Independent ways of dealing with depression in themselves are able to defeat mild forms of depressive states. In more serious cases, “self-activity” is unacceptable, specialist supervision is necessary, and natural remedies can be a good help for prescribed measures.
Change your lifestyle
While therapy and medications are key methods of managing depression , there are many things you can do on your own without waiting until the need for medication comes along. Changing behavior – physical activity , diet and lifestyle – can be an effective natural way to overcome depression .
The fight against depression is a day-to-day war, not just during the weeks or months when drugs are expected to work. Medicines are medicines, but there are ways to support yourself.
Create a habit
If you have depression , or you have experienced it, you need to prevent the onset or recurrence of such a state. Depression knocks a person out of the usual rhythm of life, deprives him of orientation to such an extent that one day begins to imperceptibly flow into another. And this lack of order, in turn, can only exacerbate depression.
It’s very hard to wake up in the morning and not have the slightest idea of what you’re going to do all day. This is how a person is boiled “in his own juice” in the power of despondency, hopelessness and heavy thoughts.
A developed habit can give a sense of control over what is happening. Psychologists confirm that this helps, and that the lack of a sense of control makes people feel worse.
Lifestyle changes
1. Exercise. Everyone knows that physical activity improves mood. You do not need to run a marathon or exhaust yourself with heavy physical exertion at all – there will be no sense, it will not raise your mood, and maybe even worsen it. It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you choose. These can be specific aerobic exercises that are good for the heart (if, for example, they are recommended by a cardiologist). But a simple half-hour walk for mental health may be enough.
2. Nutrition . There is no special diet or diet for depression , but a basic healthy diet in general provides huge benefits.
Nutrients are a necessary component in the fight against depression . After all, this is a physiological process, similar to healing from a physical injury. Without the right set of nutrients, depression medications won’t work effectively enough.
Attention ! Check with your doctor to see if the medications you are taking may be causing weight gain. If so, special attention will need to be paid to nutrition . If depression is associated with eating disorders (anorexia, compulsive overeating), regular consultations with a specialist are necessary.
3. Sleep . While sleep problems are a symptom of depression , they can also make it worse. Some people with depression sleep too much. But many more depressed people suffer from insomnia. In any case, something needs to be done.
Just getting into bed and trying to force yourself to sleep by counting elephants won’t help. Get into the habit of going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Organize and make healthy sleep a habit .
4. Strive for the goal. Nothing lifts the spirit like achieving a goal. The difficulty lies in setting realistic goals. No need to set global goals or write a list of feats for 20 pages. Start with small, but really doable things, the completion of which will give a feeling of small, but victory, which means a sense of satisfaction.
5. Responsibility. When a person has a heavy heart, his natural impulse is to step back, to give up all his duties at home and at work. This feeling must be fought. A sense of responsibility will not let you lose heart. Just don’t force things: if you’re not ready to go back to work or school, that’s fine. Consider part-time work. If this seems too complicated, consider doing something simple. But you can’t give up – seeing the result of the work done, you will experience a sense of satisfaction.
6. Relaxation. Do not think that pleasure or relaxation are things that happen by themselves. The only way to make them happen is to plan for them.
Change of consciousness
When a person is depressed , he gets used to seeing the world and himself “in black”. This way of thinking can become habitual and continue for many months after the biological cause of depression is eliminated .
Automatic negative thoughts are common sources of anxiety. These thoughts arise randomly when you are faced with a situation that hurts your feelings. They can be connected to each other and all together poison your life.
Example: Your boss has asked you to rewrite the beginning of a project you are working on. Instead of simply rewriting, you begin to “think out” the reasons for such an order, “deepening” the problem: what if I’m not professional enough? What if I get fired? Further along the chain: “I will be left penniless, I will lose my home, my family will hate me, I am a complete loser, why should such a person live in the world …” … that’s it, they have arrived: within a few seconds you plunge into complete despair.
How to deal with automatic negative thoughts?
7. Think. At first it will be very difficult to catch the beginning of this negative chain. After all, these thoughts arise involuntarily. It will be easier to remember the “bad day” and try to understand what happened. How did you go from a good mood in the morning to a disgusting one in the afternoon? What events – and what thoughts – lead you to a depressive state of consciousness?
By recreating what happened, you will understand what kind of automatic thoughts you tend to have and how they arise. Then, over time, you will learn to recognize automatic thoughts at the right moment and pull yourself together – stop them before they get out of control.
8. Take a break. When you find that automatic thinking has “turned on”, try to pause, switch, unwind. Breathing exercises will help, or just a walk in the fresh air. Take a break for a while from the activity in which these thoughts caught you.
9. Use logic. The next time a problem makes you feel terrible, try using logic as a natural remedy for depression . Depression can make you think disgusting things about yourself, often grotesquely exaggerated. Try to imagine this: is it true that no one likes you? Is there any real evidence? True, you may feel like the dumbest and most hated being on the planet, but what is the real likelihood of that?
Other Natural Ways to Fight Depression
In addition to creating habits and changing the mind, there are other natural ways to deal with black angst.
10. Reach out to friends and family members. When it’s hard at heart, people you trust will help. Talk to them about what is happening to you. Sometimes, realizing that a friend cannot be just your “vest” (it’s emotionally very difficult), you will need to put aside your feelings for a while. And this is good – taking care of the emotional health of a loved one, you will take a break from your own experiences. You can just enjoy the time spent together with this person.
11. Find support. In addition to relying on friends and family, you can try joining a support group. Perhaps you will meet people who really understand what you have been through and will help restore mental strength.
12. Check with your doctor before taking supplements. Although a huge number of supplements are recommended as remedies for depression , experience suggests that it is simply dangerous to prescribe them to yourself. Always check with your doctor before taking a supplement, especially if you are already on medication.
13. Beware of abuse. Many people trying to cope with depression try to drown it out with alcohol and other substances. It is useless – in a few hours you will feel even worse. If you already have problems with abuse, such as alcohol, don’t wait for your depression to end . Ask for help, otherwise these problems together will “handle” you even faster.
14. Do something new. When a person is depressed , he falls, as it were, into a vicious circle, into a rut. Every ordinary day will go according to the scheme: bed, TV, computer. Psychologists believe that in order to naturally get rid of depression , you need to force yourself to do something different, completely new. Go to the museum. Take a book and go read it on a park bench. Sign up for a foreign language course. In general – break this scheme.
15. Don’t ignore serious signs of depression . While using natural remedies for depression on your own can help, they have their limitations. People have enough resources to help themselves, but these resources are not endless. And when a person is so immersed in depression that he cannot cope with a depressive state on his own, with his own will, when thoughts appear that the world would be better without him, he needs urgent professional help.
And one more thing: set a time for pleasant things
Experts advise a depressed person to make sure to find time for things that they like. You need to do things that entertain you, they say.
It is clear that when you are depressed or recovering from depression , entertainment seems impossible. The things you used to enjoy are no longer enjoyable. One of the insidious problems of depression is that it teaches a sense of hopelessness, a denial that there can be anything pleasant in life . This is the feeling you have to fight.
So, no matter how strange it may sound, you have to work in order to have fun. Schedule activities that you used to enjoy. Even if “very reluctant”, continue to meet with friends. Keep going to the movies and playing tennis. Over time, pleasant things will return to the way they were.