Depression can overtake every aspect of your life and body. It can be brought on by specific situations, family history, seasons, and sometimes there is no reason at all. When depression grabs ahold of us, it is very hard to fight back. Often, it gets to the point where we would rather lay in sadness than fight for happiness. I find myself here and have searched throughout my life to find ways to fight when I have nothing left in me to give.
On a personal level, I have suffered from severe depression since I was 10 years old. 18 years later, the fight remains. When the colder seasons hit, everything that I thought couldn’t be worse… does. Although I still struggle often with my depression, I have thankfully been pointed in the direction of a great medical and therapeutic team to help me overcome the one thing that has held me down for nearly my whole life.
With that being said, I wanted to share some things that have helped me over the years in hopes that in may bring light to your dark days.
- Movement is one of the hardest things to do when depression catches us although it can honestly be one of the best things we can do. Exercise itself releases endorphins or “feel-good” chemicals within our body. Movement can happen in all kinds of ways. Going for a walk or taking your pet on a walk. Trying a new yoga class, going to the gym and interacting with others. Anything movement you can do to releases endorphins will benefit you in more ways than you know.
- One thing my therapist has recommended to me is a light therapy lamp. I honestly thought she was kidding at first, but I did some research and found positive reviews for people that were in similar shoes than me. It was returnable and $25, so I decided to buy it. To my surprise, this little lamp has helped me immensely. I get up for work and it is dark outside which already make me sad, but I turn on this lamp when I am getting ready and it brings in that bright light that helps stimulate serotonin and endorphins. The light I bought, had 3 different brightness settings so I was able to adjust as needed, which I liked, and it also had a timer that I can set to a desired time and it would turn off on it’s own.
- Reading has helped my depression in more ways than one. When my depression is strong, I have no desire to do anything. One thing I found extremely helpful, is picking a fictional book that interests you, and let you mind go with the words. I found it so helpful to in a way, escape my own mind and be in tune with the characters in a book. This does not mean you are avoiding your troubles but allowing you to breathe out of the dark cloud that surrounds you. Lately, I have been loving and highly recommend the Colleen Hoover books!
- Make your home a haven. Light a candle, set up a diffuser, take a bath, listen to music that soothes your soul, bake some cookies, paint a picture, write a song. Create an environment where you feel safe and at home. It will be hard, but you will fill so much better if you do it.
Take time for yourself to be sad but also remind yourself that this is temporary. There will always be sunshine after rain. Today, yesterday, this month, this year, may have been extremely hard for you and swarmed you into a cloud of darkness. It doesn’t always have to be like that though. In fact, it won’t always be like that. Little by little, start to implement things that bring you joy and watch your life improve for the better. Then next time, when you run into someone who is going through something similar, share what helped you and ask them to do the same.
