Depression Help + Tips. 💙 (Depression + Anxiety Advice) 💙

Over-thinking can make us incredibly tired because the brain doesn't get a rest. Now, we've got a bunch of different labels for things that describe different ways of overthinking. So in depression, it's generally ruminative thoughts on the past. 💙 In anxiety, it's generally thoughts based around the future and worrying about the future. With ADHD, it's generally a brain that's always on. And in OCD, it's excessive repetitive thinking patterns. 💙 So it's interesting that we have a bunch of different labels to describe overthinking. There's also being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world. That requires an awful lot of thinking about an awful lot of different situations. 💙 But the important thing to note is in each of those situations, the person doesn't look ill. So it's very important to be kind to people in all situations because you don't know what they're going through. 💙

Where does depression exhaustion come from? It comes from primarily three places. 💙 Firstly, our thoughts. We are always ruminating with negative thoughts and self -beliefs. And what if we'd done this in the past, would things be differently? 💙 That takes a lot of work. If you can imagine concentrating on an exam for a couple of hours, how tired you feel after that, that's number one cause of depression exhaustion. Number two is huge amounts of effort that go into trying to not feel our feelings. 💙 And unfortunately, our thoughts cause negative feelings and therefore we're always battling negative feelings and emotions. And number three is wearing a mask so we can interact with society while we're experiencing number one and number two. 💙 So that's like the three parts of depression exhaustion, which is a million times worse than just tiredness. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙Everyone's experience of depression will be different and everyone's journey in depression and their healing from depression will all be different because people are unique individuals. It's important to bear that in mind when we're talking about major depression versus bipolar versus seasonal affective disorder versus postpartum depression. 💙 There are many many many types of depression as many as there are unique individuals. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 It's okay to feel sadness. Everyone feels sadness in response to a perceived loss. If you can identify what the loss is and the sadness is proportionate, then there's no problem at all with feeling sad. 💙 However, if you can't really identify the loss and the sadness goes on for more than two weeks, you may want to talk to someone about that because you may be experiencing depression, not sadness. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Our brains love to put things on autopilot. So when you next go and make a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, you don't think consciously about each and every step. You don't think about how much the mug weighs when you lift it up to your mouth. 💙 You just, you know it. And it's only if there's a giant miscalculation do you actually wake up from autopilot and go, oh, hang on, there's no coffee in there or something like that. But our brains do that to save us energy. 💙 And then they use that energy to worry about the future or to ruminate about the past. And that's actually quite unhelpful. So instead of using the free energy to worry about the future and ruminate about the past, try using the free energy to do the best job you can with what you're doing right now. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 One of the core problems of depression is that we lose touch with who we are because we don't know what we like and we don't know what we don't like because we're divorced from our feelings. 💙 So we just feel numb and that makes it a giant problem to try to start recovery because we get no positive feedback from doing things that would help to alleviate the depression. 💙 So it's a bit of a catch-22 situation that why would you exercise or eat healthily or go out for a walk, get some exposure to light and to fresh air and to things like that when you don't get any positive feedback.💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 People who have depression are very prone to bullying thoughts, such as, "I should do this", or "I must do that", or "I have to do the other", or "I've got to".💙 What I'd like you to do is the next time you have one of those bullying thoughts, pause and try to work out if you really have to do them. 💙 Where does that thought come from? Why do you think that way? What's your belief that leads you to think that you have to act in that way? So stop and pause and check those thoughts because thinking in bullying terms like that is one of the reasons that you have depression. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 I often see comments online that are words to the effect of why am I so tired, why isn't my brain normal? And it's really interesting because I can completely empathize with those thoughts, but the answer is actually in the questions themselves. 💙 So why am I so tired, why isn't my brain normal? Those are obviously questions that the person's been asking themselves. They probably haven't been asking themselves once or twice. It's probably been one or two thousand times. 💙 And it's the overthinking that actually causes the tiredness. So why am I tired? It's because I keep thinking that there's something wrong with me and that my brain isn't normal. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 One of the problems at the core of depression is that we don't want to feel our emotions, specifically our vulnerable emotions, so emotions like embarrassment or loneliness or disappointment or inadequacy, and we shut down those feelings and emotions. 💙 We're left with our thoughts, and being left with your thoughts can be scary especially when they're prone to negativity, and everyone's thoughts are prone to negativity. 💙 The way to unwind this is very very slowly, using a titration and only doing what you feel comfortable with when you feel comfortable to do it. Start to feel and express kindness and compassion towards yourself and towards other people.💙 And that will build a sense of safety inside you. And from that place of safety, you can feel the more vulnerable emotions that we discussed earlier. And over time, that will help to unravel the problem that is depression. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 It's really hard to be friends with someone who's depressed. One of the best things you can do for a person who's depressed is to make space for them, either physical, mental or emotional space, for them just to be able to breathe and to feel like the walls aren't closing in on them. 💙 But it is very, very hard to know what to say or what to do when someone around you is depressed. There are no quick and easy fixes for depression. So just holding that space, either physically, emotionally or mentally, or all of them together would be really, really helpful. 💙 And thank you for trying to help a person with depression, it's not easy. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Hey, if you're experiencing depression, or you think you may be experiencing depression, please be kind to yourself. Depression is one of the hardest things that you will ever go through in your life. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙Something that unfortunately can make depression worse is that people don't understand it. They don't know how best to support someone with depression, which raises feelings of insecurity and inadequacy in them, which they aren't comfortable to experience. 💙 So they will back away and you will feel like (and depression will tell you), that you're not good enough to have friends, you're not good enough as a family member. That's not actually the case, the problem lies with the people who have an inability to express kindness and compassion to someone who's struggling with depression. 💙 That isn't your fault. You can take that weight off of your own shoulders. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Depression is not sadness. Sadness is a feeling that is experienced in response to a loss. So you may lose a relationship, you may lose prestige if you lose your job, you may lose a pet. And when you think about the loss, you'll feel the sadness. And while you're in the middle of it, it may feel like is continuous. But after a short while, a couple of days, there will be periods where you don't think about the loss and you're not sad, then it comes back, you remember it again and you're sad again. Depression is not like that. Depression is more of a feeling of emptiness, a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling of worthlessness and of having little to no emotions rather than feeling sadness. And depression does not come and go like feeling ebbs and flows. Depression is a constant. So that's the difference between depression and sadness.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Let's look at "primary depression" versus "secondary depression".💙 Primary depression is what I had. It's outright major depression, clinical depression, with no other adverse mental or physical illnesses. 💙 By contrast, "secondary depression" is something that comes on as a result of having another medical condition. It could be a psychological condition or it could be a physical condition. So often you'll see in the case of people with chronic illnesses, especially chronic pain or chronic fatigue, that they'll withdraw socially, they'll start having more negative thoughts, and that's where secondary depression will come alongside the medical condition. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Hey, I'm really interested in your depression if you have depression or think you may have depression, could you please let me know in the comments? Why you think you have depression is it due to external life events that there's just too much going on in your life? 💙 And you can't cope is it genetics that you think your parents or grandparents or siblings have it and that's why you have it Is it that you don't know it just comes and goes and you're not sure is it something else that I haven't listed? 💙 Or maybe you could let me know if it's just too much to think about and you don't know but you would be interested You just can't work it out Please let me know in the comments. I'll be reading and replying to all of them and we'll be really interested to know. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Self-doubt is huge in depression and it's a giant problem because self-doubt will stop people from getting the help and advice and attention that they need in order to heal from depression. ❤️ Unfortunately, because depression is an invisible illness, other people can't see it or appreciate it so you get advice like, "pull yourself together", "pull your socks up", "get on with it", "other people have it worse". ❤️ Even for someone who was self-confident that would lead to self-doubt, but for people who have depression they're liable to self-doubt and low self-confidence and low self-esteem anyway, so that naturally leads to, "well, maybe I should just work harder", "maybe I should put in more effort", "maybe I am weak" and that then leads to them doing the wrong thing and not getting the help that they need to heal from depression because just beating themselves up to actually do more when you're depressed just makes things a million times worse! ❤️ It's really important if you feel that you're suffering from depression (maybe you don't have the ability to feel happiness joy love excitement pleasure like you used to do you're doing less social things you're feeling exhausted most of the time you may be struggling to sleep you're eating patterns may be off), please please please get the help that you need for maybe a diagnosis of depression and then subsequent treatment and help for that depression. ❤️ Try not to use self-doubt as any kind of reason not to get the help that you need. ❤️

