Steps to Overcoming Depression and Developing Healthy Habits

Steps to Overcoming Depression and Developing Healthy Habits Joyce Mae Alyssa R. Mandanas Overcoming depression have three major steps, these includes understanding your depression, improving your life, and developing healthier habits. Introduction â€Å"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.† John 16:33. This bible verse says that, in our life, we’ll experience a lot of wars, disasters, problems and struggles. Our life isn’t perfect, not all are happy and miserable. God doesn’t wants us feel down, depress or weak. God is just challenging us, that’s why, we are given such problems. Problems that we, ourselves, can solve. We are His sons and daughters, He doesn’t wants us to suffer. But, we are the one who’s giving the reason why we suffer. Just take a look on God’s sacrifices for our sins, it’s like the height of Goliath while our problem is like the height of David, but, He doesn’t give up. He overcome the world. So, it means that, we can solve our problems. Don’t give up. Don’t feel hopeless and depressed, it won’t help you and it ca n’t change everything. Every problem has a solution. God is always with us. Believe, trust, and open our hearts in Him. According to (Kloopers, n.d.), â€Å"Depression is like a black tunnel with no light†. We feel hopeless, unloved, tired, and empty. But, are we just staying on that black tunnel and letting it overrule and destroy our life? Even we know that there’s a hope for every time we feel hopeless, an unconditional love when we feel unloved, and a new beginning for every miserable life. Childbirth, menopause, loss of loved ones, relationship troubles, medical diagnosis, natural disasters, financial difficulties, job problems, genetics and social isolation are life events that cause depression. But despite of those life events, we have steps for overcoming it. Dealing with depression isn’t that easy and quick but also isn’t that hard. It takes a lot of time for us to feel better. A way out for this depression is on ourselves. It needs action and perseverance in order to perform the steps needed for the recovery. Overcoming depression have three major steps, these includes understanding your depression, improving your life, and developing healthier habits. Follow this steps, it will lead us to right way and we will never go wrong. It is definitely challenging because the things that can help you the most are the things that is the most difficult to do. Hard work, patience and perseverance is badly needed. Start by setting small goals, and within that, you’ll build something. It is difficult to do, but it is not impossible. All of your hardships can return to something better. Always think positively so you can go along until you’re recovered already. Overcoming depression have three major steps, these includes understanding your depression, improving your life, and developing healthier habits. Discussion Understanding your depression Understanding your depression is the first major step to overcome depression. You need to recognize first if you are suffering from the symptoms of depression. The following symptoms are: if you feel hopeless, worthless, irritated, tired on everything you do even if it is just simple and easy, and bored on things you love the most. If you eat a lot or lost your appetite, having sleepless nights or excessive sleep, choosing to be alone rather than having social interaction with others and thinking of suicide. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you are prone to depression (Serendipitee, Bawens, Jeff, 2014). If you experienced those symptoms of depression, then go to a doctor and ask for help. Doctors can also recognize if there are health problems or medical causes that can trigger depression like illnesses, genetic causes, and addiction to drugs or alcohols. Illnesses like anxiety disorder can cause you depression because it is a mental disorder and the feeling of worry and fear are constant. Genetics can also cause depression because if someone in your family that is your first degree relative who has depression and left untreated, it has a greater chance that you can suffer depression. It can also pass through your blood or genes. However, most of the people who have depression is not because of family history. Addiction to drugs can also cause depression because of its side effects. Taking drugs or even drinking alcohol won’t help you overcome depression but rather it will worsen it. Maybe when you’re taking or drinking alcohol you’ll forget your problems but af ter that, you’ll think of your problem again. You’re just wasting your time and even your money (Serendipitee, Bawens, Jeff, 2014). If you consulted your doctor and you have decided that you will take, or won’t take any prescription drugs, it is better to search also for a cause that makes you depress, so that you can be alert to prevent those events happen in your life. Here are some events that can worsen your depression: having a fail romantic relationship, trouble in one member of your family, failure on your courses, feeling unhappy and worthless on your job, feeling uncomfortable with your environment, and having financial difficulties. Having a conflict with your partner or with one member of your family can cause depression because you’re not okay. You’re throwing words that can hurt each other. You’re angry that’s why, negative thoughts lead you’re fight. You don’t think about the better way for you to be okay but