Feeling depressed now? Read this!
Tags: Mental, Depression, Mental Health

Are you feeling depressed now? Or do you know someone who’s going through it? It’s painful, it’s hard. I know, because I’ve been there too. Therefore I am here to try and give you something to anchor in, to look forward to. Trust me, I juiced out my years of experience in getting through my struggle to bring you this piece. The 3 ways to deal with a depressed me, and here they are neatly (and in sequential order). I also made a YouTube video regarding it. Check it out here.

1. When did you last take care of yourself?

Any self-care act is an act of self-love. That can be from buying a pair of shiny new shoes, down to brushing your teeth and drinking water. The good news is, most of us shouldn’t need to dig deep to find ONE self-care act that happened in the last 24-hours. Hold on to this one self-care act in your head. We will need it later further down this piece. Having a chaotic mind and can’t remember it? Write it down. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed.

2. Be nice, give yourself acceptance

Acceptance of our state is the first move to take control of our fate. It is especially important to give acceptance to our depressed self as it will do more good than harm.

To be fair, we are being too harsh on ourselves sometimes. It happens even to the best of us. Bill Gate gets self-doubts too. With that, we tend to ignore just how much we have achieved in life. Besides, Pareto’s principle taught us that 80% of our happiness only comes from 20% of the happy memories we accumulated throughout life, showing just how easy it is for us to overlook our achievements and happy moments.

80% of our happiness only comes from 20% of the happy memories we accumulated throughout life.

Take control of your fate by accepting how you are feeling now. Stop allowing depression to continue taking away your immense potential and love you care to bring to this world.

3: Writing it all out

Pen and paper do wonders, from writing notes, spreading powerful messages (like this one) to alleviating psychology pain and reducing loneliness. Find a peaceful place with a pen and paper, follow me as you write.

You may start by writing that you love yourself (write your name!) and you accept how you are feeling now. For ones who just can’t find a way to acceptance, please write it with the future tense. Will is a very powerful word, not only does it imply a commitment for change, but it also serves as a powerful reminder of how you wish to see your future.

Will is a very powerful word, not only does it imply a commitment for change, but it also serves as a powerful reminder of how you wish to see your future.

The following will now be more about you, less so, my guidance. Write down your first negative thought you come up with that is giving you an uncontrollable stream of sadness? Follow on from that thought onwards, write your second, third and fourth thoughts down. Maybe they are all negative, that’s okay and is expected, as they are what is bothering you enough take you into a depressed state.

I sometimes feel embarrassed by my thoughts, or worse, not knowing where to begin with. If you’re like that, take your time and write that very thought you are embarrassed about. Remember, no one else needs to know what that is. If you don’t know where to begin (then I have this imaginary tutorial for you that costs only £999 today. Sign up now for 10% off), start writing how you feel. Looking back at my journal, ‘stupid’, ‘dumb’, ‘embarrassing’, ‘screwed up’ were common words I used. Write what those scenarios are that make you feel this way, detailing them.

Where the magic happens

Assuming you followed all the steps in order, this is what I need you to do now.

Remember the thought you had to hold onto from your first exercise? Write that down on the same piece of paper. Remember that tiny window in the walled dark room from the article cover? This is what I want you to see on your paper.

Take a look at the whole page. You’ll discover that even though you may have 99% of negatives in your head, there is at least 1% of positivity from when you took care of yourself, from loving yourself. Amplify that positivity and ask yourself, what else did you do to show that you’ve loved yourself? Add more to the list until you feel more in control. You will be amazed how much positivity is being hindered under a depressive state.

Even though you may have 99% of negatives in your head, there is at least 1% of positivity from when you last took care of yourself

Summary

Following these 3 methods in this order has certainly made a massive impact on my life. When you are ready to go further, revisit the pessimistic thoughts you wrote to reveal the elements that are tormenting your deepest insecurities. The rest of the work is up to you (and your therapist if applicable) to work on. If you want to learn more about these 3 techniques visually, go to my YouTube video here.