Take Control Of Your Depression

Seeking Help For Depression

Get help if you’re still feeling down or depressed after a couple of weeks.

Treatments for depression include psychological therapies and antidepressants.

You can refer yourself for psychological therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy or counselling on the NHS. You don’t need a referral from your GP.

You can talk it through with your GP first if you prefer. Your GP can also tell you about antidepressants.

If you start to feel that your life isn’t worth living or about harming yourself, get help straight away.

You can:

• contact Samaritans on 116 123 for 24-hour confidential, non-judgemental emotional support

Ask Deepak: Take Control Of Your Depression

Deepak Chopra respondsQ: Gloria D., Louisville, Kentucky

• Keep a diary titled “What I enjoyed.” Any time you find yourself enjoying something other than TV, eating and sleeping, make a note of it. Into your diary include ideas you enjoyed, sensations you enjoyed, sights and smells you enjoyednothing is too small or trivial. The point is to get you out of your rut, which exists primarily in your mind. Show your mind you are more open to experience than you think you are.
• Buy a pet and learn to take care of it. Enter into your diary everything you enjoy about your pet, updating the entry every day.
• Get out of yourself. To do that, walk your pet once a day and see the world through its eyes. Note what a cat or dog enjoys about the world, its sights, sounds and smells. Note in your diary what it felt like to be a dog or cat out in the world.

is the author of more than 50 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including his current best-seller,, which are available now. You can listen to his show on Saturdays every week on Channels 102 and 155.Keep Reading:

Taking Control Of Your Behavior

Obeying your depression is keeping you stuck. So what would it look like if you had control of the wheel? You would be doing the OPPOSITE of what depression is telling you to do. You would likely be doing things that really matter to you. It takes being really deliberate and NOT listening to your depression when it tells you to stay in bed or avoid that phone call. So stop listening to your depression and kick it out of the drivers seat. It may stick around for a bit as an annoying back seat driver, but at least it is not running the show.

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Put Your Thoughts On The Witness Stand

Once you identify the destructive thoughts patterns that contribute to your depression, you can start to challenge them with questions such as:

• Whats the evidence that this thought is true? Not true?
• What would I tell a friend who had this thought?
• Is there another way of looking at the situation or an alternate explanation?
• How might I look at this situation if I didnt have depression?

As you cross-examine your negative thoughts, you may be surprised at how quickly they crumble. In the process, youll develop a more balanced perspective and help to relieve your depression.

Depression Is Different From Sadness Or Grief/bereavement

The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being depressed.

But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities. They are also different in important ways:

• In grief, painful feelings come in waves, often intermixed with positive memories of the deceased. In major depression, mood and/or interest are decreased for most of two weeks.
• In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. In major depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
• In grief, thoughts of death may surface when thinking of or fantasizing about joining the deceased loved one. In major depression, thoughts are focused on ending ones life due to feeling worthless or undeserving of living or being unable to cope with the pain of depression.

Grief and depression can co-exist For some people, the death of a loved one, losing a job or being a victim of a physical assault or a major disaster can lead to depression. When grief and depression co-occur, the grief is more severe and lasts longer than grief without depression.

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Improve Your Sleep Hygiene

Sleep and mood are intimately related. A 2014 study found that 80% of people with major depressive disorder experience sleep disturbances.

But, you might feel like you just can’t fall asleep. Or perhaps you struggle to get out of bed because you feel exhausted all the time.

Good sleep hygiene could be key to improving the quality and quantity of your sleep.

Turn off electronics at least an hour before you go to bed. Use dim light to read a book or engage in another relaxing activity.

Only use your bed for sleep and sexual activity. Doing work in bed, or even in your bedroom, can cause you to associate your bed with stress, rather than relaxation.

Ways To Help Yourself Through Depression

If you are going through depression, it’s best to get help from a therapist. To get the most from your therapy, you can do things to help yourself too.

Here are 5 things you can do to feel better. They may seem simple, but they can help a lot.

