Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Every so often, I like to publish a post about general mental health care. With Thanksgiving and Christmas now in the rear-view mirror and a new year bearing down on us, I thought this would be a good time to remind you to pay more attention to your well-being than you usually do.

Certainly, the holidays can bring out the best in people – their smile may be a bit brighter, their words a little less sharp, and their feelings of fellowship may overshadow any negativity they may be feeling. For others, though, the holiday season might bring about loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, and hurt feelings. This post is for those that need “permission” to take care of themselves.

Here are 11 mostly free things you can do to ensure that you get what you need during this emotional time.

1. Take your meds. If you take any meds for any kind of condition, take them AS DIRECTED BY YOUR PHYSICIAN! Especially if you take psych meds, take them as prescribed. I’ve messed around with my meds before, and I’ve ended up in a psych unit each time.
2. Get adequate sleep. Oh, this is a hard one, I know! It seems that, when I’m depressed, I either sleep very little (I average 3-5 hours ) or it’s all I do. Sleep can be elusive for many, but there are things you can do for that. I usually wear these excellent ear plugs most nights and sometimes I wear an eye mask to keep the room nice and dark, especially if I’m napping during the day. Recently, though, I’ve been listening to my Mellow and Classical playlists on Spotify to help me get to sleep. The jury’s still out on how well that’s working.
3. Eat! That’s right, eat something! Your body needs nutrition, whether you’re depressed or not. If you’re like me and don’t like to cook (can’t cook, really, especially when I’m depressed), look for easy things you can fix quickly. Some of my favorites are: Canned peaches, my favorite frozen dinners, simple things such as a fried egg sandwich (granted, these take a little effort), tuna fish, even peanut butter and jelly, and any restaurant that I can afford that delivers. Even if you don’t *feel* hungry, you still need to eat a few times a day, even if it’s something small.
4. Move your body. I know, I know. Don’t you hate it when people say, “You’re depressed? You need to exercise more!” as if that’s the cure for depression. I don’t know about you, but I just cannot exercise when I’m depressed. It takes a Herculean effort to get to the gym even on my good days; when I’m depressed? Forget it. So, instead of chastising yourself for not going to the gym or doing your usual yoga routine or going for a half-hour walk, just move your body. If you have to go somewhere, park farther away than usual and get some extra steps in. Is there something around the house you can manage to do, like laundry or organizing a closet? Those take physical effort, but not as much as going to the gym. Plus it will help you stay focused. Simply moving around can help you feel like you’re doing something productive, and that’s very important.
5. Break out your coloring books or do crossword puzzles, word searches, Sudoku, or dot-to-dots. I realize you’re not seven years old, but these things can have therapeutic value. We have three coloring books at my house and a shitload of colored pencils (which I don’t use often enough). Now, I’m no artist, but I do find it soothing to color. It also serves as a good distraction for when I’m feeling shitty, even if only for five minutes. Same goes for the other ideas I’ve listed. Other than coloring, my personal favorites are word searches and dot-to-dots because they require little thought but they do allow me to focus on something for a while.
6. Schedule some time for yourself. If you’re an introvert, like me, you need time to yourself every day. I wake up earlier than anyone else in my household, so I get a few good, quiet hours to myself almost every day. It is during this time that I read, write, or drink my coffee (decaf!), and just sit in the silence to charge my batteries up for the day. I need a lot of time to myself, so I also look for opportunities during the day. If there’s just too much stimulation around me while I’m sitting in the living room, I find a reason to go into the bedroom and into the quiet. I might clean a bit or pick up my clothes from the pile I’ve made on the floor. Even a quick five or ten minutes can help. If you have a hard time taking time for yourself, schedule it. Write it down. Put it in your phone. Set your alarm. Put it on your calendar. Just do it!
7. Stay away from the news. If you’re anything like me, you long for the days of a saner political climate. I find that by watching the news, I get considerably stressed. I feel angry, sad, frustrated, you name it. And it’s not just about politics, either. Even the local news, with its reporting on shootings and other bad things happening to innocent people, brings me down. I once went six months without watching any kind of news shows because it was just. too. much. Turn on something you’ll actually enjoy instead or put in a movie. Or allow yourself to binge-watch a show you’ve been meaning to watch (my current favorite is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. Have you seen it??).
8. Do something small that you know will make you feel better. And I do mean small: Brush your teeth, take a shower, paint your nails, make the bed. Just put one foot in front of the other and you’ll be able to make it through the day. I have periods where I write things like “wash hair” or “brush teeth” on my To-Do list. As far as I’m concerned, if I do ANYTHING on any given day, that means I’ve been at least somewhat productive.
9. Take your mind off things by escaping into a book, TV show, or movie. Romantic comedies, thrillers, and action movies do it for me. You might enjoy sci-fi, Harry Potter-type movies and books, or a soap opera. Whatever floats your boat. For a long time, I had gotten into the bad habit of only reading writing-related books and articles or other things I find useful and not reading for pleasure. But I recently picked up The Handmaid’s Tale again, which I’ve been working on for over a year now! My reading goal for the rest of the year is to finish that book  – not impossible, but hard for me. Do a little browsing on Amazon or Goodreads and find a book you think you might enjoy. If you really enjoy reading, sign up for Bookbub to get daily listings of discounted and free e-books.
10. Listen to music you like that won’t bring you down. This is an important one for me, as I am a music lover. Fortunately, I like most kinds of music. I don’t limit myself to only rock or only love songs, etc. In fact, at this very moment, I’m listening to Aretha Franklin on Spotify (which has a free option!), which will be followed up by Sheryl Crow and MISSIO. I do find myself listening to my Mellow playlist quite a bit lately, which can sometimes be a sign to me that my depression is coming back; however, at this time, I’m just mixing up my playlists. I need to pay special attention to what I’m listening to, because it reflects my mood. On the days when I put in more effort to feeling better, I switch it up and listen to my upbeat playlists. But even that’s hard sometimes. The trick is to enjoy what you listen to, maybe even dance and sing along – but not get sucked into the sad stories artists sing about, which can really bring a person down. Think about broadening your musical horizons a bit. Is there a group or artist you used to really like but haven’t listened to in years? Hunt him/her/them down! Give a new genre a chance. You might be surprised at what might help. Better yet, if you can afford it, check out who’s coming to town in the near future so you have something to look forward to.
11. Fuzz therapy. My roommate has a cat. When I’m feeling low, I try to spend more time snuggling with him, petting him, or just generally paying attention to him. Unfortunately, he’s not all that cuddly, but I keep trying. In general, spending time with pets warms my heart. If you are a pet owner, take your dog for a walk, give your cat a good brushing, talk to your fish, or do whatever it is you do with your reptile. If you don’t have any pets but love animals, go to your local pet store or animal shelter and take a look at the kittens that are up for adoption or the bunnies or ferrets or mice or whatever. BONUS: If you love animals and are up for it, you can volunteer at your local animal shelter.

I hope these tips help you fight your way through these tough holidays. Most of what I’ve listed here are simple (read: not complicated) things even though they can be difficult to do. Just keep on going, whatever you do. Never, never, never give up.

And if you need to talk, feel free to drop me a line at Laura@DepressionWarrior.com.

Keep it Real, kids.

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