Dealing with Depression

Dealing with Depression 

Since I wrote about noticing the depression creeping in a few days ago, I also started doing my list of things that I know help me...

• Talk therapy (from this, I am learning how to look at my emotions from an unattached place and sit with them...ask them what they are trying to tell me vs me trying to shut them up as quickly as possible because sitting with them is hard and uncomfortable.)
• daily score (I score my mood throughout the day (not in a bad way...it is nice for me to have a tangible number). If I notice a lower score for a few days in a row, I look into what might be happening and adjust accordingly. I would like to note this isn’t always the case if depression is deep...if it is deep, I call my doctor to decide if I need to tweak my medicine.
• Can I name what it is making me feel the depression (if yes I can name it, I ask myself what it is that I need to not feel depressed...usually it is that I need to love myself more)
• If I can’t name what is making me feel depressed, I remind myself that feeling sad is ok and I will eventually turn the corner just like I have all the other times in the past.
• I try my best to find one moment of joy in my day.

Once I start doing the above, I can start to feel the depression easing its grip on me...kinda like a dense heavy fog slowly lifting up. Sometimes it takes a day or two, sometimes it takes a few weeks before, sometimes it goes up and down like a roller coaster. 

I want to share this with you because in the past,I have been ashamed of depression, and I am learning/realizing that I didn’t do anything to cause it and I am working on it, so there is nothing to be ashamed of.