When you’re depressed, there are a lot of things you don’t want to do. In fact, a lot of times you just want to sit or lie down and do nothing. While getting the proper amount of sleep and finding time to rest are important parts of maintaining your mental health, sitting around all day is NOT going to help your overall mental state. In fact it will likely keep you in depression longer. Below are ten tips to help you on your journey out of depression. Remember, none of these are going to magically make you undepressed – BUT, if you can focus on doing a few of these each day, it will certainly improve your mental state!
- Take a shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even have to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you have to.
- Put on clean, comfortable clothes. This just makes everything you experience during the day more enjoyable.
- Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.
- Clean something. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink.
- Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and loud with a lot of energy that you can dance to. Sing along and dance to it, even if you’re terrible at both.
- Make food. Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time to prepare some food. Even if it’s ramen. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. When you take time to prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.
- Create something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, or anything else artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it, making something will force you to use different parts of your brain.
- Go outside. While you’re there – take a walk, sit in the grass, look at the clouds, and smell the flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin. Natural light, exercise, and getting in touch with nature will change your perspective.
- Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to someone in a store or while you’re outside. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps.
- Find something or someone to be grateful for. Be thankful for that person or thing and spend some time appreciating the help it/they have given you.
Some of the things on this list may seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive. Don’t forget that at your absolute best you won’t be good enough for the wrong people. But at your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on.
The items in the above list were inspired by:
US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.
800-273-8255