Welcome to another exciting edition of Citizen comfort’s Issue of the Week. Last week we started the discussion of depression and how it affects your day-to-day activities. We noted that depression is different from being sad. According to our report, it’s normal to receive shocks (economic, social, political, geographical and relationship shocks) in life, but it’s abnormal to feel hopeless and helpless about the shocks.
In the report, we revealed that depression makes you feel lifeless and empty, makes you feel unwanted, makes you feel like “living in a black hole”, makes you overwhelmed with the feeling of ‘Armageddon is in the corner’; a feeling of impending doom. The report added that depression is more than just sadness in response to life’s struggles and setbacks, depression changes how you think, feel, and function in daily activities.
We also discussed some self-help techniques that you may apply to overcome depressive moods. To catch up, visit https://www.citizencomfort.com/2021/09/14/warning-signs-of-depression/
If you have applied the self -help techniques to deal with your depression and it seems they are not working, don’t despair. Just before you see a professional, try these other types of self-help techniques listed below.
In order to overcome depression, you have to do things that relax and energize you. Experts say the following may be helpful.
–Spend some time in nature.
–List what you like about yourself.
–Read a good book.
–Watch a funny movie or TV show.
–Take a long, hot bath.
–Take care of a few small tasks.
–Listen to music.
–Do something spontaneous.
–Eat a healthy anti-depression diet
You are what you eat. reduce your intakes of foods that can adversely affect your brain and mood, such as caffeine, alcohol, trans fats and foods with high levels of chemical preservatives or hormones
-Don’t skip meals. Long interval in-between meals can make you feel irritable and tired, so aim to eat something at least every three to four hours.
–Minimize sugar and refined carbs. Experts say they lower mood and energy.
–Boost your B vitamins. Deficiencies in B vitamins such as folic acid and B-12 can trigger depression. Take B-complex vitamin supplement or eat more citrus fruit, leafy greens, beans, chicken, and eggs.
-Eat mood stabilizing foods. These are food rich in omega-3 fatty acids. They include fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, tuna, and some cold-water fish oil supplements.
–Get sunlight to boost your serotonin levels. Experts say you should expose yourself to 15 minutes sunlight daily
Fight the negative thinking
Depression will make you feel negative about virtually everything. But you know what, you are not helpless. Brace up to challenge those negative thoughts. Experts say negative thoughts are cognitive distortions. They are typical symptoms of depression; irrational and pessimistic. To overcome cognitive distortions, you must identify and challenge the negative thoughts and replace them with a more balanced way of thinking such as.
- Instead of brooding over your poor economy, look outside the window and see people whose cases are worse than yours
- Instead of jumping into conclusion that your spouse is having affair with another person you saw him/her with, what if they are just friends
- Don’t overgeneralize life circumstances. Overgeneralize keeps you from growing as one negative experience can keep you from having positive ones in the same area.
It is important you question your negative thoughts. Is there truth to what you are thinking? Is there another way to look at your current situation? How would a positive person look at this situation?
As you subject your negative thinking to a more balanced cross-examination, you may be surprised at how quickly the negative thoughts crumble. In the process, you’ll develop a more balanced perspective and help to relieve your depression.
Go Spiritual
Though am not ecclesiastic enough to broach a spiritual discuss, but I know that nothing is by any means too big for God to handle. And that includes your depressive bouts.
The parable of the prodigal son in the Holy bible is a reference on how to turn depressive situations around. The prodigal son could have gone bonker in his situation, or kill himself, if he had not snapped himself out of the depressive condition. Don’t be hopeless or helpless in any situation, take the matter before God.
Seek Professional Help
In case you still can’t snap yourself out of depression with these self-help techniques and your spirit faith can’t free you from depression, blame yourself not, as blaming will add more to the depression. Now is the time to visit the mental health facilities.
And it’s the most difficult part of the recovery process. Like John Hamm said in his revelation on how he overcame bouts of depression, “we live in a world where to admit anything negative about yourself is seen as weakness when it’s actually a strength”. Again, for fear of stigmatization, discrimination and other social factors, depression victims, especially in Nigeria are, afraid to speak out.
But when you can’t fight depression by yourself, and you want to overcome it before deteriorating to serious health issues and of course suicide, you need to seek professional help for the appropriate therapy and medications. You are not going to be the first to speak out on your depression and certainly you wouldn’t be the last.
See some notable people who spoke out on how they fought and won depression
Source: Dare Agbeluyi, Chief Publisher
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