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Which Types Of Talk Therapy Work Best For Depression

• Behavioral activation therapy The aim of this type of therapy is to reverse the downward spiral of depression by encouraging you to seek out experiences and activities that give you joy.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT focuses on changing specific negative thought patterns so that you are able to better respond to challenging and stressful situations.
• Interpersonal therapy This very structured, time-limited form of therapy focuses on identifying and improving problematic personal relationships and circumstances directly related to your current depressive mood.
• Problem-solving therapy This therapy is a form of CBT that teaches take-charge skills that help you solve real-life problems and stressors, big and small, that contribute to depression.
• Self-management/self-control therapy This type of behavioral therapy trains you to lessen your negative reactions to events and reduce your self-punishing behaviors and thoughts.

Get A Handle On Your Household Chores

Depression can make it difficult to complete household chores, such as doing the dishes or paying bills.

But a pile of paperwork, the stack of dirty dishes, and floor covered in dirty clothes will only magnify your feelings of worthlessness.

Take control of your daily chores. Start small and work on one project at a time. Getting up and moving can help you start to feel better in itself. But, seeing your progress in the home can be key to helping you feel better.

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Risk Factors For Depression

Depression can affect anyoneeven a person who appears to live in relatively ideal circumstances.

Several factors can play a role in depression:

• Biochemistry: Differences in certain chemicals in the brain may contribute to symptoms of depression.
• Genetics: Depression can run in families. For example, if one identical twin has depression, the other has a 70 percent chance of having the illness sometime in life.
• Personality: People with low self-esteem, who are easily overwhelmed by stress, or who are generally pessimistic appear to be more likely to experience depression.
• Environmental factors: Continuous exposure to violence, neglect, abuse or poverty may make some people more vulnerable to depression.

Build A Support Network

One of the most important things you can do to help yourself with depressionother than medication and therapyis to develop strong social support.

For some, this may mean forging stronger ties with friends or family. Knowing you can count on supportive loved ones to help can go a long way toward improving your depression.

For others, a depression support group can be key. It may involve a community group that meets in your area or you might find an online support group who meets your needs.

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How Can I Help A Loved One Who Is Depressed

If someone you know has depression, help them see a health care provider or mental health professional. You also can:

• Offer support, understanding, patience, and encouragement.
• Invite them out for walks, outings, and other activities.
• Help them stick to their treatment plan, such as setting reminders to take prescribed medications.
• Make sure they have transportation to therapy appointments.
• Remind them that, with time and treatment, the depression will lift.

Take comments about suicide seriously, and report them to your loved ones health care provider or therapist. If they are in immediate distress or thinking about hurting themselves, call 911 for emergency services or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.

Whats The Difference Between Grief And Depression

Given that the primary symptom associated with depression is sadness, it can be easy to think of grief or bereavement as depression. But grief is a natural response to specific experiences, such as the end of a relationship or the death of a loved one. While you might feel regret or remorse, and you might withdraw from usual activities if you are experiencing grief, youre unlikely to feel the overwhelming sense of worthlessness, thoughts of self-harm or suicide, and other symptoms of depression. Another important difference is that in grief, painful feelings usually come in waves and are often mixed with positive memories.

American Family Physician

Also Check: World Health Organization Depression Statistics

Dealing With The Winter Blues

For some people, the reduced daylight hours of winter lead to a form of depression known as seasonal affective disorder . SAD can make you feel like a completely different person to who you are in the summer: hopeless, sad, tense, or stressed, with no interest in friends or activities you normally love. No matter how hopeless you feel, though, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your mood stable throughout the year.

Tip : Eat A Healthy Depression

What you eat has a direct impact on the way you feel. Reduce your intake of foods that can adversely affect your brain and mood, such as caffeine, alcohol, trans fats, and foods with high levels of chemical preservatives or hormones .

Dont skip meals. Going too long between meals can make you feel irritable and tired, so aim to eat something at least every three to four hours.

Minimize sugar and refined carbs. You may crave sugary snacks, baked goods, or comfort foods such as pasta or French fries, but these feel-good foods quickly lead to a crash in mood and energy. Aim to cut out as much of these foods as possible.

Boost your B vitamins. Deficiencies in B vitamins such as folic acid and B-12 can trigger depression. To get more, take a B-complex vitamin supplement or eat more citrus fruit, leafy greens, beans, chicken, and eggs.

