You're reading 4 Life-changing Ways to Overcome Depression, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Depression
can affect anyone, at any given time or age. It is generally a disorder that
causes one to experience excessive sadness, loss of interest in once enjoyable
activities, and a lack of motivation. Commonly, sorrow or despair results from
a loss, significant life change, stress, disappointments, and so on. Although
these feelings may seem ‘normal,’ you cannot just snap out of them. For
starters, it’s imperative to face depression head-on and seek help rather than
neglecting the feelings altogether.
Moreover, you should
incorporate the following tips to help you overcome the situation:
- Don’t blow-off or downplay your diagnosis
Are you losing
interest in activities that you once enjoyed? Have you been struggling with
feelings of hopelessness or helplessness? Is it harder and harder to get
through the day? If your answers to these questions are yes, then you should
seek a facility that offers brain treatment in Dubai for a proper diagnosis.
Once it’s clear,
that indeed you are suffering from depression, don’t push aside the diagnosis
as insignificant. Your mental health should be your priority, regardless of
what other things may be happening in your life. Not neglecting the condition
means having the upper hand of the situation and complying with treatment
recommendations.
Moreover, don’t
limit your treatment options. It’s healthy to incorporate holistic treatment
options to deal with depression rather than just relying on medication. For
instance, psychotherapy, exercise, and mindfulness meditation are also
successive ways you can tackle depressive symptoms.
- Seek help
Although people cope
with depression differently, it’s essential to understand that you’re not
alone. Getting support goes a long way into your road to recovery, mainly
because it offers reassurance that you’re not alone. Hence, it helps you retain
perspective and sustain the effort required to beat the condition.
While the very
nature of depression makes it challenging to ask for help, maintaining close
relationships and social activities is paramount to your mental health.
Reaching out to your friends, family members, or your community’s mental health
group isn’t a sign of weakness. To ensure that you are effectively reaching out
and establishing beneficial relationships, try:
- Talking
to at least one person about your feelings daily - Volunteer
to help others - Going
for lunch, coffee or movie dates with your loved ones - Asking
a friend or relative to check in on you regularly - Going
for a walk or jog with your workout buddy - Joining
a club or taking a class to establish new friendships - Confiding
in a therapist or counselor
- Be kind to yourself
Depression has a way
of negatively spinning everything, from your self-image to the circumstances
you come across to your future expectations. While you can break out from this
pessimistic mind frame, positive thinking won’t cut it. But, you can replace
the negative thoughts with balanced thoughts. The gist here is to avoid being
so hard on yourself and learn to be kinder, gentler, and compassionate. Allow
yourself to be less than perfect and try as much as possible to socialize with
optimistic people to see how they tackle negative situations or thought and
emulate that.
- Invest in a healthy lifestyle
Make healthy changes
in your life that align with your goals to get better. For instance;
- Eat healthily
Your diet affects
how you feel. Therefore, stick to a healthy balanced diet with low-fat protein,
fruits, complex carbs, and vegetables. Moreover, avoid foods such as alcohol,
caffeine, saturated fats, and those with high levels of chemical preservatives
as they affect your mood and brain.
Additionally, avoid
skipping meals and minimize your intake of sugar and refined carbs such as
French fries, baked products, sugary snacks, or any other comfort foods as
these can dampen your moods. In general, eat leafier greens, citrus fruits,
beans, eggs, chicken, and omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, sardines,
herring, tuna, among others.
- Exercise
Your energy levels
tend to improve with regular exercise, which means the feeling of exhaustion
that comes with depression subsides. Moreover, physical activities promote the
release of a feel-good hormone, which boosts your moods. The best part is that
simple activities such as dancing, walking, swimming, or even martial arts are
enough.
Recovering from
depression requires action. Although it may be challenging, it’s possible to
overcome this period of your life. The key is to take the first step, start
small, and build from there.
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Dr. Harry from German Neuroscience Center in Dubai is a UK-trained Clinical Psychologist, originally from Ireland. He completed his master’s degree in Health Psychology with the University of Ulster and completed his doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at the University of East London. He has almost a decade of experience working across a diverse range of mental health and other specialist psychology services in Ireland and the U.K.
You've read 4 Life-changing Ways to Overcome Depression, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.