rather, you think of thoughts that deepen your fight. Pride of each other overrules. Until it came to the point that you hurt each other physica lly and emotionally. After the fight, you’ll remember all the things that your partner or family member did and said, and you’ll feel so down, insulted, bad and you think of negative thoughts like he/she will break me up, we won’t see each other again and he/she might find other better than me. It is usually happening that after the fight, you don’t have communication, but not permanently, and that is added to cause you depression because you’re going to miss him/her and be worried. Failure on your courses can cause depression because the idea of failing is hard to accept. You’ll think that your parents will be angry at you and then you might start comparing yourself to others that pass the course. You’ll feel weak, sad, down and worthless. You might lose your interest in studying and start rebelling. It is also the same if you feel worthless on your job. Experiencing financial difficulties can cause depression because you’re h aving problems in terms of money. Financial problem is the major stressor in our life. And all of us believe that, money is so important in our lives. If you don’t have enough money, you can’t support your basic needs and you can also stop schooling. And it is literally a big impact in our lives. It can also make you stress because of the deadline payment of bills, if you fail on paying it, you’ll have no supply of electricity and water. The demand of the lender wherein you borrow money can also make you stress, if you don’t pay on its due date, you’ll have a bad record and maybe he/she won’t lend money to you again. It can ruin your life and you’ll feel so weak, bad, down, and sometimes, others think of suicide (Beyondblue, n.d.). Styron begins his story in October 1985 when he flies to  Paris  to receive the prestigious  Prix mondial Cino Del Duca. During this trip, the writers mental state begins to deteriorate rapidly. Using a mix of anecdotes, speculation, and reportage, Styron reflects on the causes and effects of depression, drawing links between his own illness and that of other writers such as  Randall Jarrell,Albert Camus,Romain Gary, and  Primo Levi, as well as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln  and activist  Abbie Hoffman. Styron connects the onset of his depression with his sudden termination of his lifelong alcohol use, and argues that his condition was likely exacerbated by careless prescription of the drug  Halcion. His depression culminated in a bout of intense suicidal ideation (though he never made an actual suicide attempt), which led to hospitalization and recovery (Styron, 1990). PARAPHRASE You can write in a journal. Writing in a journal can have peace in your mind. You can write anything about what happen that day. Your journal can be your best friend and listener. You can open what you feel in your journal. But it is better that you’ll write down positive things, so that you’ll never think of negative things. You can also monitor your recovery throughout depression. You can also reflect your improvements in every day (Kloopers, n.d.). Improving your life Improving your life is the second major step to overcome depression. You need to implement some drastic changes. Create a positive atmosphere in your life and start to forget all the negative and undesirable events out of your life. Get rid of unhealthy relationships for you to stop making feel worse. Have a serious talk to your enemy, say all you want to say, let your anger and hatred come out but don’t let them to lead your conversation.. You need to do this so that, there are no bad feelings build in your heart. If you seriously hate your career and studies, it’s time to find and follow what you want. If you can’t stand in your environment with your enemy, find a new place to live (Serendipitee, Bawens, Jeff, 2014). You can also maintain a busy schedule. Keeping yourself busy is also an effective way of overcoming depression so that, you’ll forget things that can make you depress. Distract yourself from overthinking and start to do what you love the most. Entertain yourself. Stay focus on your goals and on what you’re doing. Find a new passion or hobby, so you can have a reason why you wake up each morning. Be active in organizations. Spend time with people who makes you happy. Be generous in helping others because it can increase your self-worth (Kloopers, n.d.). You also need to maintain healthy relationships among your friends and family because it is important. They will help you to cope up with your depression. They will make you feel their unconditional love and priceless support. They are always beside you no matter what happens, that’s why keep in touch with them. Spend time hanging out with them. Have some social interaction. Talk to your most trusted person and open to her your feelings. You can also engage in some social organization, so that you’ll meet new friends and to prevent the sense of isolation. If you know someone that is also suffering from depression, give them advice, help them to get rid of depression and encourage them to follow the steps you’re facing on then think positively (Smith, Saisan, Segal, 2014). Developing healthier habit Developing healthier habit is the last major step to overcome depression. You need to improve your sleeping habits because, it can make a big improvement on your mental health. Getting enough sleep is healthy for our body. Train