Everyone feels low sometimes. Depression is a common mental health problem where we can have low mood for weeks or months at a time. When untreated depression symptoms can affect us for years. Now we know What is Depression?, now we can discuss tips on how to cope with depression and self-care tips for depression.
Diet and Lifestyle – Having a healthy lifestyle and routine can help with many parts of our mental health, which includes depression.
Hygiene – When we’re experiencing depression it can feel daunting and difficult to keep up with our hygiene. Sometimes small things can have a positive impact on how we feel, such as brushing our teeth or showering. Taking smaller steps may be easier, so instead of brushing your teeth you could use mouthwash. Instead of showering, you could use wet wipes.
Routine – When we have depression we can feel as though it’s hard to keep a routine, which can cause us to have a poor sleep pattern e.g. staying up late at night and sleeping throughout the day. An inconsistent routine can also affect our eating habits, so trying to keep our eating a balanced diet as regularly as normal can help.
Diet –Being depressed can make us feel less motivated to eat and drink. When we don’t eat and hydrate, we can worsen depression symptoms. Some food and drinks can affect how we feel so keeping a healthy balanced diet can help with our overall mood.
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- Proteins can help to regulate our thoughts and feelings; healthy fats are essential for our brains to function.
- Fruit and vegetables give us essential nutrients which help overall functions.
- Foods which give us slow-release energy can help potentially help us to be less irritable and depressed – e.g. nut, seeds and whole grain bread.
- Drinking plenty of drinks throughout the day (6 – 8 glasses a day). When we become dehydrated it can be even harder to focus and think clearly which could worsen our depression symptoms.
Sometimes food intolerances can affect our mood, so knowing how food affects each of us individually is important. Keeping a food diary could help us understand this more. Overall, it can be heard when we are feeling low to eat, so eating something, rather than nothing, is always the heathier option. So, it’s okay to eat something quick and convenient if that’s what feels possible in the moment.
Sleep Hygiene – Practicing good sleep hygiene can also help with getting with overall wellbeing and keeping a routine. We can try to limit food and alcohol around sleep, as well as reading a book or listening to an audiobook before bed to limit screen time - blue light that screens give off can disrupt our circadian rhythm. Having a regular bedtime routine can also help as it signals your brain get ready for sleep. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep at night.
Physical Activity - Studies find that being active and being physically active can help to reduce the symptoms of depression and boost our mood. This could be walking for 20 minutes each day, though everyone has different levels of mobility so find what works best for you. Spending time in nature in general can also help boost our mood and help with depression symptoms. Even just opening a window and trying to get some sunlight can make a difference if we can’t leave the house.
Avoiding Stimulants – Avoiding alcohol which can worsen depression can be very useful. Although these stimulants can cause temporary relief from depression, they can worsen the issues long-term as we are often using temporary solutions to avoid the root cause of the feeling, this is safety behaviour.
We can try to look after ourselves by making sure we get enough sleep, have a balanced diet, spend time outside or by avoiding drugs and alcohol. To get more tips on how to look after yourself check out my blog Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential. If we are struggling with depression, it can be helpful to imagine how you would look after someone you really cherish and care about – This could be a friend or family member in need.
Self-care Box – Having a box of things that bring us comfort when we are struggling can be valuable. This box could have in your favourite box of chocolates, cozy slippers, a blanket, a calming face mask, your favourite candle, a list of your comfort tv shows, movies or activities like reading. You can also have a list of your favourite comforting sayings or quotes that are helpful. This box of things can be useful for when you’re low because when you’re low you may find it hard to find ways to comfort yourself in the moment.
Mindfulness – Mindfulness is an Eastern philosophy which is a practice that can help us to notice what’s happening in the moment, both inside and outside ourselves. Studies have found that depression can be managed with the help of mindfulness. A daily mindfulness practice could simply focus on our breathing or noticing the sensations of things as we go through our everyday lives - like our food, or how the air around us feels.
