Battling Depression: Tips for Recovery
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The symptoms are different for everyone. For some, it’s withdrawing from society, others lose weight, and a lot more suffer from prolonged sadness and chronic fatigue. Although the symptoms differ, there’s only one clinical definition for it: depression.
Depression is one the largest medical factors that has been plaguing both Canada and the U.S. for the last few years. The major problem with depression is that most cases can go undiagnosed for months, if ever. The first step to battling depression is to get help.
Luckily, there is an endless amount of resources available online that are designed to help us fight depression. Here are a few tips that can help you fight depression to help you get started on that path to recovery.
System of Supportive Relationships
Recovery from depression could be difficult, which is why it’s best not to go down this path alone. One of the first things you may want to do when you begin treatment is to ask for support from your closest friends and family members. This will allow you to share with them what you’re going through instead of keeping your feelings bottled up. By doing this, you are also encouraging your family and friends to include you in social activities, which is recommended for recovering patients.
Change Your Way of Thinking
If you begin to doubt your ability to fight depression, you have already lost the battle. In most cases of depression, it’s difficult to change negative thinking and perception. By breaking free from this mindset, you are challenging your own perception of the world around and transition to a much more positive way of thinking.
If you fall back into that negative mindset, don’t punish yourself. Instead, keep a “negative thoughts” journal. This way, they’re released from your mind and onto the paper, allowing you to move on from that mindset. The greatest thing you can do when you’re battling depression is to surround yourself with positive people, which may help you clear away any negativity that could be building in your mind.
Take Care
Taking care of yourself means getting back to a healthy lifestyle. This means getting plenty of sleep, eating during regular meal times, getting plenty of exercise and getting back into a daily routine. This will allow you to keep yourself preoccupied, which will help elevate your mood. Taking care of yourself could also mean taking medication if your doctor prescribes it. Some doctors recommend their patients to buy Cymbalta or related medications to help regulate their anxiety levels and improve cognition.
Get Smart
Getting over depression doesn’t happen overnight. Some people battling depression don’t understand this concept, and many times become discouraged when they don’t see results in mood or behavior. In order to get better, it’s essential for patients to make SMART goals, meaning they must be specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding and time-limited. Don’t expect too much from yourself, you have to be reasonable.
Know if You Need More Help
It’s your job to know whether you need additional help. If you need to, seek professional help. Even if you feel like you’re a lost cause, be assured that you’re not.
Depression could be a difficult burden to bear, but with the help of your friends and family, a change in mindset, structured daily activities and obtainable goals, the road to recovery will be a lot easier.
Battling Depression: Tips for a better Recovery guest post by Becky W.
Thank you for this post.