About a month later, I'm grateful to say that I'm on the right track to recover from this episode. I know I'm not immune to future bouts of depression, and that's fine with me.
I knew my depression was getting worse in mid-September and that I would need to see a therapist. I asked nervously and managed to get a date with the one I had seen before.
When I walked in to talk to him, I was amazed at the simplicity of the treatment options he offered me. As a disclaimer, I'm not a licensed therapist, but these ideas come from an idea I saw.
If you're having trouble seeing a therapist, which they often will just explore how you're feeling and the different treatment options.
That's what I learned. I hope that helps you.
Practice sports
My therapist told me that exercise is the most effective form of treatment for depression. It stunned me
He explained that research shows that when we exercise, our physiology changes and our health improves.
Recent research suggests that exercise may be more about the brain than the body and is essential for good mental health.
Go out for a run or even just a simple walk.
Right after seeing the therapist, I still felt bad enough to have the strength to go for a run. I just went out for short walks at first, until eventually, I felt like going out for a run. Which I now do regularly.
At first, it is important to go out only to do something strict.
Sleep and rest
Sleep came right after exercise because of its positive effect on mental health.
Your body needs 8 hours per night. Get those 8 hours, no matter the cost, and you can do more with fewer hours awake than with less sleep.
As with exercise, recent research shows that sleep is also more about the brain than the body.
I include rest here because it's another important element that doesn't necessarily involve sleep.
If you're a "type A" like me, you may feel like you always have to do everything perfectly, even when you're depressed.
It is simply not true. You need to cut back and slow down a little (and maybe a lot), especially when you're depressed. That might mean spending more time sitting on the couch watching TV, watching funny cat videos on YouTube, or anything that helps you unwind from the stresses of each day.
diet
Diet is not discussed in-depth, but again, like others, research shows that diet affects the brain more than we previously thought.
Try to stay away from processed foods and switch to more natural foods. It's more about learning to enjoy foods that are good for you than trying to force yourself to eat something you don't like.
And to be honest, "diets," as we often call them, don't really work. Improving what you eat is all about improving your mental relationship with the food you eat.
For example, a few years ago, I got tired of always bringing candy to the movies, so when I went to see the movie Interstellar, I brought a bag of carrots. I tried to chew as quietly as possible, I felt much more satisfied than I did with candies.
Today, I'm almost addicted to carrots and love the way my mind and body feel when I eat them. I also did a better job of adding apples and other fruits and vegetables to my diet.
A healthy diet made up of natural foods can significantly improve your mental health.
Just work on one thing at a time.
frontier
It was the most difficult for me to understand, but since my visit to the therapist, I have learned some techniques that have helped me understand them better.
It's about learning to say "no" at the right time. It can help improve our mental health.
It takes effort and practice to get to know yourself well enough to know when to say "no." This means that you will often make mistakes trying to say "no".
In the beginning, it's best to correct too much and say "no" often.
You will learn by doing.
I have found Greg McKeown's Essentialism to be a very useful resource for gaining more insight into what it really means to say "no" and why we should do it so often.
Learning to say "no" has been a big help for my mental health.
Briefly
The most effective is exercise, followed by restful sleep. Then your diet, and last but not least effective, is to stick to limits or learn to say "no" more often.
Each of these steps requires practice. They first take small steps to get it right.
If you don't feel comfortable enough to follow these steps, medication may be needed and a therapist can help you decide if this option is right for you.
My therapist told me what he often did was prescribe medication for at least 6 months. What the drug does is make the individual feel good enough to work on these four techniques and turn them into habits.
At the end of six months, the techniques, habits, or stressors that initially caused the depression are no longer a problem, and the person can continue to be mentally healthy without medication.
I felt like I was always in the dark until I saw a therapist and knew these stages.
Now I'm about to come out of this battle with depression, and I have the weapons to help me win the personal war with it.
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