Treatment & Support
Self-help tips

If your depression has begun to lift, you may be looking for ways to improve your outlook even more. Here are a few lifestyle changes you can make that may help relieve depression. As you work on developing new, healthy habits, keep your healthcare professional up-to-date on your progress.

Make exercise a habit. Research suggests that regular exercise is an effective part of an overall treatment plan for depression. Choose an activity you enjoy, like walking with a friend or following an aerobics video. Start slow, and build your routine over several weeks. For example, you might walk for 20 minutes, twice a week for a while, then slowly work up to half-an-hour, three times a week or more.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet. This may seem obvious, but a good diet is essential to your overall wellness. Some experts recommend avoiding excess sugar, white flour, alcohol, and caffeine because they can throw off your energy levels.

Use positive affirmations and visualization. Affirmations are positive, present-tense statements like "I feel good about my life" or "I welcome happiness into my home." Some leading medical authorities say that repeating affirmations can help you visualize your life without depression and help you create the reality you want.

Learn relaxation techniques. Meditation, guided imagery, and yoga can all help you to relax and think more clearly. Classes may be held at your local community center or listed in the Yellow Pages, or you can find instructional books and audio tapes in libraries and bookstores.

Stay involved. Pursue activities and relationships that make you feel good about yourself. Consider developing one of your skills or talents.

Get enough sleep. Regular, restful sleep is essential to your health because it allows your body to regenerate. If you have insomnia, talk to your doctor--he or she might want to adjust your prescription or suggest that you take your medication at a different time of day.

I like this. Very helpful

Well sounds good , but what if you don't have Dr. to tell things to and your relationship has pretty much just went down the crapper so you girlfriend is on your butt even if you do good things that would make anybody else happy but she picks out something you did not do right , or did not do good enough, and then a argument starts, so on and so on...This is pretty much my daily life. And she knows i'm Bi-polar. Plus i think i'm also passive-aggresive also. any help would help

Viper,

For now you may need to pull back from trying to improve your relationship with your girlfriend, and just focus on getting yourself as healthy as possible. There are so many good tips in this article, and in some other threads in this room too. If you can start practicing one or two of the positive ideas, and just make that your focus, you will find that improves your relationships as well.

Keep sharing and keep trying to move in the positive direction!

Karen

Hi
My boyfriend has just realized last night that he's suffering from depression and lately we seem to be having problems. We've been going out for 2 years and never fought until these past few weeks. Lately he seems to be getting frusterated at me for little things and I didn't realized that it was depressoi before- i didn't know what he was hiding from me.
So, I'm hoping that now we know what it is we can help patch things up and hopefully cheer him up. Are there any ideas on how i can handle this situation? Things I should avoid doing or things that could help him cheer upand stuff?
THanks
Katie.

Katie,

The first thing that he should do is try to get help. Seeing someone can be a great help. As for what you can do, the best thing to do is to just be supportive. Be there if he needs to talk but also be able to give him his space if he doesn't want to (general rule for relationships anyway). You might want to check out The Relationship and Depression Forum located near the top of the list if you want to get more advice there or read about other people's experiences with relaionships and depression.

Hope that you two can work everything out.

i found some stuff on da' net...


Below is a list of a couple interesting points. I hope these will help anyone lift their spirits and I hope someone can benefit from this list.

1. Volunteer to help the less fortunate (soup kitchen, pet shelters, little kids, etc.). I’ve never done this, but it sounds like a good idea. Helping the less fortunate should make you feel good about yourself everyday.

2. Visit the pet store/pet shelter (and maybe even play w/the animals).

3. Garden. You will get exercise and feel great.

4. Draw or paint, even if it’s just to vent your feelings. Paint realistic/surreal or even abstract art.

5. Buy a variety of candles and surround your workspace/living area with them. I love aromatherapy so far. It soothes your mind and pushes out negative thoughts.

6. Buy a pet (esp. something you can handle). It makes you feel good caring for something. I have a hermit crab and I love watching it stumble all over my room. Rodents are probably a great idea, too (its enjoyable watching multiple rodents “talking” w/one another). Cheap and pettable! Hermit crabs are like 5.00 and gerbils/hamsters are 10.00

7. Keep plants around your workspace/living area. Again, caring for something and watching it grow is great. Just looking at it calms my mind. Get em at your local nursery or grocery store.

8. Watch funny movies/cartoons/shows. I’m watching Family Guy, simpsons, and spongebob right now and loving it. The quick jokes really stimulate the brain in a good way. I seem to enjoy those cartoon-based shows with a lot of jokes in succession. Sometimes the “real” comedies don’t do it for me. Hehe.. A great place to borrow DVDs is the public library.

9. Listen to soothing or classical music before you go to sleep (usually the time when panic attacks/lots of anxiety hits). It really calms u.

10. Love these forums! They’re great for getting ur feelings out there…

Great article! The things mentioned have helped me immensely!

I totally agree with alot of these. Plants, candles and animals are an awesome help. I have a cat and I swear she knows when I need her to curl up to me.

I like your list. I'm 50 and I like to watch Curious George and Mr. Rogers. When you watch cartoons, the bright colors help to take life a little lighter. Mr Rogers is such a calming and peaceful man. Great list, fun ideas!

What a great list, thank you

andy

As a drug and alcohol counselor intern, I have learned that a lot of people's depression is only a symptom of a greater problem: low self-esteem.

Inner child therapy and cognitive is very effective in challenging the symptoms of depression.

A lot of people's depression is really a hurting, inner child who feels alone and abandoned.

Not sure if this goes under the upper, but I have a technique I began using recently;

I tell myself that I am a silent pond, with chrystal green water, in a dark forest, where there`s no wind, no sounds, no noise, and the only light is the moonlight that shines through the dark tops of the trees. I vizualize this. Pretend that I`m transferring myself to that plaze,
become that pind, hear only the silence, being all safe and calm and warm...

It helps against my anxiety, my social phobia.
Calms me down, and makes it easier to take control, before I face whatever I need to face.