To further my efforts to be a more ethical doctor rather than persisting as the greedy salesman doctor who only cared about money and food, here is another blog post of free information for dealing with mental health problems. As I stated in the last blog post, Warning signs of suicide, severe depression / suicidal thinking has always been one of my favorite medical problems to treat. This will be my second blog post in a row where I keep things helpful and down to business, rather than talking so much about me and my personal life. Yay!
Cope with depression without seeking medical help
If you are mildly or moderately depressed, or know someone who is depressed I recommend reading this list closely, and take this advice before seeing a physician such as myself.
Depression is the most common mental health problem which effects people from all different walks of life. It is one of those conditions which only takes a half a brain to know that it definitely doesn't mean you're crazy, although too often it is seen as something which only weak minded people succumb to which is not true. This is a basic guide to dealing with cases of depression which are not severe. If you have doubt about your own situation, see a doctor (I recommend myself, my rates are flexible and I love helping people.)
Steps
- Do something for others: This will build self esteem and create gratitude in others. Make sure that you start small, you wouldn't want to get taken advantage of and make yourself feel worse.
- Use positive affirmations: Repeat positive statements about yourself, such as: "I can do it. I'm quite alright. Everything is getting better, the right things will fall into place." Find other things like that to tell yourself(no need to boast to other people quite yet).
- Replace negative thoughts with positive ones - Kill the ANTs: Instantly when an Automatic Negative Thought or feeling appears change your conscious mind: you can only think about one thing at a time, so stop negative thoughts by filling up with positive ones. You can take baby steps with this - don't expect to have excellent thoughts the day after reading this article.
Talk to your closest friends, if you even have any. The first step and step is to let people you care about know how you're feeling. By doing this, you are taking some control, building esteem and growing a support base. When doing this, tell only some people you can definitely trust. Preferably it should be a friend or family member who hasn't ever said or done anything cruel to you, since a person like this might strike again.
If you don't have any friends, come up with some nice imaginary friends to talk to. They might boring but at least you can easy trust them.- Talk to a counselor or doctor at least once (like me). Nobody (unless an extreme condition resides) will have you put in the loony bin at the first mention of being depressed. Medication or further counseling would probably be suggested, but the decision to take these recommendations are always yours and they could not obligate you to do so unless there is something really serious going on such as blatant self harm. This is another example of taking control of your own life and thereby reducing depression.
- Get a new hobby. New, fun and interesting things such as a hobby increases your motivation, gives you a diversion and helps with concentration. Remember that a hobby can be social, and if its active, can help you sleep. Being social in and of itself is activity so positive interaction throughout the day can help prepare your mind better for sleep at night. Insomnia is something which makes a lot of people feel bad about themselves.
- Write down your feelings. Put some alone time aside to try to understand yourself a little more. Don't be afraid of honesty as people who lie to themselves do have to wait longer for to achieve their goals. If you have privacy concerns, write and then suitably destroy the writings. Another thing you could do is write in a coded language which you could easily remember and understand so that if your writings were found, they may not give insight to the person who is snooping. Understand that depression can be a very solitary illness, and so understanding yourself can make you more at ease with yourself. Your reasons for being depressed can be quite different from someone else's.
- Make black-and-white decisions. Don't procrastinate. You either will or won't get out of bed. You will or won't visit your friend's house. Don't think about it - do it! There's nothing to lose. Take control of yourself. When you allow yourself too many options for habits which are either good or bad, you're more likely to be lazy and not make the right decisions.
- Make a list of 5 or more things you want to do with your life. Do your very best to work towards them. When you finish doing everything on your list, make another one. These can be any kinds of goals that you want.
Tips
- Do watch your money. It is common for depressed people to go on spending sprees, which makes a lot of sense because they're often seeking instant gratification.
- Enjoy your work. If you don't enjoy your work, talk to someone about how they enjoy it; The right suggestions on how to enjoy work vary from job to job as they also vary from person to person. If you feel you can't enjoy your work, find new work if possible (I know the economy is still a big factor).
- Keep your 5 (or more) things to do with your life simple, achievable, and specific. Don't write "be a good person", write "have more patience with the elderly", or "ask [person you have a crush on] to go out on a date with you".
That is not a comprehensive guide to dealing with depression. As I said, it is a basic list which you should attempt before finding a therapist or a doctor. I should point out that finding a good therapist is not easy, since personal problems are more complicated than physical problems. In my opinion, therapy is just as much of an art as it is a science. One therapists skills might be good for some clients but certainly not all.
