Beat depression without medication?

Lack of sunlight and heat can make us vulnerable to depression. However, bouts of depression are not always associated with the seasons. Its symptoms are often so comprehensive and at the same time elusive that understanding how to deal with it is not easy in itself.

The most important thing is not to lose control over your condition. If this happens, it is best to contact a specialist. However, it is quite possible to remove the black veil from the eyes on your own. Although this often requires overcoming considerable internal resistance.

Why, even imagining how to get out of depression, we cannot take action?

“We develop defensive responses that distort reality and make us accept depression or create a subconscious belief that we don’t deserve to feel better,” writes Reedard O’Connor, author of Depression Canceled.

If you feel like you’re sinking deeper into depression, try starting with a few small goals and work your way up. Carefully reveal ourselves, starting with the body and gradually moving to our inner state and way of thinking, which prevent us from living a full life.

1. Wake up your body

When you’re depressed, just getting out of bed can already be a grueling task. Meanwhile, affecting the physical state may be the easiest. You don’t have to go to the gym, run a mile every morning. Try to include movement exercises in your daily routine and do what you enjoy.

Move little by little but constantly. Turn on the music and move to the beat, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car further than usual and walk to work.

Do yoga. Many studies by psychologists have confirmed that regular yoga classes help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and nervous tension. Start with basic exercises, for them it is not necessary to have serious training.

Dance. Dancing not only helps to awaken energy, but also establishes contact with the body: you begin to feel the rhythm, better control your movements. Now there are many options, and you can choose dances to your liking: sensual bachata or incendiary boogie-woogie.

2. Connect with your emotions

“Depressed people have a special talent for repressing feelings,” writes Richard O’Connor. “A lot of suffering is caused precisely by our fears and the habits that we develop to avoid emotions.”

Keep a mood journal. Describe your experiences, not forgetting the circumstances in which they arose. Soon your powers of observation will increase and you will understand what is causing them. By understanding this, it will be easier for you to bring them under control.

Learn to Express Emotions. Instead of trying to control your feelings, learn to express them. Expressing emotions helps to feel them better. Safe, through the game. Start with a partner, with a friend. Play on stage or in role-playing games where you need to get used to the character.

Open up to loved ones. Moving away from others and trying to hide our feelings, we only feed our depression. Our fears and suspicions create the illusion of our weakness and helplessness. But it can be easily dispelled – just talk to those who are nearby. One conversation is enough to make your fears seem far-fetched to you.

3. Reframe your mindset

You can’t just tell yourself to think differently. Pretending that everything is fine, when in fact everything around is annoying, should not be done either. Instead, try replacing negative thoughts with constructive ones. To do this, follow these steps.

Allow yourself imperfection. Negative thinking is often fueled by low self-esteem. And the latter, in turn, is associated with dissatisfaction with oneself. But what if, instead of trying to reach a deliberately high standard, you admit that you are good and so.

Neutralize your inner critic. You may feel ashamed, detached, tired. Remind yourself what your depression is saying to you. Your severe critic does not really exist – so let yourself feel the absurdity of his accusations. Imagine that every person is followed by an angry and grouchy grumbler and comments on his every move. The more ridiculous the picture you paint, the easier it will be to get rid of the power of the critic.

Take the focus off yourself. This does not mean admitting your own unimportance. But the constant chewing of your emotions and actions takes you further and further from reality. And if you show interest in others, you will not only be able to switch, but also get the “strokes” that are so necessary for self-esteem.