Depression is a process. This means that over the course of days, weeks, or even months, depression will bring about many intense mood swings. When those terrible feelings occur, it can feel as if nothing else existed either before or after that all-encompassing dark sadness.
If you are having an especially tough, tough day, check out the five tips below. You can help yourself through a difficult time by following these compassionate, yet tried-and-true strategies.
Recognize You Are Having a Tough Day
Depression takes away our ability to evaluate ourselves realistically and calmly. When a particularly difficult day arises, it’s hard to have any perspective. In the thick of things, it just seems like you are always—and have always been—sad and hopeless. It’s hard to be rational, calm, or kind to yourself when in this state.
The solution is to recognize that you are having a difficult day, and that you are currently viewing things through this filter. Recognize this sense of helplessness or hopelessness as a feeling you have had before, and that it’s not one continuous unending feeling that goes on from one endless day into another. By acknowledging and accepting that you are having a bad day, you can put the experience into perspective and treat yourself with extra-special self-caring actions, such as the ones described below.
Get Up and Begin Your Day
If at all possible, avoid the temptation to stay day in bed all day sleeping, doing nothing, and trying to escape. Overall, numbing out and sleeping all day as an attempted escape strategy only makes things worse. The next day you end up feeling not only depressed, but listless and exhausted and totally out of sync.
As difficult as it might be, get up and begin your day. It is within your power to do so, even when that power is hard to muster. Get up, take a few conscious breaths, take a shower or at least wash your face, brush your teeth, and put on some clean clothes. It’s tempting to stay in your pajamas or grey sweat clothes all day without brushing your teeth or combing your hair. But making yourself presentable, even when you’re not going out into the world to see anybody, can make you feel like a human being again.
Call a Friend
There are days during depression when we don’t get dressed, don’t eat well, and are prone to wallow in self-pity. During depression this is completely understandable. But as the leader of your life, and the leader of your depression experience, it’s up to you to find constructive ways to take care of yourself on even the most difficult days.
One such strategy is to call a friend. Not for a therapy session or because misery loves company, but because being around someone who is not depressed is healing. You don’t have to interact with them or make conversation if you’re not up to it. Just being around someone who is not depressed, or taking a short stroll with them can leave you feeling more stable and able to make it through the day.
Go Outside
No matter what you are feeling, no matter how difficult your day is, going outside into nature is helpful. Get dressed, go outside, and sit in nature or go for a light stroll. Go out in the yard, see the trees, smell some flowers, or sit by a creek for awhile. Fresh air, the weather, and the earth itself help a lot.
Journal
On an especially difficult day, nothing replaces the value of writing in your journal. Getting your thoughts and feelings onto paper gets them out of you. Writing is a way of dispersing some of the energy that comes with difficult emotions. Keeping a journal is important because it’s something for you and only you. It’s a friend that is always there, a place where you can write about your darkest fears and deepest thoughts.
Overall, on some days it’s impossible to get it together or feel better. Treat your bad days with respect, and look inside to find the best ways to take care of yourself. Go easy on yourself. The sooner you treat yourself with loving compassion on the bad days, the sooner you can move into better day.
Are you looking for new ways to end depression? Even if you are angry at yourself for being human and have lost all hope, Depression Freedom http://www.annettecolby.com/depression_freedom.shtml shows the gentle steps you can take to skillfully lead yourself through depression and restore the joy of living. It is impossible to read this book without being changed by it. The inspiration within these pages will captivate you and be the inspiration you need to stop the reign of darkness and embrace a new celebration of life.
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I love your suggestions. My favorite is to go outside. I find that no matter what I am feeling going outside and taking a few breaths of fresh air always calms my soul. By the way, I love your blog and can’t wait until your next post!