There are thousands of reasons associated with depression in this world. We often say 'I feel stressed', 'I think I'm depressed' when feeling hopeless about life, sad, or burnt out at work. This usually passes in time, but if it does not go away, or already interfering with daily life, and tends to come back anytime, then that could be a sign of depression.
Depression can be in different forms, it is categorized as a mood disorder. The feeling of a depressed person can be sad, anger, or loss that gives a negative impact on activities of daily living resulting in lower productivity, lost in time, it can also affect relationships and may cause or result in a chronic health condition.
To be honest, I experienced depression and it always comes and goes. Here are the things that cause depression to me:
Family-related problems
I grew up in a big family with a very strict and cruel father. At a very young age, I took responsibilities which aren't supposed to be mine. I am the third child in our family, but after my eldest brothers got married at an early age, I acted as the eldest child in the family and helped my parents in taking care of my little siblings. This includes helping them financially which interferes with my personal decisions and dreams in life. As the breadwinner of the family, I have to give up personal things such as love life, personal needs and wants, and even my dreams. These factors give a negative impact on my mental health which leads to having depression.
In some cases, family history is also the root of depression. A person has a high risk of it if he/she has a family history of mood disorder or depression.
Low self-esteem due to childhood experiences
Ever since I was young, I already have low self-esteem. When I was in primary, I got bullied by some of my classmates and that factor affects my self-esteem. My mother also taught me not to intervene with our visitors at home. Every time we have visitors, I always hide in my room and only step out once they are gone. These factors contributed to my low self-esteem which I carried even until I got into college. I don't like socializing with other students not unless they approach me first. I wasn't used to talking to others so even during our class recitation, I always got nervous while reciting in front of my classmates. Even though I have low self-esteem, I was able to surpass all those challenges due to my determination to finish my studies.
My mind flooded with 'what ifs' and regrets
I have that personality that sometimes I am not that confident in making decisions. My mind is loaded with what ifs 'what if I can't make it?', 'what if I don't pass?', 'what if I can't meet their expectations?', 'what I fail?' I am always anxious about the results without even undertaking it first. My regrets are also getting into me. And when I am sad, I often contemplate my past then regrets will follow. I will always ask myself, 'what if I made it?', 'what if I pursued it?', 'what if I tried?' 'If only I have chosen the right decision, I should have been better now, I should have a good life now'
Those things are always in my mind and keep on bugging me every time I am sad and lonely. Negative emotions are indeed consuming and destructive. It sucks all joy and exhausts my mind, leaving me stuck from the past and cannot move forward in my life. And holding them for a long time develops depression.
The negative impact of social media
The reason why I have regrets and what-ifs is because of the things I saw on my social media accounts. My batchmates have a better and successful life now. Some of my friends are now married and have a happy family. Some are having vacations anywhere they wanted to go. They have no responsibilities and have full control over their money. All those things flaunted on their social media accounts are affecting my mind. I may call it envious, but if only I have the freedom to do everything without minding anything, I may as well the same as them. But the reality sucks, and that develops my depression.
Stressful work
This is mostly the factor that develops depression in many. Exhausting work can also stress out our mind. Working abroad is not the same as working in our own country. When it comes to working, there should be no interventions, no destructions. Employers are monitoring your work because they want their money worth it. You are being pressured to meet their rising expectations and demands. And unlike before when I was working in my own country, I can just text my supervisor if I can't go to work due to sickness or some personal issues. In here, you need to set aside your matters, you cannot apply for sick leave easily just because you have dysmenorrhea, headache, or any other sickness problem.
My mind and body become exhausted because of these things to the point that I attempted to commit suicide by thinking to jump on our balcony or cut my wrist. I was suicidal but my family doesn't know about that because I don't want them to get worried about me. These things were consuming my mind and burning out my body.
In other cases, factors that cause their depression include childhood trauma due to physical or mental abuse, brain structure, medical condition, post-operative effects, post-partum, divorce, breakups, and more.
You might be wondering why I entitled this The Art of Depression, here is the point.
Depression is life-consuming and destructive, however, to those who want to get through with it will do things just to combat their depression. And because of this depression, I engaged myself into things that eventually help me deal with my sudden change of mood and depression. This includes:
Before I joined read.cash, I was experiencing depression. I owe @Annie1812 a lot because of her post, I am here now writing and sharing my stories which help me reduce the level of depression. Some users here also helped m get through with it, especially @Hanzell and @hamedbkh who gave me pieces of advice the moment I posted my depressive feelings. (Am not sure if you guys still remember that)
I can express my emotions, feelings, or anger towards someone or something through writing. It helps me clear my mind by expressing my thoughts, doubts, anger, and anything else that crosses my mind. Moreover, writing good and inspiring stories motivates me to combat depression, and at the same time, it helps me recover good and happy memories that put a smile on my face. It also helps me remember the people I care about and encourage me to move forward for them.
