Fighting depression: Get your life back.



Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005

by
Wellness Counseling Center

Everything Gray? When a bad day turns into Everyday

Life becomes irritating, then it lets you down. You’re disappointed, jaded, bitter, and sad. You don’t seem to care much any more. You don’t care if the house is dirty, you don’t care that there is a stack of bills, and you sure don’t feel like working or playing. You want to be left alone, or with a misery in company. You are depressed.

Everyone has a bad day or bad week. But when you have a bad few weeks, be careful, you may be entering depression. Depression is such a deep dark hole in the ground that not much will reach you and you won’t try to reach for anyone or anything. Watch for the warning signs and fight them.

Spiraling Down

*Always tired. Sleeping more, taking naps, you don’t have the energy to do much.

*Not sleeping well. Difficult to fall asleep. Can’t stay asleep. Weird or bad dreams. Waking up too early.

*Grumpy. Everything irritates you. You snap at people. You find that nothing seems to be easy.

*You eat too much or too little. Nothing sounds good, besides it would take too much energy to just feed yourself. Or-you are always snacking, eating, thinking about things that sound good and comforting to eat-ice cream, cookies, cake, chips, pot roast, whatever. But either way, all of the sudden you are not eating as much as you should or you start eating much more than you should.

*Crying spells. Standing in the kitchen, driving home, sitting in bed—anywhere. You start crying, bawling, and can’t stop and might not be sure what you are crying about.

*Leave me alone. You don’t want nor need friends or family. You want to stay in bed and just be left alone. Isolating yourself from others send you further down. No one to catch you? You might have pushed them away.

*Angry. You just can not believe how horrible people can be, or how inconsiderate or rude. You are mad. You raise your voice or yell. Disrespect, intentional or non-intentional doesn’t matter. You are all set, done, finished, angry and bitter.

*Deep sadness. Everything hurts- your past, your present, your job, everything makes you sad. Loss, death, rejection, endings, changes, physical disorders, financial problems. How can you be happy with everything you have to deal with. You are carrying a backpack of heavy rocks and you are tired and sad that you have to do it.

*You don’t feel well. Nothing big, just achy, tired, headaches, stomach hurts once in a while. You don’t care. You feel hopeless, nothing will ever get better.

*You feel helpless, there’s nothing you can do to change things. Nothing makes you happy. Promotion? Awards? Big deal. New baby? More work. Good relationship? You are bored and don’t care about the relationship. Nothing thrills you anymore. Be careful about looking for thrills, they usually come with a big price tag. Or was that what you really wanted?

These are many of the signs of depression. You can try and stop this fast moving spiral.

Stop the spin down.

*Get out and do something. Doesn’t matter what it is. Paint, start a project, walk around, take a drive, visit some friends or family. Force yourself.

*Keep a routine. Don’t sleep all day, skip meals and miss work. Follow the routine you should be following.

*Problem solve. Something causing a problem? Money? Relationship? Family? Friends? Work it out, it is worth it.

*Take good care of yourself. Get enough sleep, exercise, clean the house, take showers, dress nice. Treat yourself well.

*Care about something outside of your life. Be informed, get involved, care about what your neighborhood looks like, care about your friends. Show you care. Check up on someone sad. Visit your family, bring something or some good stories, remember people’s birthday, Congratulate someone’s good luck. Be happy for someone else, especially when you are not happy right now.

*Reflect. Be quiet, listen to your thoughts. Write without thinking and see what comes out. Think of others, who comes to mind? Talk to them, write about them, or show how you feel about them. Be calm. What comes to mind? Write it down. What are you angry at? What do you feel like? What do you hope will happen? What do wish never happened?

*Be grateful. Write gratitudes. What are you grateful for? Something good happened today. It was sunny. It rained. It snowed. A friend called right when you needed them. You didn’t have to work. You saw a sailboat or an amazing tree. You are alive. Write them everyday.

*Let someone be there. Is someone trying their hardest to reach out to you? Calling, stopping by, writing emails? Are you ignoring this loving support. Even if it seems like a bother to make a call. Do it.

*Write down the little things that irritate you. Sure, "Don’t sweat the small stuff." But remember, "it’s the little things that kill." Write down everything from the loose door knob and the way there is never a towel to dry your hands on to the back stabbing person you know. Fix what you can. Cope with the rest.

These are some basic tips. Depression is serious. It is a deadly condition. Without treatment or remission depression can end in death, suicide, or self-mutilation. There are many ways to hurt yourself. Drinking too much, excessive drug use, driving recklessly, unsafe sex with strangers, taking exceptional risks, starving yourself, eating too much. Suicide is not an option, if it has even crossed you mind-tell someone, talk to a counselor, get help. Don’t have the energy or motivation to get help, then try it with support that you can access from your home. This is where online counseling can help stop the spiral down. Especially when someone has lost so much hope, they don’t care to leave or talk.

Elizabeth Roe 2005

http://www.wellnesscounselingcenter.com



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