Coping Skills For Depression
Living with depression can feel beyond the numbness. You may notice it as low energy or a strong disconnection from yourself and those around you.
At times you may have a difficult time explaining it to others and even trying to figure out what you yourself are feeling. Depression is like working all hours of the night or moving mountains with no end in sight. It’s simply difficult. One of my clients once told me that depression resembled the curve balls life throws at us.
Each curve ball left us right on her behind.
The changing factor that builds bridges and helps people overcome depressive boats is their mindset.
Your mindset can help you overcome depressive cycles, depressive thoughts, or unwanted daily mood changes if you are able to develop a healthy mindset.
The goal is to build a mindset that utilizes mindfulness and is adaptable.
Practices for managing depression
Mindfulness
The practice of mindfulness involves living and focusing on the present. This strategy in a small dosage encourages the person to focus on what is in the present, such as smell, touch, or present emotions.
Adaptation
The practice of adaption is found in your ability to transition from here to there while remaining in control. This truly pulls on your ability to take bad news in the morning and continue your day with a positive mindset.
Okay so (Mindfulness) + (Adaptation) = healthy mindset.
A healthy mindset supports you in managing your depression.
At this point, we can transition into dealing with the depression that is present in our life. Sometimes depression can impact you due to environmental factors or even social factors. Maybe a cloudy and rainy day pushes the depression button in you.
For others, it’s seeing something that reminds them of a certain moment in life. The triggers that lead to your depression are endless and some are often unnoticed.
These triggers simply do not give you a heads-up when they are about to happen. You may find yourself feeling lethargic, sad, or tired and have no plausible reason to explain any of the changes other than your depression.
With depression, it is important not only to have a healthy mindset but also a strong cheat sheet of coping skills. These are skills that give you strength, resilience, and empowerment to overcome/manage your skills.
A word of advice before diving into the coping skills. Please be aware – that some may not fit your profile. You will have to perform a trial and error with each of the coping skills.
7 holistic coping skills for managing depression
1. Use Touch:
Research continues to show that touch increases your feel-good hormone Oxycontin. The easiest format would be to hug a friend or love one as long as they are okay with it.
Therapeutic approaches include:
- Acupuncture.
- Massage therapy.
- Reflexology.
2. Use positive talk
This means that you (a) do not blame yourself (b) do not see yourself in a negative light (c) praise yourself for the things that you do right (d) believe in yourself (e) do not take your thoughts seriously when you are feeling down or low.
3. Listen to music:
Create a playlist that will boost your spirit. I really want you to spend time and energy selecting each song and on your playlist title. It is important to have a playlist that you can turn to during difficult times.
4. Writing helps with depression:
Sometimes you may not want to vent your feelings to someone else. Sometimes you may want to write down how your day is going or the thoughts that are running through your mind. Be creative in building a journal that is yours.
5. Use more light:
Turn on your lights! Have you ever heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)? This can be seen as the winter blues. It is a disorder that impacts people during the winter months when there is less sunlight. During these months most people experience anxiety, depression, problems attaining normal sleep, and fatigue. Invest in some lights to counter depressive onset.
6. Counseling for depression:
Call your local counselor and see if counseling helps with your depression. Counseling can help to create a stronger understanding of the foundation of your depression, triggers of your depression, coping skills for your depression, and how to manage your depression on a day-to-day basis.
7. Create structure:
Often with depression, you may feel tired and not in the mood to carry on your day-to-day duties. If you allow yourself to fall and not abide by the planned structure of your day – you will experience more depressive symptoms. Give yourself reminders to stay on task and push forward!
Remember, there are many coping skills that can work for you. Give them a try and see if you can manage your depression.
More helpful articles on depression:
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
