Ten simple ways to deal with depression

Ten simple ways to deal with depression

Dealing with Depression – Knowledge

Depression is not a joke. It may need medical attention and/or professional guidance for some people, depending upon the seriousness of the problem.

However, for typical depression arising out of life’s turmoils, disappointments, unexpected events, sad situations etc., which pretty much happens to everyone, there are simple things you can do to make things better. Feeling down a little bit is quite common.  Don’t worry about it.  But nip it in the bud. Don’t let it control you and prevent you from leading a fulfilling life.  It is simply not worth it.

By these practices suggested below, you may not be able to altogether get rid of depression all at once.  But if you can deal with it without letting it make your life a disaster, that is wonderful.  As they say, one baby step at a time goes a long way for escaping depression.

These practices may seem too simple to deal with depression. But I assure you, simple solutions work wonders, for everything.  Don’t take them for granted and look for complex and complicated solutions at the outset. The only thing is, you cannot stop working with them once or twice and expect miracles to happen. You must keep practicing these whenever possible.  Make it a habit.  Not a mechanical habit, but a meaningful habit, i.e., the meaning must be traced and understood. That is the only way it will work. If you want empty promises and quick remedies, there are a whole lot of other websites for you, which will eventually only increase your frustration! Be especially careful when money is solicited.

Believe me, the only help for depression that will last, is the help that comes from yourself. So help yourself. We are creatures of habit. Substitute your depression-creating thoughts and activities to positive thoughts and activities. Try it and see. You can do it. It will definitely help. It may seem strange or meaningless or useless and ineffective in the beginning.  But keep at it. Gradually good results will follow.

Dealing with Depression – Practice

Here are a few things you can practice at any time, anywhere.

1. Every time a thought disturbs you or you feel depressed, right away ask yourself, “Hey, wait a minute. These things didn’t bother me in deep sleep. From where do they come now? And they are constantly changing. That means they are not real. I am not going to pay attention to these disturbing thoughts. Then what is there to make me depressed?” The problem is within you. The answers must come from within you too.  You can learn from outside. But practicing has to be done by you. The doctor can prescribe medications, but you have to take them.  Constant reminders will make this a meaningful habit.

2. Tell yourself, “I am here in this world for a purpose. So should I give that up for something unpleasant that happened? By feeling depressed and thinking about someone or something that caused my dejection, wouldn’t I be giving importance and success to those who caused it? Everyone around me has problems. Is life perfect? Unhappy things happen to everybody. If they can cope up with it, so can I. Whatever happened to me happened to make me strong, perhaps for my good. It is not the end of the world.  Let the purpose for which I was born fulfill itself.” Keep reminding yourself of this whenever possible. Make it a meaningful habit.

3. Tell yourself that your real nature is to be Happy, otherwise you won’t long for it. No one longs for a headache. This depression is an alien trying to control you. It will trick you into being someone you are not. Don’t fall for it. Sometimes, the mind can play tricks on you.  It is like a thief dressed like a policeman.  Stay alert, don’t be fooled by anything disturbing it tells you. Use your common sense. Reason and question what the mind says and then come to a decision.

4. Another easy thing to practice at any time, anywhere is watching your breathing. No strenuous breath control exercises. Just simply watch the breath movements. Concentrate on the inhaling – the cool air going in through the nostrils, then concentrate on the exhaling – warm air flowing out through the nostrils. Do this a few times. Mind and Breath rise from the same source. When one is calmed, the other is calmed. Doing this often makes it a good habit.

5. Force yourself to be with positive, cheerful people and things. Talk to people who care about you.

Force yourself to be with positive, cheerful people and things. Whether worldly or spiritual, association with the happy, good, peaceful and wise is a great remedy for misery. Since they are peaceful and happy, association with them will make their peace and joy attach itself to you. It will drive away your depression.

Talk to your parents, friends or any one you can truly trust.  You may continue to feel depressed for a while inspite of talking to them. They may say something that may not make you feel better right away. But it will help you without your knowing it.  It will help heal faster.  Your parents, if they are understanding people, care about you the most.  Don’t underestimate their love, wisdom and advice. Just confide your feelings to them.  They may understand you problems and feelings more than you think.  They will at least listen to you so that you can get it out of your chest. Sometimes when we talk to others about a problem, we ourselves suddenly figure out the solution. The solution occurs to us on its own.  So talk to people who love you.  Try to listen to their advice and see if it makes sense.

