30 minutes of exercise everyday helps depression. You don’t have to become a gym rat. Just a 30 minute walk everyday will help. Lift some weights, practice martial arts, dance to your iPod, shoot some hoops, anything which gets the blood flowing and the body moving.
- Sunshine. Hopefully you live somewhere there is adequate sunshine. Research has shown that exposure to sunlight for about 30 minutes a day can help with depression. Even if you’re too tired to move, sit out on the patio instead of a dark room. Every little bit helps.
- Check your thinking.
A lot of people with depression often find their thoughts are very negative. Editing these thinking patterns can help a lot with the hopelessness of depression. Many people find it helpful to keep a journal, either on paper or on their phone. Staring back at your thoughts in black and white will illuminate what is going on up there and allow you to make changes to your thought patterns. This is an extremely important part of fighting depression. Where your thoughts lead, your emotions will follow. - Read about Learned Helplessness
It’s a way of thinking I frequently find in my clients with depression. Not always, but often. If that is a problem for you there is a simple solution, Learned Optimism. This may sound like a real Pollyanna approach, but it’s not. It’s very effective and you can can practice it yourself. This handout shows the differences in the styles of thinking. This sounds really simple, but it’s actually very powerful if you work at it. - Schedule your day.
Depression tends to sap our energy and kill our motivation. We end up sitting around all day and accomplishing nothing. There is also a tendency to isolate and vegetate. When we do this, we feel even worse because we have lost yet another day and accomplished nothing. Develop a schedule that requires that you to: 1) accomplish at least one task, even if it is minor and 2) get out of the house at least one time per day. - Schedule something fun or pleasant to do each day.
When depressed we are often low on dopamine and serotonin. Doing things which are pleasant or fun increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin and lift our mood. Americans tend to be very task oriented and often view “fun” as frivolous and optional. Also, when we are depressed and the housework is backed up, we haven’t paid the bills this month, and we are behind in our jobs, scheduling something fun seems to be a luxury we can’t afford. Fun also takes energy. However, a brain is like a bank account. If you don’t put something in you can’t make withdrawals. Schedule something that rejuvenates you. Make a deposit in your neurotransmitter account. Increase the neurotransmitter levels and can use those increased levels to clean the house, pay the bills, and catch up at work. - Socialize, even if it kills you.
Depression causes us to isolate and withdraw. Force yourself to go outside and to be around at least one person. The interaction will feed your mind and help you fend off the depression. - Check your relationships.
Take a very careful evaluation of who is in your life. Are you surrounded by people who nurture and care for you? Or are you surrounded by people who are a constant drain, people who create a lot of drama, people who are constantly negative? - Check your media.
Is your music bright, energetic, inspiring? Or sad and depressing? Be aware of the movies you watch, the websites you hang out on, the people you follow on Facebook and Twitter, the books you read. All of that is input to your brain and you want to be make conscious choices about what you are exposing your mind to. - Check your environment.
Is it dark and dirty? Is it bright, clean and uplifting? It’s really, really hard to clean house when you’re depressed, but break it into little chores of 15 minutes and try to take it on. The environment you spend a lot of time in affects your mood. - Have compassion for yourself. A lot of people who are depressed berate themselves for being “lazy” or not “getting over it”. This is the opposite of what you need. If you are already feeling depressed, try to have some compassion for yourself and do something to comfort yourself instead of beating yourself up. Have a nice cup of hot chocolate, read a really good book, have a hot soak in the tub. Be kind to yourself. You don’t need any more negativity in your life, especially the self-inflicted type.
- Avoid alcohol and drug use
Alcohol and many drugs typically thought of as “downers” (opiates, benzodiazepines, etc.) act as depressants, meaning they not only exacerbate depression, but may be the cause of it. Other drugs typically thought of as “uppers” (cocaine, speed, etc.) are often used by people struggling with depression to temporarily lift their mood. However, these drugs often act by dumping all of the neurotransmitters into the system at one, giving us the “high”, but then leaving our systems totally depleted of neurotransmitters and causing a “crash” that is worse than the depression we began with. It’s best to avoid drug and alcohol use and to develop more healthy ways of lifting our mood. - Learn How to Stop Negative Thoughts
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the primary therapeutic techniques used to treat depression. Why? Because it identifies and corrects cognitive distortions (negative thought patterns) which can exacerbate or cause depression. Most, if not all, people who suffer from depression harbor negative thinking patterns. It’s not clear whether these are a result of the depression or precede it. Either way, eliminating them is crucial to being able to elevate your mood on a permanent basis. This is best done with a therapist who can help you identify and change your own specific thought patterns. Keeping a “thought” journal can also be helpful in identifying negative thought patterns. - Tackle Procrastination
When we are depressed it's easy to say, "I'll worry about that tomorrow." Or “I’ll take care of that when I feel more like doing it.” Yet when tomorrow arrives you will only have piled more work on that day and have made it even harder to face. Also, no one ever “feels like” paying bills or washing dishes. They do these tasks knowing they will feel better once they are done. Learn techniques to break through the urge to procrastinate and you can save yourself from having all the little jobs pile up into big ones. - Get a Handle on Your Household Chores
Your environment affects your mood and living in a messy house is depressing. Developing strategies for getting housework done is crucial to helping alleviate depression. - Consider Getting a Dog
I say “consider” because own a pet is a big responsibility which could last up to 20 years. Proper veterinary care also has to be considered in your budget. However, many of my clients have benefited greatly from having a dog. Owning a dog requires you to get up and walk it a few times a day, which means you get a walk as well. Funny, we won’t walk ourselves, but we will walk a dog. Owning a dog also allows you to go to the dog park, which is a great method of socializing. You don’t have to dress up and the topic of conversation is – your dog – something dog owners love to talk about. - Laugh
Watch a funny movie, call that friend that always keeps you in stitches, or go to a comedy show. Whatever it is that makes you laugh makes it harder to be depressed.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the methods people use to fight a depressed mood. Depression is an insidious disease that can slowly suck the joy out of your life or drive you end it all together. Overcoming depression requires hard work and discipline. It requires a dedication to making serious changes in your lifestyle in order reduce the symptoms. However, the more time and effort you are willing to invest in fighting it, the better your chances are for wresting your life back out of its clutches.