Sleeping for prolonged periods, loss of appetite, lack of interest in activities
that gave you joy before, feeling of alienation, having difficulty in
concentrating or remembering things, thinking about self-harm, feeling sad,
hopeless, or worried. Have you been experiencing such symptoms?
If yes, you might be prone to depression. Now, one very important thing to
keep in mind is that depression is a hypernym or umbrella term for many
different symptoms and it varies from person to person, if you have been
experiencing such symptoms, it’s best to consult a therapist and not selfdiagnose. If you have been diagnosed with depression, you might feel like
you are never going to get through it and that is completely alright- it won’t
be easy to come out of it, and it takes a lot of time for people to get better
but this varies from person to person. However, a huge number of people
can’t afford therapy for various reasons. These people can try to adopt selfhelp techniques in their daily routines to help deal with depression. A few of
these techniques are:
- Assign small tasks to yourself every day : It could be as simple as
brushing your teeth or eating breakfast or getting out of bedsomething that is realistic and doable at the moment for you.
Completing these tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment.
When you keep giving yourself more and more tasks, it might get too
overwhelming and may not be able to complete them all at once, this
is when you must take a step back and give yourself some time to try
again.
- Write a journal : Try expressing your thoughts, it could be in any
form, a story, poetry, or just simply writing words down. Try to identify
your symptoms and what triggers them, when you recognise what
your triggers are you can learn ways to better control them or deal
with them.
- Exercise : This can be any form of exercise like taking your pet (if
you have any) for a stroll, going to the gym or jogging in a park.
Studies have shown that any small form of exercise like jogging or
brisk walking, releases endorphins that can reduce depression.
- Try adopting a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset : For
example, if you cannot complete a task or you fail to do something,
do not say “I am so horrible at this” or “I can’t do anything” instead try
thinking of how you can learn from that mistake and how you can
improve for the next time.
- Try staying active : Staying active doesn’t necessarily have to be
some form of exercise but it could also be cleaning a small portion of
your room or your house every day, helping your parents/roommates
with chores, helping your sibling with their work, or you can also try
doing something you enjoy like reading a book, watching a movie
with your family, talking to people who can emotionally support and
encourage you. - You must remember that all of these coping skills can’t be adopted
overnight. On some days, you might feel like not doing anything and that is
absolutely okay. It’s okay to give yourself time and take things ‘one step at
a time.’ Keep going, you’ve got this