5 Ways to Manage Depressive Symptoms
Depression can make even the smallest tasks seem insurmountable. It zaps your energy and makes little things feel impossible to manage. But there are many things you can incorporate in your day-to-day that can help improve your depressive symptoms.
Take care of your physical needs. Eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, and exercising can all help to manage symptoms of depression and keep them under control. While it can be so difficult to get started while you’re feeling depressed if you can muster just a little bit of self-care in these areas it could make a big impact on how you’re feeling.
Create connections with others. Create a support network of people around you. Let your loved ones know what you’re struggling with, and let them know how they can best support you. Your support network could include your friends, family, pets and/ or a therapist.
Take a closer look at your thoughts. Depression often results in negative thought patterns. Journaling, meditation, or therapy can help you tackle some of your maladaptive thought patterns and make changes to help you keep yourself from going down the dark rabbit hole of depressive thoughts. Learning new habits for our thought patterns can help to lessen the impact depression has on us.
Identify your depression triggers. When do things get toughest for you? Does stress from work or your relationship trigger feelings of depression? Do you feel more depressed when you haven’t been sleeping or eating properly? Figure out what makes the biggest impact on your symptoms and do your best to avoid or eliminate these triggers.
Explore medical options. Speak to your family physician about taking anti-depressants, or about seeing a psychiatrist. There are many medical interventions that your doctor can advise you on which can reduce your symptoms of depression and make it easier to implement the previous four points.
You are not alone in your depression. It can feel so difficult to begin the climb out of depression, but you only need to take a few first steps to be on your way. Even doing little things for yourself can have a big impact. If you are having trouble getting started, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your friends, family, therapist, or doctor.
Jessica Dubauskas