#9 Protecting Yourself From Depression (The other 5/10)
Me oh my, I turned this into a big long yarn yesterday so yay - today’s is written and here’s the other 5 of the 10 ways to prevent against depression.
6. Early access to professional help - Early help … well helps.
Getting help early can stop mild sadness from turning into something more serious.
This is why The AntiDepression Club isn’t just for people with a depression diagnosis - it’s for everyone who wants to learn mood management skills.
The way The ADC helps is that you can:
learn about different therapies, so you can pick one and go to get help.
understand medication, so you can talk to your doctor for help - before things get too bad.
have a support group here in our little online oasis - and have space to talk about it and relate to others.
7. Safe, stable and predictable environments - A safe space helps a safe brain
Having a calm, steady home or living situation gives our brains and body a sense of security which can help our mood stay balanced.
Now I know, this isn’t an option for everyone. And if that’s you - I’m so sorry. You deserve to feel safe and calm in your home.
I’m not an expert in this area - but if you have someone you can talk to please do. Someone to reach out for help. Someone to help come up with a plan to get you to a safe space.
8. Sleep quality and daily routine - Sleep and routine do matter
A hard one for depression - because it fucks with your sleep so much - but having some sort of regular routine and getting enough rest does help regulate your mood, focus and energy levels.
For me I slept so much during the day (because I didn’t want to be awake/alive) that I couldn’t sleep at night (when the demons would come out to play and it life feels lonlier being awake at 2am and sad).
What am I saying here? Oh yeah - look into ways to help sleep. I used headspace’s sleep stories, have to have an eyemask and earplugs, fancy pjs made me feel cosy, relaxing piano music for when the sleep story stopped … sleepy tea - a combination of it all (and an unhealthy dose of drugs) let me sleep.
Maybe I’ll do some research and come back with actually backed tools for sleeping instead of my mismatched routine.
9. Nutrition and Gut-Brain Health - Eat well to feel better
Now this one comes with a caveat - for most of my depression my safe food was cereal. And if I couldn’t stomach solids, it was an up and go liquid drink.
BUT
Once I started eating more nutrition (especially food that helps your gut health like yoghurt and fermented foods) - I felt better. This is because what you eat DOES affect how you feel, and foods that support gut health also support brain health and help to lift your mood.
There’s so much (OVERWHELMING) research on nutrition and depression. I know (we all know) that eating nutritious food makes our bodies and minds feel better than eating crappy food.
but FUCK ME IT’S HARD when you’re depressed.
I might put together a “cookbook” of depression meals - the things that take zero effort and time to put together, but somehow do have nutrition in it.
Maybe I’ll make it one of the share questions of the week - to get your “recipes” for putting together a depression friendly meal eg. takes less than 60 seconds, minimal ingredients and kitchen time.
10. Spirituality, Faith or belief systems - Gaining hope through belief
Believing in something bigger than yourself - religious or not - can offer a sense of connection or overall guidance - like you are not alone on this journey, and there is something bigger looking out for you, and this is all going to work out in the end.
For me, this topic was tricky. In every “health” questionnaire through the first few years of my depression journey I rated spiritual health” as a 0/10.
Being confused from being brought up catholic, conflicting feelings about being gay, coming out and not really feeling like I fit in or belonged, only going to church at Christmas and Easter for my parents - it was a weird time.
Now I’ve sort of got my own mismatch, slightly blurred idea of spirituality. Ultimately, I believe in something bigger than myself, because at my lowest and most lost I “handed over the reins” and promised I’d follow whatever path I was put on for the next year, because I clearly wasn’t doing well being in charge.
This helped me release control, and trust what was happening was for the best.
It was a big year - I was made redundant, had to talk to so many different psychiatrists and psychologists to get an insurance claim accepted, then was put through some intense therapies that ultimately helped me heal.
Without losing my job I wouldn’t be a writer, wouldn’t have made The ADC, would still be in my office with three screens and no windows making rich people richer - or I wouldn’t be here at all.
Who Knows.
Either way - believing someone is looking out for you and it’s all in the divine plan - helped me.
Anyway, as always
I’m really proud of you for staying alive
talk again soon
lots of love
bren
xx
