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 10 ways to prevent getting depression (or your depression getting worse).

TL:DR Getting help early, a safe & stable environment, sleep quality and daily routines, gut health and a belief in something bigger than you.

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.

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

Let’s figure out WHY we get sad, because understanding the causes can help guide treatment and support options to get better.

TLDR: Want the list of 10? Here’s the quick run-down: Genetics, neurochemicals, hormones, thinking patterns, trauma, other mental health issues, social/environmental stress, substance abuse and lifestyle choices, chronic illness, and cultural/societal factors.

WHEEEEW. It’s okay - we’ll go through them one by one and explain what they actually mean.

Depression is a big topic, and there’s lots of things we are taught - both explicitly (directly told) and implicitly (picking up from things like movies depicting depression).

But how do we know if they’re true or not? Especially when depression has the whole “your brain is lying to you” thing going on.

Here’s a list of stigmas and their truths. I’ll list them short and sweet.

Now bear with me - because it sounds complicated, but I promise I’ll make it easy to understand …

so “Biological mechanisms” essentially means things happening in your brain and body that affect your mood, like brain chemicals, hormones or how your brain is wired and “Psychological Mechanisms” are how your mind works, how you think about things, handle stress or deal with emotions.

And what the fuck is a “mechanism”? - It’s a fancy word for the process behind it, how it works. So today we’re talking about 3 MECHANISMS (processes) of how depression works:

TDLR: This research says, “Hey, how people write shows how depressed they are. So, if we gently guide how they write—especially about themselves—we might help them feel better.”

How the sweet fuck are we meant to figure out if we’re:

• a regular amount of sad,

• being dramatic, or

• actually depressed?

Essentially, there’s a big ol’ list of symptoms.

If you have enough of them, for long enough, then congratulations - you “meet the criteria”

So, how do I sum up depression?

It’s a big fuckery to be honest.

Suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, your outlook on life changes. The things you once looked forward to now just seem shitty, unlikely, boring even?

The people you love, don’t worry you do still love them, you kinda just can’t feel it anymore - at the moment

I call it THE BIG sad, because depression is more than just feeling sad.

It’s a fucking overwhelming, life consuming, “serious condition that can interfere with daily life and functioning”.

It fucks up your whole world, makes it tiny and small, until one day you’re 26 and haven’t left the house for months and can’t eat or walk past the mailbox and even though you’re surrounded by people you love, you desperately want to leave this earth forever but you can’t OR THEY WILL BE SAD WHICH DOESN’T SEEM FAIR BUT YOU PROMISED SO NOW YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO STAY AND NOT BE SAD.