Lifestyle Hacks to Deal with Depression

The number of people dealing with depression is going higher and higher. 20 to 30 years back depression was not a common ailment but in today's time there is a large population dealing with this issue and specially after the pandemic this number has gone up further. Studies show that the Covid has triggered 25% increase in the number.

Depression triggers from the state of our mental health and our lifestyle is one key factor which contributes to our mental health. It's not a very difficult task to deal with our lifestyle. No matter what our stress levels are, how much anxiety we have, with some lifestyle modifications we can deal with our depression, stress and anxiety.

There are some lifestyle hacks which work very well on dealing this issue. These are some of those which I use it for myself and I also advise my clients to follow to deal with their issues and it has worked very well.

The one most important;

• Breaking the mundane routines - Whenever I am feeling low or stressed out, the first thing I do is get out of my routines and do something different. Routines makes the brain feel dull and you feel like you are dragging on to life. Doing something different charges up the brain activity. Even if it is a good activity, routines some times makes you feel dull. Like you may be going for your evening walks daily but the time when you are feeling low go out with your friends at the same time or go for some shopping and you feel a shift in the energy of your mental health. Though walking is a very good exercise but just because it is set in a routine it may not help much during the low periods.

• Writing and Journaling - Another one hack that I find it very useful. Once we start thinking about what we can be grateful about and start noting it down in our diary, we will realize that there is so much good around. Think of the happy times and note that down and we will understand that life is so beautiful and whatever we are going through in the current situation is just a phase and we can deal with it with a better approach. If we have some serious problems, writing them down will make us think about how we can deal with it rather than just sulking about it. Our brain gets into a positive activity, which is the mental shift that we want.

• Physical Activity - I always emphasize on Yoga but one can do other things also like walking, or joining up a dance class. Nowadays Zumba is very famous and everyone wants to do that. Physical movement eases out the pressure on the brain which is formed with all the negative thoughts.

• Music & Sleep - When we are in our low, all the more we like to sulk. Somehow it feels good to be in that but it drags us down further. Music helps us to get out of these moods. Again we notice our patterns, if we are feeling low, we all the more like to hear some sad songs, it is self gratification. We like to feel sorry for our self. Good music can help bring this shift, and good sleep can help relax our brain from slumping down. It acts like a switch off, switch on button.

A friend of mine has been in this regular habit of getting into depression, he likes to sulk, now that has become the habit of his brain, where if things do not go his way he gets into depression. And I see that he enjoys feeling sorry for himself. This is a problem which is not easy solvable. It requires a lot of mental work to deal with, because in this condition the person feels good in that low state, because he or she may be getting more attention or their needs would be meeting by gaining sympathy in that state. After a point this becomes more of a advantage taking situation then dealing with the real depression. Realization is also important in such cases.

Hope you find this article useful.

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