Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

Every so often, I like to publish a post about general mental health care. So today, I bring you Mental Health Moment (MHM) #6.

I’ve been feeling a bit run-down lately. I know a lot of it is because of the stress I’ve been under recently, but the other part of the equation is that my last round of TMS was in November. The effects of the TMS usually start subsiding after about five or six months, so it’s about time for another round.

I’ve also noticed that I’ve been feeling down quite a bit lately, which is a good thing. I mean, it’s not a good thing that I’m feeling down, but it’s a very good thing that I’ve noticed it this quickly. That means the depression hasn’t had time to wind its way into my bones yet.

How about you? How have you been feeling? No, really.

In case you’re feeling down and are suffering from anhedonia and finding it difficult to get through the day, I thought I’d write a post about self-care. Here are 11 simple (but not necessarily easy) tips on caring for yourself if you’re feeling depressed.

By the way, I’m sorry this looks like one huge paragraph, but I just cannot figure out how to separate these tips with a blank line without screwing up the formatting!

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, with depression, I either sleep very little (I’ve been averaging 3-4 hours each night lately) or it’s all I do. Sleep can be elusive for many, but there are things you can do for that. I wear these excellent ear plugs most nights and I wear an eye mask to keep the room nice and dark. Recently, I’ve been listening to my Mellow and Classical playlists on Spotify instead to help me get to sleep. The jury’s out on how well that’s working, though.
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, when I’m depressed), look for easy things you can fix quickly. Some of my favorites are: Canned peaches, frozen dinners, simple sandwiches such as fried egg sandwiches (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 need to exercise more”? As if that’s the cure for depression. I don’t know about you, but I cannot exercise when I’m depressed. It takes a Herculean effort to get to the gym or do my yoga 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 whatnot, just move your body. If you must 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 effort, but not as much as a workout does, plus you don’t have to leave your home. Simply moving around can help you feel like you’ve done something productive, and that’s so 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 require 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 write, 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 to recharge 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 massive pile I’ve created on the floor, or I might snuggle with one of our cats. 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. Allow yourself to binge watch a show you’ve been meaning to watch.
8. Do something small that will make you feel better. And I do mean small: Brush your teeth, take a shower, paint your nails, make the bed, get dressed. 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”, “brush teeth”, or “put on some real clothes” 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, or soap operas. Whatever floats your boat. I have gotten into the bad habit of only reading writing-related books and articles or other things I find useful and not reading for pleasure. Hell, I’ve been reading The Handmaid’s Tale for about a year now! My reading goal for this year is to finish that book and one other novel – 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 are an e-book reader, 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 Lana Del Rey on Spotify (which has a free option!), which will be followed up by Silversun Pickups and the Deftones. I do find myself listening to my Mellow and Classical/Soothing playlists a lot lately, and that’s a sign to me that my depression is coming back. 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 you hear, 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.
11. Fuzz therapy. We have cats. When I’m feeling low, I seem to spend more time snuggling with them, petting them, or just generally paying attention to them. They warm my heart and occasionally give me hugs. 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 those tough days. 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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