And writing also helps me put things into perspective. It helps me look at each thing in a more objective light. It helps me draw parallels between things and situations that clarifies my thoughts and help me look at them from a different point of view. And through writing here in readcash, I was able to meet and talk with different people with different personalities. Those things help me get through depression.
Art and hobbies
As you all know, art is one of my hobbies too. It is another way of expressing thoughts and emotions. While I am doing art, my mind temporarily forgets the current situation because it locks my concentration into it. Art stimulates my imagination and opens my heart and mind into possibilities.
Through art, I can create myself and experience the world in different ways. It helps me boost my problem-solving skills and self-esteem. And most importantly, art reduces my stress and anxiety. Creating art takes my mind off stress and clears my negative thoughts which helps me focus on the better side of life. To those who are suffering from depression, you guys should try it. Art is for everyone! Start to express out the artistic side of you, for sure it will help you combat depression.
Reading Books and Music
If you have read my article about Going through a hard time, I mentioned there some benefits of reading books and listening to music. These things alleviate my depression and help me clear my mind from negative thoughts.
Reading can also stimulate our minds and help us think positively. It gives us knowledge because everything we read fills our mind. The more knowledge we have, the better we grasp with challenges that will come in our way. We might lose everything in life, but not the knowledge we have gained. And engaging in good books will distract and keep us in the present moment. It takes us to places where there are no stresses and depressive things. It drives away our tension and allows us to relax.
Moreover, music can calm my mind and my body. Every time I feel down, I just listen to lively music. It gives me the energy to perform my work and be more productive. Ever time I feel lonely, I listen to pop music. I just jam with the music and I felt like I am not alone and lonely anymore. And every time I feel lost, I listen to inspirational/motivational music. It helps me realize everything and see the brighter side of life.
Music gives colors to our life and energy to our weak bodies. And music clears out our mind from negativity and fill it with positive thoughts and emotions. Without music, life is dull and boring.
Travel and photography
My another way of reducing my depression is through traveling. Staying in a place that gives depression is unhealthy. Every time I feel exhausted in my work, I roam around and explore this country during my holidays. As I explore new places, I also gain knowledge, learn new things, meet new people, new experiences, which help me creates new stories to reduce my depression.
With all the tension and stress in life, traveling helps us disconnect from our daily routine and helps us appreciate the people and things we have around. It helps us to have fun and temporarily forget the problems in life. Travelling also broadens our horizon as we connect to different people from different cultures. It helps us see the issues and daily challenges from a different perspective. And most especially, traveling creates memories that will last for a lifetime.
And one way to create memories is through collecting photos. That is the reason why photography is on my list in alleviating my depression. My favorite subject in photography is nature. It is a remarkable stress reliever. I tend to forget all-consuming problems once I focus on capturing the beauty of nature. Who won't gonna amazed by the beauty of the flowers, shapes of the mountains, colorful sunsets, romantic and magical scenery, and cute and adorable creatures like butterflies, bees, and other insects and animals?
Photography is documenting our life journey. Even at home, we document our life journey from childhood to adulthood. From first steps to first smiles, the first crush the to first dates, the first journey to the first reunion, all are documented and preserved. It also helps us to see things that we may never catch sight of forever.
The last thing that I do to combat depression is,
Hiking
Hiking is my way to disconnect not only from my work but from the world. Getting away from people and things that give me stress and being out in nature makes me feel happy. It is like an antidepressant to me and it helps me to reconnect to myself. It clears my mind and boosts my mood. Being with nature turns out to have a restorative effect on my mind and my body. And hiking helps me appreciate the beauty of nature and the trek help me realize the true meaning of coping with challenges and struggles in life.
The hiking and trekking are challenging but winning over is life-changing. Reaching the summit gives you self-confidence and witnessing the beauty on top boosts your mood. And the most important benefit of hiking is, it helps us realize that we shouldn't stop doing things that we want to do and it is only us who stop ourselves from winning the battle of life. If we stop the climb, we won't be able to reach the summit. It is the same when we stop dreaming and moving forward, we won't be able to reach our goal in life. In hiking, we are on our own and the challenges will teach us different perspectives that we can apply in our real life.
People hated depression, but for me, it is helpful in some way. It helps me see things from a different perspective, it helps me appreciate life encourages me to see the brighter side of it, it engages me to new aspects which I haven't encountered before, it teaches me new lessons, and it helps me creates new experiences and stories that will last in my memory forever. And that is for me, the real art of depression.
Lead image from talkspace.com
Of course i remember. Can't believe I've helped with your depression this much even after all this time since then though. It's been what? 2 months ago? But you're making use of that empty hopeless feeling you get when you're depressed and you're turning it into something beautiful. And that's amazing in itself UwU