Six Ways to Feel Better
Depression can strike anytime to anyone. It doesn’t spare its victims and has no boundaries. Depression is a severe illness and should never be taken lightly.
Depression is sadness, hopelessness, a loss of interest in your daily living, crying, feelings of loss, and thoughts of suicide are abundantly present.
There can be many causes for depression:
- Life Changes
- Worry
- Chronic Pain
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Holidays
- A break-up
- A death
When you start to feel depressed, or when things are starting to pile up, here are six ways for you to feel better, get yourself motivated, and possibly slip away from the misery of depression.
6 Ways for You to Feel Better
1. Get up and Move
Get out of bed, no matter how demanding it is. It is difficult to achieve physical activity when depressed. However, once up, make yourself do minor things to elevate your energy. You can always go back to bed later for a nap.
Make your bed, brush your teeth, do the dishes, get the mail, read the newspaper, feed your cat, sit on the porch, call people you know, and go on the computer.
There are so many minor things to choose from. Do them all or just one or two. Of course, if you have to go to work or school, then you are way ahead of the game.
2. Get in the Shower
Taking a hot shower will wake you up and make you feel refreshed and clean.
Get out of your pajamas or night attire and into something you are not ashamed of wearing outside your home. When you look pleasantly, you feel worthwhile; when you feel worthwhile, it is a self-esteem boost.
Someone once told me when you’re depressed, take a shower and wash your troubles away. So I go with that. On many occasions, I have hauled myself literally crying to the shower, trying to wash away depression. There is something about crying your sadness away in the shower that makes you feel somewhat revived.
3. Put On A Happy Face
Put on some make-up, fix your hair, and shave that stubble off. Sometimes, with depression, we do not take beneficial care of ourselves as we usually would. It’s harder to think less of yourself when you feel clean, refreshed, and polished.
When I do my hair, I toss in the gel and blow dry it for a minute, and I am good to go. My hair is usually wild, which is fine. If it is clean, I feel better. So get going and put on that happy face.
4. Tidy Up
Clean up and organize your living area. When our surroundings are dark, dirty, or messy, we begin to reflect that atmosphere, falling deeper into depression.
Keeping your work and living space clean, well-lit, and maintained makes you feel good about accomplishing something.
Keep the curtains open and let the sunshine through. It’s a good way of getting your daily dose of vitamin D. I rarely shut my curtains. I have a glass slider and a bedroom window, so whatever sun I can get, I am optimistic. So vacuum, dust, and start cleaning your house or apartment.
5. Listen to Music
Crank up the radio, or put on a DVD and dance. Strut around the house footloose and fancy free.
There are all kinds of music that will get you moving if you just motivate yourself. Irish, Latin, Salsa, Reggae and more.
Find something that you can move to, something up-beat and cheerful. Something that gets you moving and motivated. Let the music guide you into a better place.
6. No Procrastinating
Tackle something you’ve been putting off doing. Even small accomplishments start your day by giving your self-confidence the increase it needs. If you are a writer and you like to write an essay or paper, write.
Take pictures, knit, and clean out the attic you have meant to do. I have accomplished something if I can get one article done a day. I try to get a 4 page article finished at least four days a week. TRY being the main word. Accomplishing one activity, one day at a time.
Working Through Depression
These things are not going to work without a concentrated effort. For the steps to work, you must take an active role in your depression.
Sleeping is one of the safest activities to do when you are depressed. And at times, that is all you can do. But at one point, you’ll have to come out from under the covers and find the light.
So, next time you feel like you are moving into the darkness, try to motivate yourself to do at least one activity to keep your mind from falling even further into the pit of darkness.
About the Author
Juan Koss is a business coach and digital strategist of DoMyWriting company, who’s worked behind the scenes in hundreds of businesses, from ten figure brands to one education website.
