Tips to get out of depression

[coffeegirl73]

Am so down. I know it’s a phase and it will pass but it’s so debilitating. I have loads to do have let the house and garden slide and have a property inspection on Wednesday- rental house. Usually I enjoy doing stuff and get a kick out of it but everything feels lame and annoying voices in my head keep saying what’s the point. Really struggling. I know there isn’t a cure I have to jist get thru it. Anyone have any tips on how they get out of this kind of dark hole

Have a look at something called Brief behavioural activation. It’s a way of thinking an out doing more of what you enjoy, to increase mood, so you have more motivation to do the stuff you enjoy. It’s something you can do with a professional but k believes there may also be a self lead version out there.

also would be good to pop along to GP and see what they recommend too, there’s loads of help out there waiting for you. Can you talk to someone about it? Maybe make sure you leave the house each day, that helps me.

Have you applied for help over the NHS? You can self refer and they have a range of services. I found it incredibly helpful, particularly around motivation. Google tips for motivating yourself to achieve small goals. There's a range of techniques that really work like switching tasks, setting time limits etc. achieving things naturally raises happiness levels.

Set yourself a small task to do everyday. Something easy like the washing up or mopping the kitchen floor. Set the task on waking. Do it at some point in the day. You get a boost when you complete it and this can really help.

Thanks all. Yes I’m on anti depressants. I think I’ve had depression all my life really. Thanks for the tips. Reminded me to use an app I have for doing small tasks - just did some laundry and do feel a tiny bit better. It’s when you feel depressed that you literally can’t start anything. If I can trick my mind I often start to feel better and motivation builds. Even tho I know this it’s still so hard. I put it down to the disease it plays tricks on your brain.

I know it all too well. I'm physically ill which complicates things but depression is just as debilitating. You do have to ignore your mind saying you can't do it and just try to find the energy to do it. It's not easy but it gets easier as you feel the boost on achieving something small. Good luck. I've had depression since I was 16. It's not easy.

Start your day with a couple of routine tasks. I open the window in the bedroom first thing and make the bed, then carry through the laundry and set it going in the washing machine, before I do anything else. Just doing that sets the tone for the day for me. I feel like I've been useful first thing.

Try and go to bed and get up at the same time each day.

Plant a few flowers, herbs or a fruit bush. Even if you don't have much outside space, just a few herbs in a pot outside will boost your mood and make you feel like you've achieved something.

Something which helped me was trying to get into a daily routine and go the gym just to switch off my mind for bit and help me sleep, I know how hard it is and another technique is mind over matter, changing a negative thought to a positive.

Just do little things at a time. Don't force it.

Don't stay too long in bed, get up even if it's to sit on the sofa with a blanket.
Brush your teeth.
Drink something nutritious if you can't face food.
Watch an engaging film or series, not mindless tv.
Get some sun on your bare face and arms for at least 1/2 an hour a day, don't stay in the gloom.
Talk to or txt someone who makes you laugh.
Wear clean clothes, brush your hair.
Put nice smelling lotion on your skin.
Set small tasks, like clean an area of your living room or bedroom where you spend the most time.

If you know this is a phase, just give it time and recognise that everyone goes through these periods and we all deserve to take some time out. Make some nice plans for when things start getting better, like going on a trip to a city you like, or visiting a relative/friend. Actually visualise yourself doing it, going through all the motions and how good it will feel, make it feel inevitable that you'll get there.

Mind over matter and 'fake it 'till you make it' can work sometimes. But only with temporary blues/depression.

I remember after I had my first kid going through a period where I just didn't feel anything (baby blues, I guess), I didn't tell anyone. I could look at my baby and feel nothing, nothing made me feel anything, I knew I had to get out of it. So I just put on a smile and played with my baby, sang him songs, went through all the motions. Then gradually, all the fake happiness, it just started becoming reality. I did it to make my baby happy, I didn't want him to be affected, but it actually worked on me too. Obviously this was not PND, and I wouldn't suggest you could fake your way out of that, but it did work for the temporary baby blues. The key is don't lose faith that it will come back.

These are some of the things that have helped me -

Get up and dressed even if it's only into comfy joggers and a t-shirt. Make your bed. Splash your face with cold water and run your wrists under the cold tap too. Brush your teeth.

I think it's a really good idea to aim to complete a small task each day - wash the kitchen floor, do a load of laundry and hang it out, bag up the rubbish. You need the boost of that sense of accomplishment.

Try and get outside in the fresh air - even a 10 or 15 minute walk will boost your mood, do longer if you can.

Try and eat something nourishing and drink a few glasses of water throughout the day.

Finally, be kind to yourself - if you have a bad day and don't do any of these things, don't beat yourself up. Have a nice soak in the bath, get your comfy pj's on and watch or read something familiar and uplifting. Tell yourself it's ok and tomorrow is another day.

Some days even getting out of bed it a great achievement, cooking a meal feels like an epic accomplishment. There’s no point me telling you to just do small jobs as I understand how hard that can be. I’d ask ring the landlord agency and rearrange your appointment for the week after, but I’d be ringing the GP first thing Monday!

things that help me are having a good afternoon nap and sitting in the sunshine. I hope you feel better soon

Go outside every single day even if it's just a walk around the garden aim for a minimum of 20 minutes

Thanks so much everyone feel a lot better this week. Forcing myself through the weekend has helped. Thank goodness for this lovely weather it definitely helps and I’ve planted a few things in the garden and the roses are coming into bloom so things looking up. I hate those dark periods but at least I know it’s not forever. That helps. When I was younger I’d fall and fall into deep depressions but I have learnt some coping skills. The best thing a friend said to me - she suffers too - is when I told her how down I was she said - yeh it sucks doesn’t it. And for some reason it resonated. Yeh it does suck. But it will lift . Hope that mite help someone

That's really good to hear. One of the things that resonated with me when I was having a tough time was learning that really, happiness is just a bunch of chemicals being released, and they are released through the activities we choose to do. So its within your power to achieve happiness every day by the choices we make of how to fill our time.

Exercise, sitting in sunlight, socialising, clearing out a cluttered drawer, ticking some jobs off a list, cooking something from scratch, spending time with animals, laughing at a comedy programme, travelling to a new place, listening to uplifting music, booking something fun in the diary to look forward to..all of these things release the good stuff. And when I start to feel down I realise its because I've not been doing enough of the above.