December 12, 2020
5 Ways to Fight Depression!
Depression is one of those feelings that causes extreme sadness, loss of energy, and an overall disregard for daily activities. Your life will seem gloomy, hopeless, and bleak. The question is what causes people to have to go through such an overwhelming emotion?
Some examples of the causes of depression are:
· Genetics (it was passed down from generation to generation)
· Your brain’s chemistry (low serotonin levels)
· Major trauma happened in your life (like the loss of a loved one)
The reasons completely vary because it all depends on what the root cause of your particular depression may happen to be. The good news is there are ways to cope with this despairing state of mind that far too many people are forced to deal with. You don’t have to remain in silence and feel like there is nothing you can do to overcome. Fight back!
1. Avoid being alone: When you are dealing with an overpowering emotion like depression the last thing you want to do is be is alone. Being isolated away from your loved ones, friends, and just people in general leaves you with nothing but your own thoughts. We are all naturally social creatures so when you deprive yourself of this important aspect of life, you are making your depressive symptoms worse. As time goes on and you continue in this sequestered state, it will eventually have a massive effect on your mental health.
So what do we do when all we want to do is be alone? You want to start by taking baby steps, invite someone you know and trust over to spend some time with you even if it is just for a brief moment. Get involved in social activities that don’t require a lot of people that need to participate. Get out and watch a movie with a friend and have dinner afterwards, keep it small and friendly so that you don’t get overloaded. The goal is to just begin reaching out to others and getting yourself out there and out of the house. Don’t live in a state of emotional suppression taking complete control. Get your life back!
2. Set goals for yourself: Having something to look forward to can really make a difference when it comes to how you handle sentiments of hopelessness. When you are able to set even the smallest goals and achieve them, it will give you the drive and motivation to want to continue to press forward because you know that you can. Speak your ambitions and desires into existence and see yourself accomplishing them; you are stronger than you give yourself credit for.
Create a vision board consisting of every dream that you have ever had and visualize yourself making them come to fruition. Make sure that you put it in plain sight in an area that you will be able to see every day as a constant sign of what you know you can attain. Discuss your goals with friends and family as you continue to speak them into existence. Always remember, the sky’s the limit and you can do anything that you set your mind to including not allowing this paralyzing emotion to take over your life. You are more than a conqueror!
3. Let your feelings go: One of the best ways to get rid of built up feelings is to simply let them go. Don’t allow them to pile up to the point where you feel depleted and defeated. Get in contact with someone really close to you that you know has a listening ear and genuinely cares about you and your well-being. Let out what is harbored up inside you and try not to hold back. The main purpose of you freeing yourself from this stronghold is so that you are not carrying it around with you. Those shackles can get heavy and if you don’t start working on that mental weight now, they will continue to become heavier and heavier as time goes on.
Another way to let go of your emotions is by speaking to a clinically trained licensed professional. Their job is to assist in helping you deal with these types of issues in a realistic and sound manner and ultimately help get you on the road to recovery. This approach will take a little bit of research because you want to make sure that you are choosing the right provider that is going to fit all of your needs. At the end of the day this is your own personal journey and you want to feel confident that the person that you choose is going to be attentive and also allow you to get those built up feelings out.
4. Create a journal: When you are consumed with thoughts of despair, anguish, and unhappiness, it can really wreak havoc on your entire life. So what you can do to release those negative emotions is you can write them down. Get you a couple of journals and every time an unfavorable idea pops in your head, take a note of it. What this will do is prevent you from holding all of those feelings inside you until you feel like you are going to explode. It is freeing and therapeutic when you can express yourself with a pen and paper. Make it a habit to journal at least once a day and more if you feel like you need to. Write the lows and the highs that you are experiencing for that moment but don’t leave anything out. The purpose of the journal is to set your mind free from the overpowering feelings of depression.
Get creative with your notebook and write down poems, scriptures that have helped you along the way, and even songs that you hear that resonate with what you are feeling at the time. The thing is the more that you let out, the more room you have left to replace with positive inspiration. You can get through this even if the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away know that it’s only for a season. The more you dedicate yourself to getting your voice back the closer you get to your victory!
5. Silence negative thoughts: The best way to overcome your negative thoughts is to face them head on. Knowing that they are not thoughts that you are thinking but a symptom of your depression is going to be key in your healing process. Write down the thoughts that keep reoccurring on a constant basis so that you can easily identify them.
Ask yourself:
· Are they realistic? (If I heard someone else saying what I am thinking, would it sound sensible)
· Am I basing these thoughts out of my emotions? (you don’t think clearly because of how negatively you feel)
· Am I ignoring all positive aspects to what I am thinking? (even though a positive thought might enter, you completely ignore it)
· Am I categorizing my experiences? (because you had one bad incident, now you feel like you will never have a good one)
Once you have identified your harmful thinking pattern, you can now find positive ways to contest these thoughts. For example, when an adverse opinion pops in your head counteract it by looking at the same thought that you are having but in an optimistic light. Train your mind to substitute every unhealthy belief with a more well-balanced one. This method is going to take time and will not happen overnight so you have to be determined and consistent. Remember your success will all depend on you!
Bonus-
Scriptures that help overcome depressive thinking: