How to Deal with Depression

Major depression is one of the most debilitating illnesses affecting Americans today. It can affect your ability to function, think, and feel. More specifically, it is a mood problem noted by pervasive sadness, disappointment, and hopelessness. The depressed person usually has difficulty finding pleasure in life, has feelings of intense loneliness, and has limited energy to engage in life activities. Most people have periods when they feel discouraged about their circumstances. However, true depression goes deeper by lasting longer and impacting one’s whole existence.

People dealing with depression often wish for a better day, but have lost hope that it will come. They do not know how to ‘feel’ better. Those suffering from depression may experience extreme mood fluctuations or a desire to withdraw from interactions with others. Frustrated with the inability to snap out of it, they become more discouraged. In some cases, depression can last for extended periods of time – months or even years. One way to deal with depression is to determine the severity of the experience, understand the influences that prompted its onset, and securing treatment options.

Depression Severity

Depression can impact a person’s life in many different ways. To a large degree, the manifestation of depression depends on the person’s coping style, personality, and previous level of functioning. Following are some symptoms of depression. Review the areas and determine how you compare with the descriptors.

Emotions:

• Blunted emotional presentation or frequent crying spells
• Difficulty in finding pleasure in life activities
• Decreased sexual desire
• Profound feelings of guilt or shame
• Feelings of hopelessness or helplessness
• Cold or distant feelings toward family or friends

Behavior:

• Decreased interest in participating in activities previously enjoyed
• Diminished interest in maintaining one’s hygiene
• Neglecting responsibilities
• Reduced coping ability
• Impaired communication with others (e.g., irritating, sarcastic)

Physical Complaints:

• Lack of energy
• Compulsive eating or loss of appetite
• Headaches, backaches, or general muscle aches without a specific cause
• Gastrointestinal problems (e.g., stomach pain, nausea, change in bowel habits)
• Insomnia or excessive sleeping

If you have several of these symptoms, you may be seriously depressed. Consulting with a professional counselor may be helpful as you determine a way to handle the problem. One step in this process is to understand the various causes of depression.

What Causes Depression?

Depression can be prompted by a variety of factors. Some episodes of depression are situation-induced. For example, the death of a loved one, the loss of one’s job, or the disappointment of failed efforts to get into graduate school can all initiate an episode of depression. When someone can discern the source of depression, the outlook is more favorable. Specific measures can be incorporated to deal with the pain. However, when no source is clear, the depression may worsen due to lack of treatment.

In addition to situational factors, there are other stressors that prompt depression. Chemical imbalances, personality factors, drug and alcohol use, physical illness, and inadequate dietary practices can influence the onset of depression. Given that so many influences can impact one’s mental health, it is important to monitor one’s lifestyle and health practices.

Treatment Options

All forms of depression are serious if they affect your ability to function. Careful attention to determining the source of inner conflict, strained emotions, and behavioral changes is critical for addressing the development of depression and highlighting treatment options.

Key suggestions for offsetting depression include; exercising to work off tension, meditating to clear the mental impurities of the day, changing the routine aspects of your life, developing a support system, and finding a healthy way to release pent up emotions.

If these initial steps do not provide relief from the pain, other options are available. Consider speaking with a friend, partner, minister, professional counselor, or psychiatrist to canvass a different perspective. In addition to therapy options, there are medicinal treatments that target depression with noted effectiveness.

Depression Health Center

Being depressed can make you feel helpless. You're not. Along with therapy and sometimes medication, there's a lot you can do on your own to fight back. Changing your behavior -- your physical activity, lifestyle, and even your way of thinking -- are all natural depression treatments.

Do you want to learn natural depression treatments that can help you feel better -- starting right now? Here are some tips.

Get in a routine. If you’re depressed, you need a routine, says Ian Cook, MD, a psychiatrist and director of the Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA. Depression can strip away the structure from your life. One day melts into the next. Setting a gentle daily schedule can help you get back on track.