Something New – By trying something new, we can break some of our negative and unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving. This can help to improve our mood. This could be starting a new hobby, like reading, running, or painting. We could also try learning a new skill, such as a new language. We could try new food or cuisine. Trying something new shouldn’t feel like work, it may challenge us but not put too much pressure on ourselves. It should be an activity we’ll enjoy or have always wanted to try but realistic. This can help raise our motivation, if it’s too much pressure or unrealistic it could worsen our motivation.
Creativity – Doing something creative can help manage depression. This could be photography, painting, dancing, crafting or baking. Again, something enjoyable and avoid pressuring ourselves to do it, or to be good at it.
Setting Small Goals – Depression can often leave us feeling stuck, unmotivated and lacking hope. This is because depression can often warp our perspective of the effort of things and the rewards of doing things. Setting small goals can allow us to feel a sense of accomplishment and build momentum for future wins giving us emotional relief. Small goals give us structure and clarity when we may be in a foggy mental space. Also, we can gain positive reinforcement which can boost our self-worth.
The small win should be something that feels doable where we are in each given moment both mentally and physically - not where we think we should be while managing depression. Maybe our room is a mess and needs cleaning, maybe we just start with tidying our bed or a corner in our room. Maybe we haven’t exercised in a long time, maybe stretch for a minute or two.
Never feel ashamed of our starting point, everyone has a different starting point. Make sure we remember our wins, it’s easy to forget them when we move onto other things but make sure to spend time celebrating and noting our wins. No matter how small a win is, it is still a win.
Journalling – Whether it’s physical or digital, journalling can help us to express and process our thoughts and feelings. Every day in our journals we can write what’s happened during the day, our feelings and thoughts during and after everything has happened. We could also include what did or did not go right in the day, what we’re grateful or not grateful for. Our journals are for us to write what’s in our minds with no filter or structure. By journalling not only can it help us to process our feelings and emotions, but it can also help us to see if our feelings are connected to something we’ve been doing, giving us a better insight into our depression and what may help or hinder the symptoms. Journalling can also help us to see and remember that each day is unique, and our emotions and thoughts can change each day, allowing us to have hope for each day. One day may be hard to get out of bed, but the next you may be able to get outside and enjoy the day.
Support Network – Find someone to trust to speak with, someone who will listen, show that they care, and can help. Sometimes we don’t feel like we can speak to someone we know about our problems, but there are confidential helplines we can call to speak to someone, like the Samaritans on 116 123. Alternatively, we could speak to a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist.
We could make connections with people who have similar experiences, who could help. This could be from family or friends, or through local social groups. Also, when possible, focus more on positive relationships - people who make us feel good about ourselves.
Treatment – If we are feeling depressed for a prolonged period (more than 2 weeks for most of the day) then we need to speak with our GP. Your GP will likely offer self-help resources first. Then if that isn’t working, we may be offered to try medication and talking therapies. Unfortunately, it is likely that currently we may be added to a long waitlist for counselling with the NHS. Additionally, there are many different types of counselling, finding the right one can take time. Our doctor can help us pick out something that works for us. Instead, we could search for a private integrative counsellor who tailors their counselling methodology to work with each client so that depending on how our depression presents, they can work with us to find a positive outcome for each of us.
When medication and counselling don’t work there is still hope. There are less commonly offered interventions which could help if we have severe depression and the previous treatments have. Which is why it is important to keep speak to our GP and keep track of how we are feeling with them.
How can Counselling and Psychotherapy help? – Counsellors and psychotherapists will listen to us in a safe and confidential space without judgment. So, we can feel free to explore our thoughts and feelings, so that we can acknowledge them and accept them. Counsellors and psychotherapists who use Person-Centred and Psychodynamic techniques may also help us to find a root cause of our depression and explore this. Counsellors and Psychotherapists will also help to find ways to use different strategies and self-care methods that work best for each person since person’s depression may have different causes.
Immediate help – If you find yourself in crisis and need immediate support, please contact the appropriate emergency services (111 for urgent support, 999 for risk-to-life situations), your G.P., the Single Point of Access Team (SPA) on 0800 183 1485. For support you can also contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org, or you can find your local NHS Crisis Management Team through this link: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline
If you have any further questions or want to know more about counselling for depression, please feel free to get in touch.
