Dealing with Depression

Before I started writing this post I thought I would have a little look at the advice that is given by the NHS on how to deal with depression. I have to say, it is spot on. There are 6 main points. The truth is that if you're reading this post you have also probably read the stuff on the NHS website. Maybe you found this blog. For me, when I read a blog I always feel more connected, it doesn't seem like a company shilling out information for clicks, it seems like its a real person with real experience.

Don't Withdraw.

This is probably one of the toughest things to do, when you feel depressed the last thing you might want to do, it might seem that the world is against you. You might want to just hide away in your room. This isn't good to say the least. Stay in touch with the people around you. Be it friends or family reach out and let them know. The more people that know the more people can support you and help. 

Be active and Healthy

Yeah, trust the personal trainer to mention about being active. This just goes without saying. When you workout your body produces endorphins. Go for a jog, go for a walk I've mentioned group fitness classes before, I genuinely believe that they're great. 

Granted you can release endorphins through having sex or eating chocolate... or even both. But exercise is going to be the best way, you'll feel better physically as well. 


As well as exercise just changing your diet can help you feel a lot better - the old analogy of "If you put bad petrol in a car it's going to run badly" works the same for the body, if you fill your body full of rubbish then naturally you're going to feel rubbish. Drink more water and eat a banana. It's not going to fix everything but be more mindful of what you're putting in your body. 

If you want to have a treat every now and then, don't feel bad. This is something that I can't stress enough. If you end up sticking to a better, more mindful diet and you then slip up and have a chocolate bar (probably galaxy) then you're not suddenly going to un-do your weeks of commitment.

Accept Failure. 

When you're depressed, there may be times that you that you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone, if this doesn't go as planned then don't feel bad. Accept that things haven't gone the way that you wanted them to go and then pick yourself back up and try again. Doesn't have to be the next day, but at some point - but don't procrastinate. Face the things that make you scared.

No progress is made from within a comfort zone.

Look after yourself.

This one might go without saying but I think that self care is very important. This is me talking from experience here. When my depression was at it's worst I found that there were days where I would just stay in the clothes that I slept in and then go to sleep in those clothes, I would get changed if I knew I was going out but other than that I lived in the same pair of trousers and same oversized jumper. My personal hygiene was really bad too. 

It's vital that if you're going through anything to remember to look after yourself. This can be something as simple as just drinking more water, going to have a shower when you're feeling down. Getting a hair cut. Eating some fruit. But make sure that you do it. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.

Personally I don't think that I'm very good at talking about well-being, I can only talk about what I know. I also know someone who is much better at this than I am. My girlfriend runs a blog called Tosipivity. She had an excellent post about self care which you can also find here.

Importantly, have fun with what you do and make sure that you look after yourself,

#beahero


Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash