DAILY STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DEPRESSION

DAY 7:-

Below is today's daily strategy to help you combat depression

How to fight back against hopeless thoughts

These are three simple ways that you can do this.

Challenge hopeless thoughts with evidence to the contrary:

When you take a step back and examine the evidence that is contrary to what your hopeless thoughts are telling you, then you'll often end up with a much more hopeful, positive perception of things.

For example, the hopeless thought "I will never recover from depression". However, some of the evidence to the contrary could be:

"Depression distorts people's thinking - therefore, just because I wholeheartedly believe that I can't recover, it doesn't mean that that thought is true."
"There are a lot of strategies to recover from depression that I haven't tried yet. If I try them, then there's a good chance I will recover."
"I am still struggling with negative thinking, self-confidence and past trauma. If I can learn strategies to address these issues, then it will help me recover."
"If I implemented "recovery strategies" instead of just "coping strategies", then I would have a much, much bigger chance of recovering from depression than I do at present."
"I've never seen a therapist for an extended period of time, and if I did, that would also help me to recover from depression - in the same way that it's led other people to recover from depression."
"Therapy is unfortunately out of my price range, but there are other, much more affordable ways to learn therapeutic techniques that could help me recover" (such as online therapy platforms like BetterHelp or all the self-help books that are available).

Be mindful of "cognitive distortions", and try not to buy into them:

For example, one common "cognitive distortion" is overgeneralising - which is where based on a tiny, tiny sample size, you make general, sweeping conclusions.

For example, concluding that "all my relationships are doomed to fail" after 2-3 bad break-ups.

However, an alternative, non-generalised way to look at this could be:

"My first few relationships haven't worked out, but that doesn't mean that the rest of my relationships are destined to fail. After all, there are literally hundreds of millions of potential suitors in the world, and if I can just learn why my first couple of relationships didn't work out and what I can do moving forwards to choose a partner who's more compatible for me, then there's actually a pretty good chance that sooner or later, one of my relationships will work!"

Ask yourself: If a friend was in my position, would I be telling them the same hopeless things that I'm currently telling myself?

You've probably heard us mention this strategy in the past, but the reason we're going to repeat it is because asking yourself this question has the effect of distancing yourself from your situation and looking at it from a different, more objective angle – and when you do this, you’ll often realise that things are not as devoid of hope as you think.

For example, if your friend didn’t do as well in a set of exams as they wanted to, then would you think that they’re a failure, that they’ll never get a good job and that their career is over before it's even begun? You almost certainly wouldn’t, so therefore, you should never conclude the same thing about your own situation, either.

DAY 6:-

Your Positive Mantra

Now, once your favourite uplifting, energetic music is playing, then we encourage you to turn on the lights in your room, but we discourage you from engaging in distractions such as checking your emails or scrolling through your Facebook Newsfeed.

The reason why is that when you’re doing relatively mindless things like so, it’s easy for depressive or anxious thoughts to creep in, which can get your day off to a negative, stressful or confronting start.

Instead, it’s much better to begin your day with a positive affirmation that strongly resonates with you, and to repeat it over and over and over again.

For example:

"I am stronger than my depression."
"My anxiety is not going to control me today."
"No matter what happens, I’ll be able to face it."

Regardless of what your positive mantra is, it’s a really great idea to repeat it continuously as you tick off the things on your list that you’ve decided to do that morning – such as brushing your teeth, washing your face and getting dressed for work.

Once again, this contributes to you being in a positive mindset, and starting your day off on the right foot.

Part #4: What To Do For, And During Your Breakfast

Then, while you’re having a healthy, nutritious breakfast, it’s a really good idea to build upon your positive mantra by:

Thinking of three things in your life that you’re grateful for (for example, your children, your friends, your family, your job, your house, a hobby that brings you joy, etcetera).

And also:

Three things that you like about yourself (for example, that you’re a kind person, a good parent, a supportive friend, a loyal partner, good at your job, a good cook, funny, etcetera).

If you’re not used to thinking of these things, then there’s a good chance you’ll find it difficult or unnatural at first.

However, one thing that will make it easier is making a point of thinking of the things you’re grateful for as well as the things you like about yourself before you go to bed – instead of trying to do so on the spot while you’re having your breakfast.

As for feeling unnatural, then that’s just because you’re not used to it yet – and once you are, it will become second nature to you and be a really healthy, uplifting, motivating way for you to start your day

DAY 6:-

What To Do When Your Alarm Goes Off In The Morning

Now, in the morning itself, as tempting as it is to hit the “snooze” button when your alarm goes off, we really encourage you not to.

Why?

Because the longer you lie in bed half-awake, the more you give your mind the chance to wander – and as a result, the more likely it is for depressive or anxious thoughts to creep in. Instead, when your alarm goes off, we really encourage you to wake up straight away, sit up in bed for 20 or 30 seconds to rub the sleep from your eyes, stretch, and get in touch with your surroundings – and then, we encourage you to start playing your favourite high-energy music that you find uplifting and motivational. It doesn’t matter what kind of music this is – rock music, pop, hip hop, etcetera – just so long as it’s the sort of music that gives you a boost.

SIDE-NOTE: This is also something that’s a good idea to prepare the night before: deciding which music – or ideally even preparing a playlist – that you can start listening to as soon as you wake up to give yourself a lift.

DAY 5:-

Let us ask you:

Would you like to be able to start your day feeling more hopeful, more uplifted and more energetic?

If so, then we really, really encourage you to try this 4 Part Anti-Depression Morning Routine!

️ Part #1: Establishing A Positive, Healthy, Anti-Depression Morning Routine Starts The Night Before

Before you go to bed at night, it’s a really good idea to complete the tasks that in the morning, you tend to find difficult and challenging.

Why?

Because when you wake up and immediately think, “Oh no, instead of continuing to sleep, I now have to do A, B and C”, then you start your day already feeling overwhelmed and in a bad frame of mind.

However, if you’ve already completed those tasks, you’re much more likely to wake up and think, “Good, I’ve already done X, Y and Z!” – and as a result, your day begins with you feeling more positive and less overwhelmed than you otherwise would

How does this work in practice? Well, for example, if you find that the prospect of having a shower, deciding what to wear for work and then ironing your clothes causes you to wake up feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, then you can do each of those tasks before you go to bed. The same can go for packing your briefcase or preparing you and your kids’ lunch for the day.
Another thing that many people with depression find helpful to do the night before is to make a “checklist” of the things they do decide to do in the morning.

Even if the list is only a few items long (for example: get dressed, go for a walk, have a shower, get dressed again, have some breakfast, go to work), making a “checklist” like so still eliminates any time spent thinking thoughts like, for example:

“Should I go for a walk this morning or not? If so, where will I walk? If not, will I exercise later in the day?"
"What about breakfast? Should I eat that at home or pick up something quick on the way to the office? What should I eat? Where will I get my coffee?”

Etcetera, etcetera.

For people with depression or anxiety, often these thoughts can be overwhelming and stressful, and therefore set the tone for a depression- or anxiety-fuelled day – which is why making a list of what to do in the morning the night before can be a good practice.

Day 4:-

How to know who the right people to surround yourself with are!

Because being surrounded by toxic people is an underlying cause for so many people’s depression, today, we're going to show you an exercise that will help you determine who the “right” people and who the “wrong” people to surround yourself with are.

To make it simple, we'll lay it out like a high-school science experiment

️ Aim:

To figure out who the “right” people and who the “wrong” people to surround yourself with are.

️ Materials Needed:

An A4 piece of paper;
A pen;
A person who’s ready to learn and improve their surroundings (that’s you!).

️ Method:

Draw a mind-map connected to a centre circle that asks, “what do I value in a friend?”
Around the circle, write down the characteristics or personality traits that you appreciate in a friend. For example, loyalty, kindness, or someone who’s down to earth. Let us emphasise that it is very important that you don’t rush this part. Make sure you really think about what you value in a friend so that what you write down accurately reflects your true feelings. The benefits of this exercise is in getting this section “right” – so if you rush it and jot down characteristics or personality traits in a friend that don’t correctly reflect your true feelings, then this exercise won’t help you achieve the results that it can.

️ Results:

Everyone who possesses the characteristics and personality traits that you’ve identified as valuing in a friend are the “right” people for you to surround yourself with. As a result, you want to make a deliberate effort to surround yourself with these people, because you’re in all likelihood going to have really positive, healthy relationships with them.
On the other hand, those who do not possess the characteristics and personality traits that you’ve identified as valuing in a friend are the “wrong” people for you to surround yourself with. For this reason, it’s in your best interest to distance yourself from such people, because you’re in all likelihood going to have negative relationships with them.

️ Conclusion:

We know this exercise sounds simple, and we know this exercise may sound corny. But, it can really work if you take the time to do it properly!

Like we said, the value of it comes in taking the time to identify what you truly desire in a friend, because it’s this level of self-awareness that is ultimately going to lead you to make good, healthy decisions about who you choose to spend your time with.

Day 3:-

If you have depression, it’s common for your mind to constantly be racing about something. For example:

A situation you’re uncomfortable or nervous about;
Something you don’t like about yourself;
A mistake that you’re beating yourself up for making.

Throughout the day and up until it’s time to sleep, however, while this “interior monologue” or this “voice in your head” can and often does indeed torment you, you’re often distracted by whatever you’re doing – such as your work, taking care of your children, or watching Netflix, for instance.

However, when it comes time to go to sleep and get into bed – BANG There is suddenly nothing to “distract” you, and all of a sudden, that interior monologue in your head is going full-blast and low and behold, it’s impossible to sleep.

In short, this is one of the biggest reasons why you have trouble sleeping when you have depression: because when it’s just you in the silent darkness trying to fall asleep, you’re forced to confront all of the thoughts that you’ve spent the day distracting yourself from.

If you can relate to this, then you might be wondering:

Why do all of my racing thoughts have to come out at night?
If I’ve been able to suppress them all day, then why do they have to come out at all?
Why can’t they just disappear so that I can get some sleep?

The answer is that the reason we have thoughts to begin with is to help us navigate our way through the world. For this reason, if we have a problem or something that’s troubling us, it’s natural for our thoughts to gravitate towards whatever that is – to try to process what’s going on and figure out a solution.

Consequently, your thoughts cannot be suppressed forever. They need to come out, and as soon as you stop “distracting yourself” at the end of the day, they inevitably will when you’re trying to fall asleep.

⚠️ Here is the solution

In order to solve this problem so that you don’t have so much difficulty falling asleep, instead of “distracting yourself” from your thoughts all day, it's essential that you put aside some time to deal with and address them – so that by default, you don’t end up doing so at the end of the night.

(To read further, check our blog post on 3 ways to heal depression)

Day 2 :-

To begin with, sit or lie down somewhere comfortable, and simply take a few deep breaths … breathing in through your nose … and then out through your mouth … in through your nose … and then out through your mouth. Then, while you continue to do so, gradually try to make yourself aware of:

5 Things You Can See: For example, the table in front of you, the nice painting on the wall, the fridge magnet that your daughter made, the clear blue sky outside, and the leafy green tree across the road.
4 Things You Can Feel: Once you’ve gotten in touch with five things you can see, then – while you continue breathing in through your nose, and out through your mouth – try to bring awareness to four things you can feel. For example, the chair that’s holding up your weight, your dress against your legs, the soft carpet beneath your feet, or a loose strand of hair brushing against your face.
3 Things You Can Hear: Next, bring awareness to three things you can hear. For example, the tik-tok of a clock, a bird chirping outside, or the sound of your children playing in their bedroom.
2 Things You Can Smell: Then, try to get in touch with two things you can smell. If you try but don’t find yourself able to smell anything, then try to summon up your two favourite smells. For example, the scent of freshly cut grass, or the aroma of a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
️ 1 Emotion You Can Feel: Lastly, be mindful of one emotion you can feel.

This exercise only takes a few minutes, but it’s really effective in creating separation between you and your negative thoughts and emotions and thus calming you down.

Day 1 :-

OK, so any time you're struggling with negative thoughts, anxious worry or feelings of hopelessness, there's a really simple yet powerful question you can ask yourself that will often work wonders.

If my loved ones were in my position, would I be telling them the same negative things that I'm currently telling myself?

The reason this simple technique can be so powerful is because asking yourself this question has the effect of distancing yourself from your thoughts and looking at them from a different, more objective angle – and when you do this, you’ll often realise that you’re being really, really hard on yourself.

For example:

If your friend didn’t do as well in a set of exams as they wanted to, would you think that they’re a stupid failure and that they’ll never get a good job? You almost certainly wouldn’t, so therefore, you should never conclude the same thing about yourself, either.

The same goes for if your friend told you that they snapped at their daughter that morning – if you wouldn’t automatically conclude that they’re a terrible parent, then there’s also no way you should be concluding that about yourself.

Depression Strategies: Text