How do you heal from depression?
Steps out of depression with or without antidepressants.
Start being yourself. So often we don’t want to be ourselves so we lock that person away and learn to be someone new. This causes depression. I think of it like this, somewhere deep inside of me is my true self and that self is the one that is sad. I left her behind and I need to go get her, to pick her up and start loving her again. This can be a slow process but it’s doable. Change the gears and stop the pretending. Choose love for yourself.
Get moving. Every time I was depressed I would stop moving. I would lay around and sleep more, a whole lot more. Sleeping more made me more tired and I would..you guessed it, sleep more. The more I slept the more depressed and tired I would be and so forth. Depression can physically hurt your body, not just your soul. So be gentle and be careful with yourself as you start to move your body. Any movement is fine and lovely. Go for a walk, take a bath, swim, and sit in the sunshine. I know some of that isn’t a lot of movement but it’s a start, we aren’t becoming olympic athletes here. We are just moving our body back to life!
Be gentle and careful with yourself. It’s so easy to feel ashamed about your depression, for so many reasons. Often people and our society send the wrong message. People that care about us but don’t know what to do. The worst thing you can do is to treat yourself like you are bad or wrong and not good. You are good, you are enough AND you are just going through a deficiency. It’s ok to acknowledge this weakness and the fact that you don’t want to stay there.
Don’t avoid the fact that you are feeling depressed, and don’t use it as an excuse. Think of it like this, if you had a broken leg you would acknowledge that you had a broken leg. There may be things you don’t do for a moment, accommodations that you put in place, extra things you need to do. Or something you choose not to do altogether. It’s the same for depression although people can’t see it, and you not acknowledging it won’t help.
Treat it if and when needed for as long as is needed. Do anything you can to help yourself succeed in this area. See a therapist, take meds for a short time or for a while. Seek out friendships and people to be around you. Take on a new hobby. Move your body, sit in the sun. All these things will help you.
It may sound silly but do things that you love. There is a part of depression that is chemical, or hormonal. When your body doesn't make enough or have enough of these hormones it can create a depressed state. You can get these hormones naturally by doing the things that you love to do, all of the time. Fill your life to the max with all the things, every little thing that you love to do and your body will follow. Sometimes you have to do it before you feel like it. That’s maturity and growth. You may not feel like seeing someone or feel like moving your body but do it anyway, the feeling will follow.
Seek things that care for your body. You may love youtube or social media but I’d encourage you that it’s better for your body and mental state to be with someone, in the physical. Maybe start a after work drink or dinner time with coworkers, branch out and reach out to someone you haven’t seen in awhile. Choose to make good food instead of microwave snacks. The first few days are the hardest but I would always remember this quote “A body in motion stays in motion, a body in rest stays in rest” I knew if I just got over the hump then it would become so much easier for myself to continue.
Celebrate the small and big wins. Did you get out of bed today? Great. Did you brush your teeth? Did you do anything you were supposed to do? Amazing. You are a work in progress.
Don’t compare yourself to someone who isn’t struggling with this or even compare to a time when you were struggling with this same thing. It’s ok that you are going through this right now and will come out on the other side. When you are through it you will do some of the same things too. For now acknowledge what you can do and end it there. This is the part where you are gentle with yourself.
Talk to God about how he feels about you, make sure your perspective is a kingdom perspective. Lots of this is physical and mental but sometimes it’s spiritual. Do you know what God thinks about you? Ask Him. Wait until you hear, sense or see an answer. Begin by thinking you are a child of God and that’s enough for you to belong here and matter to the world. We need you and you need to feel the best that you can feel. I feel you and I’m with you on this journey to seeing yourself as the wonderful person you. If this isn’t your perspective then your perspective needs to change.
Take care.