1. Set goals. When you're depressed, you may feel like you can't accomplish anything. That makes you feel worse about yourself. To push back, set daily goals for yourself. "Start very small," says Cook. "Make your goal something that you can succeed at, like doing the dishes every other day." As you start to feel better, you can add more challenging daily goals.
2. Exercise. Exercise temporarily boosts feel-good chemicals called endorphin's. It may also have long-term benefits for people with depression. Regular physical activity seems to encourage the brain to rewire itself in positive ways, Cook says. How much exercise do you need? You don’t need to run marathons to get a benefit. Just walking a few times a week can help.
3. Eat healthy. There is no magic diet that fixes depression, but watching what you eat is a good idea. If depression tends to make you overeat, getting in control of your eating will help you feel better. Although nothing is definitive, Cook says there's evidence that foods with omega-3 fatty acids -- such as salmon and tuna -- and folic acid -- such as spinach and avocado -- could help ease depression.
4. Get enough sleep. Depression can make it hard to get enough sleep, and not getting enough sleep can make depression worse. What can you do? Start by making some changes to your lifestyle. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Try not to nap. Take all the distractions out of your bedroom -- no computer and no TV. In time, you may find your sleep improves.
5. Take on responsibilities. When you’re depressed, you may want to pull back from life and give up your responsibilities at home and at work. Don't. Staying involved and having daily responsibilities can work as a natural depression treatment. They ground you and give you a sense of accomplishment. If you're not up to full-time school or work, that’s fine. Think about part-time. If that seems like too much, consider volunteer work.
6. Challenge negative thoughts. In your fight against depression, a lot of the work is mental -- changing how you think. When you're depressed, you leap to the worst possible conclusions. The next time you're feeling terrible about yourself, use logic as a natural depression treatment. You might feel like no one likes you, but is there real evidence for that? You might feel like the most worthless person on the planet, but is that really likely? It takes practice, but in time you can beat back those negative thoughts before they get out of control.
7. Check with your doctor before using supplements. "There's promising evidence for certain supplements for depression," says Cook, such as fish oil, folic acid, and SAMe. However, more research needs to be done before we'll know for sure. Always check with your doctor before starting any supplement, especially if you’re already taking medications.
8. Do something new. When you’re depressed, you’re in a rut. Push yourself to do something different. Go to a museum. Pick up a used book and read it on a park bench. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Take a language class. "When we challenge ourselves to do something different, there are chemical changes in the brain," says Cook. "Trying something new alters the levels of dopamine, which is associated with pleasure, enjoyment, and learning."
9. Try to have fun. If you’re depressed, make time for things you enjoy. What if nothing seems fun anymore? "That's just a symptom of depression," says Cook. You have to keep trying anyway.

Dealing with Depression

Depression drains your energy, hope, and drive, making it difficult to do what you need to feel better. But while overcoming depression isn't quick or easy, it’s far from impossible. You can’t beat it through sheer willpower, but you do have some control, even if your depression is severe and stubbornly persistent. The key is to start small and build from there. Feeling better takes time, but you can get there if you make positive choices for yourself each day.

The road to depression recovery

Recovering from depression requires action, but taking action when you’re depressed is hard. In fact, just thinking about the things you should do to feel better, like going for a walk or spending time with friends, can be exhausting.

It’s the Catch-22 of depression recovery: The things that help the most are the things that are the most difficult to do. There’s a difference, however, between something that's difficult and something that's impossible.

Start small and stay focused

The key to depression recovery is to start with a few small goals and slowly build from there. Draw upon whatever resources you have. You may not have much energy, but you probably have enough to take a short walk around the block or pick up the phone to call a loved one.

Take things one day at a time and reward yourself for each accomplishment. The steps may seem small, but they’ll quickly add up. And for all the energy you put into your depression recovery, you’ll get back much more in return.

Depression self-help tip 1: Cultivate supportive relationships

Getting the support you need plays a big role in lifting the fog of depression and keeping it away. On your own, it can be difficult to maintain perspective and sustain the effort required to beat depression, but the very nature of depression makes it difficult to reach out for help. However, isolation and loneliness make depression even worse, so maintaining your close relationships and social activities are important.

The thought of reaching out to even close family members and friends can seem overwhelming. You may feel ashamed, too exhausted to talk, or guilty for neglecting the relationship. Remind yourself that this is the depression talking. Reaching out is not a sign of weakness and it won’t mean you’re a burden to others. Your loved ones care about you and want to help. And remember, it’s never too late to build new friendships and improve your support network.

• Turn to trusted friends and family members. Share what you’re going through with the people you love and trust, face to face if possible. The people you talk to don’t have to be able to fix you; they just need to be good listeners. Ask for the help and support you need. You may have retreated from your most treasured relationships, but they can get you through this tough time.
• Try to keep up with social activities even if you don’t feel like it. Often when you’re depressed, it feels more comfortable to retreat into your shell, but being around other people will make you feel less depressed.
• Join a support group for depression. Being with others dealing with depression can go a long way in reducing your sense of isolation. You can also encourage each other, give and receive advice on how to cope, and share your experiences.