yourself to start going to bed early and waking up at the same time every day and night. Avoid taking naps longer than an hour because, it can make you feel more tired and make you harder to fall asleep. Avoid also sleeping less than 8 hours because it will lose your energy and you can’t think normally. You’ll have problem in making decisions. Limit food or drinks that contains caffeine because, it will make you harder to fall asleep. Exercise can also help you to fall asleep faster if you finish it at a right time (Healthysleep, 2007). You also need to have regular exercise daily because, it will increase your energy level and decrease the feeling of fatigue. Have a 30 minutes exercise every day and it can have a positive effect on your mood. It doesn’t mean that if you exercise you need to go to a gym a find an instructor. Be practical, just by having a walk and jog every morning is an exercise already. Exercise can also be a hobby or it can be a reason why you are busy. You’ll not just escape from depression but, you can also have a beautiful body figure and be stronger physically (Borchard, 2009). You also need to improve your diet because, it will help you feel less depressed and actively perform your tasks. What you eat has an impact on the way you feel. Don’t skip meals, so that you won’t easily get irritable. If you’re hungry, you’re tired on doing tasks and you’re having a bad mood most of the time. While if you’re fully loaded, you’ll have energy in performing tasks and don’t have a reason to be devastated. Add more fruits and vegetables into your diet, so that it can boost your mood and because it is nutritious. Eat three healthy and balanced meals a day (WebMD, 2005). Challenge negative thinking. If people are negative thinker, they see the world in a negative way. You can’t think right and ignore all the positive things and focus on the negative ones. And when negative people fail, they blame, down themselves and think that it will hold forever. Thinking negative won’t help you, but rather, it can add to your depression. It will be harder for you to recover from depression if you let your negative thoughts surrounds your life. Just think positive and don’t believe to your negative thoughts. This can help you overcome depression and remove the sense of negativity out of your mind (Uy, 2014). References Barbee, J. (1998). Annals of Clinical Psychiatry. Retrieved from Mxed Symptoms and Syndromes of anxiety and depression: Diagnostic, Prognostic, and etiologic issues: www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression Beyondblue. (n.d.). Retrieved from What causes depression?: www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/what-causes-depression Borchard, T. J. (2009). Psych Central. Retrieved from 6 steps for beating depression: psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/09/6-steps-for-beating-depression/ Buckner, D. (2014). Depression: Statistics, Causes, Signs Symptoms. Retrieved from The Refuge, A Healing Place: www.therefuge-ahealingplace.com/depression-treatment/effects-symptoms-signs Dickstein, M. (2009). Dancing in the Dark: A Great Depression. New York: W.W. Norton Co. Frank, A., Roosevelt, E., Doubleday, M. (1993). The Diary of a Young Girl. Amsterdam: Bantam. Goldberg, J. (2014). Depression Health Center. Retrieved from WebMD: www.webmd.com/depression/understanding-depression-symptoms Grohol, J. M. (2013). An Introduction to Depression. Retrieved from PsychCentral: psychcentral.com/lib/an-introduction-to-depression Healthysleep. (2007). Retrieved from Twelve simple tips to improve your sleep: healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips Kenny, D. T. (2014). Depression. Retrieved from Patient.co.uk: www.patient.co.uk/health/depression-leaflet Kloopers, M. (n.d.). Lifehack. Retrieved from Fifteen simple ways to overcome depression and sadness: www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/fifteen-simple-ways-overcome-depression-and-sadness.html Lauren, K. (2013). Teardrop. New York: Delacorte Press. Nordqvist, C. (2003). What is depression? What causes depression? Retrieved from MNT Knowledge Center: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8933.php Orwell, G. (1950). 1984. London, England: Signet Classics. Paterson, K. (1996). Bridge to Terabithia. Virginia: Trumpet Club Special Edition. Serendipitee, Bawens, D., Jeff. (2014). wikiHow. Retrieved from How to overcome depression: www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Depression Smith, M., Saisan, J., Segal, J. (2014). HelpGuide.org. Retrieved from Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs: www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/depression-signs-and-symptoms.htm Staff, M. C. (2014). Treatment and Drugs. Retrieved from Depression (major depressive disorder): www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/treatment/con20032977 Styron, W. (1990). Darkness Visible. United States: Random House. Team, H. E. (2013). Signs of Depression. Retrieved from Healthline: www.healthline.com/health/depression/recognizing-symptoms#Overview1 Team, T. H. (2013). What do you want to know about depression? Retrieved from Healthline: www.healthline.com/health/depression Uy, M. (2014). 10 Tips to overcome negative thoughts: Positive thinking made easy. Retrieved from Tiny buddha: http://tinybuddha.com/blog/10-tips-to-overcome-negative-thoughts-positive-thinking-made-easy/ WebMD. (2005). Retrieved from Depression and diet: www.webmd.com/depression/guide/diet-recovery?page=3