Chapter 7 – Depression

What is depression?

• Feeling of severe despondency and helplessness
• Drains your energy, hope and drive
• Persistent, anxious and empty feeling

How do I know if I have depression?

• Down mood most of the day
• Insomnia or hypersomnia
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Weight loss or weight gain
• Feeling of guilt or worthlessness
• Impaired concentration

Dealing with depression

• While overcoming depression is not quick & easy, it is far from impossible
• Recovery from depression requires action, but taking action while depressed is hard.
• You cannot just snap out of it; but you have more control than you realize
• The key is to start small and stay focused
• Feeling better takes time but you can get there if you make positive choices everyday

Self help and coping tips to overcome depression

• Stay connected
  • When depressed, the tendency is to withdraw and isolate
  • It is combined with the feeling of guilt and shame
  • Social support is essential in recovery
  • The person you talk to does not have to fix you; they just need to be a good listener
  • Make face-time a priority; it lifts the fog of depression
  • Find ways to support others
  • Meet with people by taking a class or joining a club
  • Have lunch or coffee with a friend
  • Talk to someone about how you feel
• Get moving
  • When depressed, just getting out of bed seems like a daunting task, let alone working out, but exercise is a powerful depression fighter.
  • Regular exercise can be as effective as medication for relieving the symptoms
  • Improves the energy level and fixes fatigue.
  • Find exercises that are rhythmic and continuous such as walking, swimming, dancing, martial art, where you move both arms and legs
  • Add a mindfulness element; how body feels as you move, feeling of the wind on your skin, or the rhythm of your breathing
• Do things that make you feel better
  • Schedule fun activities; you can push yourself to do things even when you don’t feel like it
  • You will be surprises how much better you feel once you are out in the world
  • Pick up a farmer hobby; play with a pet; list what you like about yourself; spend time in nature
  • Go out with friends (museum, mountain, or ballpark)
  • Express yourself creatively through music, art, or writing
  • Expose yourself to a little sunlight everyday
• Eat a healthy, mood-boosting diet
  • Foods have direct impact on how we feel (caffeine, alcohol, trans fat, chemical preservative, or hormones)
  • Don’t skip meals; aim to eat something every 3 to 4 hours
  • Minimize sugar and refined carbs such as baked goods, pasta, or French fries; they lead into crash in moods and energy
  • Boost B vitamins with foods such as citrus fruits, leafy greens, and some fish
  • Stay away from fastfoods
• Challenge negative thinking
  • Feel powerless or weak?
  • Bad thing happen and there is not much you can do about it?
  • Depression puts a negative spin on everything including the way you see yourself.
  • Irrational, pessimistic attitudes are know as cognitive distortions; are NOT realistic.
  • When happening, remind yourself that this is the depression talking!
  • Just telling yourself to “think positive” wont cut it; they are part of a lifelong pattern that becomes so automatic you are not really aware of it.

Negative thinking that fuel depression

• All or nothing 
• Mental filter
• Overgeneralization
• Emotional reasoning
• Diminishing the positive
• Should and should-nots
• Jumping to conclusion
• Act like a mental reader or fortune teller
• Labeling

Seek professional help

• If you have taken self-help steps and still find depression getting worse, ask for HELP!
• Needing additional help does not mean you are weak; sometimes the negative thinking in depression can make you feel like a lost cause.
• Remember that depression can be treated.
• Even if receiving professional help, still don’t forget about these self-help tips.
• They can speed up recovery and prevent depression from returning.
• Negative thinking patterns can be immensely deceptive and persuasive, and change is rarely easy. But with patience and persistence, I believe that nearly all individuals suffering from depression can improve and experience a sense of joy and self-esteem once again.
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