How to combat depression
At its worst, depression can make it impossible to find joy in anything that used to make you happy, and cause you to lose sense of what makes life worth living. If and when this happens, there are several things you can do to help manage the symptoms of depression, minimising the impact it has on your everyday routine.
Realistically, “combatting depression” is probably the wrong term to use here. Supressing or fighting the thoughts and emotions behind your depression can be unconstructive, and actually give them a stronger hold over your emotional well-being.
Of course, if you feel unable to cope with these negative feelings, or are struggling to understand the causes behind how you’re feeling, seeking therapy for depression is an effective solution. We will cover this more in the “How to treat depression” section. For now, we’ve listed five immediate steps you can take to try and lessen how much depression impacts your life:
Stay Social
Isolation leaves you alone with depressive thoughts, making it difficult to take your mind off them. Staying connected with your family and close friends helps with depression, and gives you someone to talk to when you’re at your lowest. You don’t necessarily need to talk about your feelings (although in most cases this does help), but just having a general conversation and interacting can help take your mind off your negative feelings.
Healthy Diet
Some lose their appetite completely when they are depressed, while others find comfort in eating. Both result in an unhealthy diet, which allows depression to survive and thrive. To help reduce the impact of these feelings, a balanced consistent diet is incredibly useful.
In particular, the following six foods are tipped to help improve symptoms of depression:
- Turkey – due to its tryptophan levels, turkey helps boost serotonin production, a chemical that naturally helps your body feel better
- Walnuts – one of the richest sources of Omega-3, walnuts support your brain’s health
- Tuna – speaking of Omega-3 acids, tuna and other fatty fishes offer the same support to the mind and body
- Yogurt – as a food rich in calcium, protein and Vitamin D, yogurt and other low-fat dairy products can induce a sense of well-being and relaxation
- Green tea – the theanine found in tea leaves (as well as certain mushrooms) provides anti-stress benefits to drinkers, helping to combat depression
- Dark chocolate – in moderated doses, dark chocolate also releases serotonin to make your body feel happier (and it’s a nice occasional treat!)
Please consult with your doctor or dietician about potential improvements to your diet that can have a positive impact on your mood.
Light Exercise
Does exercise help with depression? Or is it just something people say?
Exercise can be an effective treatment in itself for depression. This is outlined by NICE (The National Institution for Health and Care Excellence) in their recommended treatments for mild and moderate depression. To prove effective, this exercise needs to be intense and regular, but with this dedication, exercise can prove as effective as medication.
Aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of activity a week in whatever form suits you and your lifestyle best. Outdoors or indoors, in a team or individually, establish a pattern that suits you and stick to it as best you can.
Improve Your Sleep
When people are coping with depression or generally feeling low, it is easy to fall into bad sleeping habits, most notably staying up late and sleeping during the day. If this is a struggle for you, try to pick the same time at night to get in bed and to wake up in the morning, as this routine will help you feel more energized during the day. In addition, avoid spending too much time in and around your bed – establish that it is there for sleep.
Face Your Fears
Feeling low or depressed can result in avoiding situations that cause feelings of anxiousness, such as social situations. If you notice this happening to you, facing up to these situations early ensures you avoid falling into repeated bad habits, and gives you a welcome sense of accomplishment at a difficult time.
Try the NHS’s tips on overcoming fears for more information to help you manage depression.
How to deal with depression alone
Dealing with depression alone is not easy, and might mean you don’t get that push towards specialist support from your loved ones. But, you might not feel comfortable speaking to someone yet about the problems you are facing.
Before seeking professional help with depression in the form of therapy or medication, you might want to attempt a few self-help techniques. If you are persistently feeling low and depressed, it’s important to engage external support as soon as possible. However, with mild or moderate depression, self-help tips can make a noticeable difference to your mood.
Establish a Routine
Our first self-help tip for depression is to work on establishing a routine. Not having regular patterns for eating, sleeping or doing important tasks can leave you feeling disorganised and stressed, which could cause further depression. By simply writing to-do lists or creating a weekly calendar, you make every day more manageable and set times for self-care and relaxation.
Keep a Mood Diary
Tracking how your mood changes and evolves over time can help you determine if your depression is getting better or worse, as well as at what times and in what situations you struggle most. Collecting this data helps you deal with depression by giving you guidance on your unique triggers, and a platform to start challenging unhelpful thoughts.
Read Books or Listen to Music
Depression can result in a noticeable drop in concentration levels. By devoting time to read or listening to music, you can improve your concentration through the words and sounds, as well as improve your mood.
Set Realistic Goals
Completing achievable goals on a regular basis can help you feel more accomplished and fulfilled, rather than focusing on negatives in your life. These don’t have to be huge tasks, it can be as straightforward as having a shower, calling a friend or cooking a meal. Reaching these small goals can give you little boosts of self-confidence and happiness, motivating you onto bigger challenges.
Be Kind to Yourself
Remember that nobody is perfect, and if you miss one of your goals or make a mistake, it isn’t the end of the world. Being kind and fair to yourself is at the heart of much self-help for depression. Treat yourself as you’d treat a friend, focus on things that help make you happy, and reward yourself when you do something positive (while avoiding beating yourself up if you don’t).
Join a Peer Group
When you’re dealing with depression alone, it can be an isolating experience. You might feel you’re the only person in the world that feels this down. Joining a peer support group introduces you to others that are going through similar issues, allowing you to share tips and stories to support how you manage your depression.
How to help someone with depression
The support of loved ones can play a big role in a person’s recovery from depression. Just having someone understanding to talk to can do the world of good when dealing with depression. And, even if your friend, family member or other acquaintance does not want to discuss their problems yet, if you notice them displaying symptoms, there are ways to help them cope with depression without drawing attention to it.
Ways to help someone with depression
- Let them know you’re there to listen whenever they have something on their mind, even if they don’t feel like talking right now. Remember to stay open-minded and non-judgmental.
- Make the extra effort to stay in touch with them, as they may not have the energy or motivation to keep in contact with you.
- Gently encourage them to try some self-help techniques to manage their depression, and even join them if possible to keep them company.
- Don’t be critical over their condition, as this can put them under too much pressure to change immediately, or feel guilty for how they’re affecting others.
- Don’t act like there’s a deadline for depression or that you need to be responsible for finding the solution – they will feel better with the right support in time.
- Be sure to take care of yourself as well, as supporting another person could put significant strain on your own well-being.
- Finally, get information about the professional services that are available to treat their depression, such as therapy, support groups or medication.