7. Don’t take yourself too seriously.  If failure is bothering you, tell yourself, who cares! The zillion people in this world don’t even know who we are. They don’t care if we succeed or fail. Apart from ourselves, no one else really thinks about us. Besides, we win some, we lose some.  We cannot be always succeeding.  Try to be equanimous in success and failure. I know…Easily said than done. But we have to try it at some point in our lives.  Why not now?

8. If someone breaks your heart, remember the great saying, “Rejection is God’s Protection!”.

If someone breaks your heart, remember the great saying, “Rejection is God’s Protection!”. Remember, even this will pass. Time heals everything. If someone hurts you, let Nature take action about it. It is beyond our control. By the way, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater! If one person is dumb enough to hurt you, it does not mean that everyone is bad.  There are a lot of beautiful, nice people out there in the world. Read the above quotes.

Forget the past.  Do this by force if necessary.  Totally forbid any thought that bothers you from the Past.  It is difficult, but possible with practice.  Just mentally push that thought out.  Past is dead, gone, it won’t come back. We cannot fix something that happened in the past.  It is alright. It is a chance to get stronger.  That’s the real reason it happened.

Happenings in life are like the passing scenes from a movie on the screen.  The movie ends, but the screen remains.  Past relates to the passing scenes. But you relate to the existing screen. Let go the past.  Don’t worry about the future.  The Power that takes care of the Universe will take care of you. Remain and live in the present, in today, in the now.  If you do this, how can you be depressed?

9. Just get out whether you like it or not.

Just get out whether you like it or not. Talk a walk on the beach or by a beautiful park or garden. Even a few minutes of communion with nature helps a lot. Nature is never dejected. Exercise is supposed to invigorate. Go with your spouse, children, friend or relative. Go to the mall. Get lunch outside instead of moping around at home. Eat healthy and exercise.  It is important.

8. Take up some creative work.  I cannot emphasize enough the benefit we get from doing creative work.  By creative work I mean doing something you like, even a simple hobby but focussing completely on it, totally getting engrossed in it while doing it. You don’t have to be great at it. It is not a competition. Just do it for fun. Team up with other people, if necessary.

10. Pray to God or a Higher Power for help. Try meditating a little.

Pray to a Higher Power for help. It only seems rational that there is some Power managing the galaxies, the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Stars and the zillion people in this world. Its power seem to work beyond human laws. So why not ask for the help of such a Power? God is common to all religions. Choose a way you like and follow it.  It will do wonders.

While traveling, sitting in the train, you let the train carry the luggage. You don’t carry it on your shoulders! Similarly, throw all the responsibility of what happens, on the Higher Power.  Then you don’t have to worry, or carry the burden, or feel responsible for what happens. We have a leash length of control over our actions. But we don’t have any control over the results. So why worry?

Meditate. It is just trying to be quiet.  That’s all.  Try to sit for about 5 minutes, close your eyes and focus on the “I am” feeling. Nothing else. Just see where the “I” comes from.  If the thoughts wander,  don’t worry. Come back to finding the source of “I”.  If you like doing this, extend to 10 minutes, then 15 and so on. This will help focus and concentration in general.  However, for some reason if you find it difficult and troublesome, stop doing it.  But do not underestimate this practice.  Every feeling is intangible – love, happiness, sadness etc. You cannot test Happiness in the lab, can you? The same way, you cannot test the results of Meditation tangibly. But great, wise spiritual masters, and even doctors proclaim that Meditation is good for your physical and mental wellbeing.  So try it, you won’t lose anything. In fact, what you could gain could be priceless.

It is not enough to take care of just the body and neglect the mind.  In fact, many physical illnesses are psychosomatic illnesses.  So pay attention to the wellbeing of your mind as well as your body. Cheers!

Watch the funny video below at the end. Perhaps it will help cheer you up!

Don’t Worry, Be Happy !

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

A simple, useful, practical advice that can lead to Good Health, Prosperity and Happiness – yet most people find it so difficult to practise in day to day life. “The Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba …. often used the expression “Don’t worry, be happy” when cabling his followers in the West. However, Meher Baba communicated variations of the sentiment; fuller versions of the quote – such as, “Do your best. Then, don’t worry; be happy in My love. I will help you” — which incorporate responsibility with detachment, as well as the master/disciple spiritual relationship.”

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. The song’s title is taken from a famous quote by Meher Baba. The original music video stars Robin Williams and Bill Irwin. The “instruments” in the a cappella song are entirely overdubbed voice parts and other sounds made by McFerrin, using no instruments at all. The music video for the song is considerably shorter than the album version.

BOBBY McFERRIN – DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY – ENJOY THE VIDEO!

Click HERE to see the Cheerful Video