Boost your mood with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.Omega-3 fatty acids play an essential role in stabilizing mood. The best sources are fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, tuna, and some cold-water fish oil supplements.

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Try To Eat A Healthy Diet

Some people don’t feel like eating when they’re depressed and are at risk of becoming underweight. Others find comfort in food and can put on excess weight.

Antidepressants can also affect your appetite.

If you’re concerned about weight loss, weight gain or how antidepressants are affecting your appetite, talk to your GP.

See tips on how to eat more healthily.

Dealing With Depression In The Workplace

If youre dealing with depression at work, try these tips. They are not intended as a cure, but could help provide ways to better cope if youre dealing with depression at work.

Self-care alone cannot cure depression. Small positive changes in your daily routine may help you feel better, but working with a behavioral professional is most important for long-term management of depression.

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How To Deal With Depression At Work

Your job is a big part of your life. Dealing with depression alone is hard enough. Add to it the demands of work and it can compound depression. How do you know if you are working while depressed and how do you deal with it?

Depression is a complex disease that can be driven by a combination of things, including medical, emotional, and genetic factors, as well as environmental, situational, and even seasonal issues. The workplace may be just one of these factors. If you already battle with depression, then its possible youre also dealing with depression at work.

Know That Today Isnt Indicative Of Tomorrow

Internal emotions and thoughts can change from day to day. Tracking experiences through journaling or keeping a mood diary can help to remember this.

If you were unsuccessful at getting out of bed or accomplishing your goals today, remember that you havent lost tomorrows opportunity to try again.

Give yourself the grace to accept that while some days will be difficult, some days will also be less difficult. Try to look forward to tomorrows fresh start.

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Richard Kravitz Md Msph

UC Davis Medical Center

Richard L. Kravitz, MD, MSPH, is professor and co-vice chair in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and director, UC Center Sacramento. He is a general internist with research interests in physician and patient behavior, mental health in primary care, and individualization of treatment. He has led several federally funded projects focused on the role of patients and families in diagnosing and treating depression and addressing suicide risk in primary care settings. Dr Kravitz is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Physicians and AcademyHealth, and a member of the Society of General Internal Medicine. He received his medical degree from UC San Francisco School of Medicine.

Emotions Build On Themselves

The problem is that emotions can build on themselves based on our responses to them. For example, when we feel happy we want to go out and do active things, when we are sad, we want to listen to sad music and stay inside. This is okay if it is a temporary shift, but sometimes what maintains depression is different than what initiated the feelings of sadness. To be clear, what you are DOING impacts your mood. The good news is, there are many ways to overcome depression.

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When To Get Professional Help For Depression

If youve taken self-help steps and made positive lifestyle changes and still find your depression getting worse, seek professional help. Needing additional help doesnt mean youre weak. Sometimes the negative thinking in depression can make you feel like youre a lost cause, but depression can be treated and you can feel better!

Dont forget about these self-help tips, though. Even if youre receiving professional help, these tips can be part of your treatment plan, speeding your recovery and preventing depression from returning.

Exercise Is Something You Can Do Right Now To Boost Your Mood

Your fatigue will improve if you stick with it. Starting to exercise can be difficult when youre depressed and feeling exhausted. But research shows that your energy levels will improve if you keep with it. Exercise will help you to feel energized and less fatigued, not more.

Find exercises that are continuous and rhythmic. The most benefits for depression come from rhythmic exercisesuch as walking, weight training, swimming, martial arts, or dancingwhere you move both your arms and legs.

Add a mindfulness element, especially if your depression is rooted in unresolved trauma or fed by obsessive, negative thoughts. Focus on how your body feels as you movesuch as the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, or the feeling of the wind on your skin, or the rhythm of your breathing.

Pair up with an exercise partner. Not only does working out with others enable you to spend time socializing, it can also help to keep you motivated. Try joining a running club, taking a water aerobics or dance class, seeking out tennis partners, or enrolling in a soccer or volleyball league.

Take a dog for a walk.If you dont own a dog, you can volunteer to walk homeless dogs for an animal shelter or rescue group. Youll not only be helping yourself but also be helping to socialize and exercise the dogs, making them more adoptable.

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