Coping With Depression - 4 Steps
What are feelings of depression?
- a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity
- sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy
Are you surprised by these definitions? What is missing here? The definitions do not tell you how depression starts and certainly does not tell you how to stop it.
Depression is about how you think. And thinking is about interpreting your experiences in the world. You have three choices when it comes to deciding how you will deal with all the events in life. You can change how you think. You can change how you feel. Or, you can change what you are doing.
Here is an exercise to help you understand this. Really do this step by step. Spend several minutes on each step really seeing and feeling yourself doing those things. Do the first step before you do the next.
Here Is How
1) Think about something pleasant that happened to you before today. Keep on going back into your past until you find one moment that made you feel good. It could be learning to ride a bicycle or learning to swim or just a pleasant day or swinging or whatever. See yourself touching and seeing and hearing everything that is going on.
2) Take a deep breath. Think about where your are now. Have a look around the room and see something you have not noticed for a while. Now, think about your left foot. What is is doing at this moment. Focus on what your right hand is doing at the moment. Wiggle the toes on your right foot. If you are sitting feel the pressure on your left hip.Take another deep breath and listen to the sound it makes as you breathe in and breathe out.
3) Think about something you really want to do tomorrow, something you really like doing. And when tomorrow comes do it.
4) Now stand up and do your million dollar happy dance. Really get into it. Move your arms and legs and shout out yaaaaaah!
While you were doing these exercises did you once think, “I’m so depressed”? You see, YOU ARE in control of how you feel. Even if you only read what I said I’m willing to bet depression never once crossed your mind.
What I did in the exercise was to focus on a pleasant experience from the past. Then, I focused on what I was doing now, in the present. Then I planned to do something pleasant in the future.
Listening to your breathing while you take a deep breath is an excellent exercise if you are stressed. It allows you to relax and allows you to focus on this very moment where you are now.
What happened yesterday can not be changed. It has already happened. You do not want to spend all your life looking backward on something you cannot change. Yesterday is the experience that got you here. It is the experience that makes you who you are.
You can only do something in this present moment. Each moment you live is totally new. You can only do what you can right now.
If you plan for something pleasant to do each day, then you can also plan to do something that needs to be done. When you have done that, reward yourself by doing the pleasant thing you planned for yourself yesterday. That way, all the routine things that you need to do will get done and you won’t have to worry about doing them. And, you will end your day with something that makes you happy.
Each day go do some physical activity for 30 minutes. And while you are cycling or walking or running or whatever you want to do, go through steps 1 to 3 in your mind. Smile at everyone you see.