#8 10 Ways to Protect Yourself From Depression (Part 1/2)

TLDR: Here’s the list of 10 protective factors for depression: Supportive relationships, regular physical activity, healthy coping skills, sense of purpose, positive thinking patterns, access to mental health support, stable living conditions, sleep quality and daily routine, nutrition and gut-brain health, and finally spirituality/faith/belief systems.

Protective Factors are what researchers call them - and they’re

things that help reduce your risk of developing Depression

(or support your recovery if you’re currently experiencing it).

They’re like buffers, helping you become more RESILIANT (better able to handle) stress, sadness and the struggles that come with mental illness.

Now don’t get me wrong,

they don’t make you IMMUNE to depression,

but they can lessen the intensity or shorten the length of your depressive episodes.

Like the whole mantra of The AntiDepression Club, it’s not a replacement for therapy and medication, it’s a tool to use ALONGSIDE therapy and medication.

Today we’ll chat about what some protective factors of depression are and how you can pick and choose a few of these 10 to add to your toolbox,

because you don’t need them all - even building on one or two protective factors can significantly improve your mental wellbeing.

1) Supportive relationships and social connection - People make it easier

Having people who listen, care and spend time with you makes you feel less alone and more supported when life gets tough.

I know firsthand how hard it is to tell people how you’re really feeling, how low you actually are. In the guided journal there are scripts to send to your loved ones to explain that you might need extra support - if you don’t have the words to say it yourself.

2) Physical activity and exercise - Move to feel better

Ugh I know, have you tried going for a walk? They say. Unfortunately, it does work.

It does help. Even a short walk can help (I started by going to the mailbox and back after not leaving the house for months. In slippers. Slowly working up to the end of the block and back.).

Each mini walk helps our bodies release chemicals in our brain that boosts our mood and energy.

3) Adaptive coping skills and emotional regulation - Stay calm, cope better

Learning how to get out of flight or fight mode, manage tough feelings and cope without shutting down

This understandably helps protect our mental health.

This is kinda the whole idea of The AntiDepression club - teaching mood management tools to help get you through depression.

4) Sense of Purpose, meaning and Identity - Finding your why

It’s hard to create a life you want to stay for, when you can’t identify what you believe in or who you are.

Developing an idea of who you are and having things that matter to you (like a cause, role, belief or passion) can keep you going through the hard times depression brings.

There’s a whole therapy around this I did, called ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) which was so confronting. I remember sitting with my therapist, and she asked me to fill in a worksheet with my core values - that I myself believed in, separated from what my family and friends and society believed in. I realised in that session, not being able to write anything down, that I had no idea who I really was or what I stood for.

I’m working on a version of the WRITE journal - with prompts to essentially figure out who you really are, and what kind of things YOU value and YOU want to create your life around.

I was told, implicitly and explicitly, that having a high powered, high paid job would “make me happy”. I am so much happier as I live now, making far (far!) less than I used to, but having time to spend with friends and family, finding hobbies I enjoy, taking my dogs for walks every day.

Finding your own version of happy ever after - maybe that’s what I’ll call it. I got off topic - back to the list of protective factors that helps manage depression.

5) Cognitive flexibility and Optimistic thinking - Thinking flexibly and more positively

Being able to see different perspectives, stay hopeful and reframe negative thoughts can make challenges feel more managable.

Oooof this one’s kinda hard to write about - because YES cognitive flexibility is important so you can see things in different perspectives but optimistic thinking can turn into toxic positivity - not allowing yourself to be sad because you SHOULD be happy.

I struggled with this for years. I REFUSED to be sad. I REFUSED to allow myself to think of things that made me sad (like being in the closet, old trauma, not feeling like I fit in).

The refusal of feeling any “negative” emotions or “negative” thoughts - made me end up feeling so weighed down by them.

So what am I saying? Yes to optimism. But also YES to feeling what you’re feeling, and not rejecting that for a toxic positivity facade.

This has gotten so long I might have to turn it into a two-parter. Noone wants to read a big wall of text.

Well actually, I’m not sure if anyone is even reading these.

But I’ve gotta start somewhere.

Anyway ….

As always,

I’m really proud of you for staying alive,

talk again soon,

lots of love,

bren

xx