What You SHOULDN’T Do When You’re Depressed
Whether you’re prone to suffering from bouts of depression, or even if you just get down in the dumps from time to time, it’s natural, that you will want to do anything you can to boost your mood and start feeling better as soon as possible, but there are some things, which although they might seem like a good idea at the time, you really SHOULDN’T do when you’re depressed. Here are a few of them:
Binge Eat
A lot of people turn to junk food when they’re depressed. It makes them feel a bit better for a little while, and it gives them something very simple to do to take their minds off their problems, but it is a really bad idea. You see, if you get down a lot, you’ll soon start to put on weight and compromise your health, and this will only make you more depressed in the long run. Overeaters Anonymous is a great place to get help and support if you already have a problem with binge eating when you’re emotional.
Drinking and Drug-Taking
Drinking and taking drugs is another thing that may make you feel better in the short term, but the risk of addiction is very real because, after awhile, it will stop working unless you start drinking/taking more and more of your substance of choice. It’ll also wreck your health and how can you hope ever to be happy if you’re in ill-health?
Shopping
Some people who suffer from depression and blue moods use retail therapy to give themselves a boost. If you’re one of them, you might want to rethink your coping strategies right now because, although a little bit of retail therapy when you’re feeling blue now and again will do you no harm, if you’re prone to depression, you could easily get yourself into debt and waste money that could be spent on actually improving your life with therapy, yoga classes or going back to school, for example.
Taking Your Mood Out on Others
This is a tough one because when you’re feeling stressed and depressed, you can’t always regulate your emotions as well as you normally would, but you really should try your best not to take your mood out on friends, family members, and co-workers. Doing so could lead to them distancing themselves from you, and that’s the last thing you need when you’re feeling low already.
Isolate Yourself
When you’re depressed, you might feel like withdrawing into yourself, shunning social occasions and staying in bed all day. You should fight this urge. It won’t always be possible, and it’ll never be easy, but if you can get up and have coffee with a friend or see a movie with your spouse, you will feel less alone, and you may be able to boost your mood if only a little.
Wallowing in It
How many times have you started listening to The Smiths or watching the saddest movie in your collection when you’re feeling depressed: You probably do it a lot, right? But, although it can help you to feel less alone, it will quite often make you feel even more depressed too. It’s much better to watch a favourite comedy or listen to upbeat music when you’re depressed. You might not feel like it at first, but give it a try and you might be surprised by how much it helps.
Dwell on the Past
When you’re feeling low, one of the worst things you can do is let yourself dwell on your past mistakes, lost loves and missed opportunities, but so many of us do it! All we’ll get from dwelling on the past is more sadness, more depression and less of the good stuff in the present, so fight it as hard as you can.
Ignore It
If you’re feeling depressed, the last thing you should do is ignore it. There is no shame in feeling depressed and seeing your doctor or a qualified therapist to help you with your illness because it is an illness and you should never let anyone tell you otherwise.
Getting professional help really is the best thing you can do to recover from depression and keep yourself on an even keel. Don’t let the opportunity pass you over by being too proud or afraid to seek help when you really need it.
Do you suffer from depression or low moods? What do you do and not do to stop yourself from falling further into that black hole?
