4 Ways to Overcome Depression

Depression can negatively affect our privacy, work and sense of importance. It comes swiftly, sometimes gradually, the way the weather changes. So much sometimes it is arduous to see anything else than the cloud that surrounds us, this unavoidable aura.

If nothing is done about it, depression can snowball into serious problems.

Now, whenever this "cloud of helplessness" envelopes you and depression makes you feel too tired to do any business, these simple and time-tested remedies will help you take a small step in the right direction

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1. Make yourself go to bed at the same time every day

There is adequate research backing this. A lot of scientific research proves that a good way to make young children go to bed is to regularly create the same conditions at the same time every evening, which contributes to drowsiness. Well, turns out it works for adults as well!

For example, my actions in case I feel depression approaching are as follows: 45 minutes before the time I choose to sleep, I turn off all gadgets and TVs, take a warm shower, put on my favorite pajamas, turn off all light sources except the table lamp near the bed, and then read a good book that fascinates me, but does not emotionally drag me. This ritual frees my consciousness from bad thoughts. I finish reading exactly as soon as my eyelids get heavier. Bam! - and I'm terribly sleepy, so my last thoughts before falling asleep have nothing to do with the things that make me sad.

2. Write about yourself, but differently this time

When we are depressed, we are consumed with our own thoughts, with our selves. One trick to get out of this is to do this differently, to be an observer this time. An outward introspection but an introspection nonetheless.

When a writer creates his story, he can choose the face of the story: first(experience) or third(observer). The first-person story: "I went to the store", becomes, as an observer - "She went to the store".

The essence of the trick is this: to talk about yourself as another character in a story. You can write your own story (preferably) or talk it inside yourself (which, however, also works well), for example:

"John had a really terrible day. The morning started with him spilling coffee on his shirt while he was on his way to work. John thought that such troubles happened to him regularly, and only with him. But maybe he's seeing too much to this. What is a coffee spill anyway? There is more work to be done. Why spend the entire day fixating on spilled coffee?"

3. Drink twice as much as usual

It's a pretty strange idea, isn't it? Not quite. Your brain will naturally consume water in the same way as a gas machine. Research has shown that people who consume a lot of diuretic coffee might alter with healthy brain function because they lower their body water levels. When you give your body a large portion of water, you can notice that the brain begins to generate random fun thoughts that will help you get back to normal.

4. Bite an elephant

Psychiatrists tell us that depression has biochemical soil. I'm sure they're right, but if depression is triggered by events in life - setting fire at home, parting with someone, your child's bad behavior, approaching financial collapse or getting stranded for too long, health problems, anything - then even if you start handfuls of eating antidepressants, you'll still need to do something about all these events in your life. If you have given up therapy (or can't afford it), then you have to cope with it yourself.

One day I heard a rather casual question in someone’s speech:

He asked, "How would you eat an elephant?"

The simple answer was: "one bite at a time".

Of course, no sane counselor would advise you to add an elephant to your menu for the day. It's an analogy to show that if you have a big task before you, you should start with a small piece of it. You can't cope with all the negative events in your life in an hour. You may not be able to do it in a year either. But meanwhile, there's no point in staying depressed and hoping your "elephant in the room" goes somewhere on its own. You have to gather all your will in your fist for one little thing: bite it. That's what anyone can do.

Depression brings with it a kind of hopeless cocktail of feelings such as helplessness and hopelessness, marinated in devastation. Part of your treatment is to find strength for one small step, because one small step leads to the second, that to the next, and after a while you will be able to observe progress. This very progress will be your cable, slowly lifting you from the ditch you’ve found yourself.

You may feel like you're depressed, but it may not be depression. Depression is a feeling, just as happiness, sadness, anger, etc. You can't constantly feel the same thing, and none of the feelings can characterize a person as interesting, complex and unique as you are completely.

Find the strength to take at least one of the four steps, and quite soon you will find yourself finding the clarity you need.