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 A lot of people with depression will blame themselves for being either lazy or procrastinating, which is pretty much the same thing. The thing is, humans by nature are not lazy and they don't procrastinate. 💙 They're inquisitive, they're curious, they're explorers, they like being productive. So if you're blaming yourself for being lazy or for procrastinating, you may be depressed and it's important that you go and check that out. 💙 Talk with a doctor, talk with a psychologist, talk with a counsellor, someone like that to make sure that depression isn't at the root of what you consider to be laziness and procrastination. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Here are three quick ideas for ways you can help someone who's struggling with depression because it's not always obvious what to say or what to do for the best for someone who's struggling with depression. The first idea is to offer some physical assistance. If there are chores that need doing like some dishes that are stacked up, or the room's untidy and needs a quick vacuum, or you could maybe collect groceries for the person, that would be appreciated because the person with depression is probably struggling with exhaustion and finds doing those chores overwhelming. Secondly is some immediate support just by listening to the person. Offer them the chance of a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and a chat to "tell me how you're feeling", "what's going on for you", that would be appreciated in most circumstances. And number three is a kind of, if you're comfortable doing it, a lifeline into the future. Say, "I'm available to listen to you whenever you need, here's my phone number". The person may very well not call you, but it's the offer of support that's important, the offer of support in all of these situations. So those are three things that you can do to help someone who's currently suffering from depression.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 If you're experiencing depression now or you've had depression and feel better, please make sure that you get help for your depression. The reason I say that is that depression has a habit of returning, especially if it's not treated. Someone who's had depression has a 50% chance of having a second episode. Someone who's had two episodes has a 70% chance of a third episode. Someone who's had three episodes has a 90% chance of future episodes. It's very important to get treatment for depression and to get it as early as possible. 💙

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 Depression is an invisible illness. That means that you actually physically look okay and people may be judgmental, scornful, or deride the fact that you feel terrible on the inside. This can even go to the extent of doctors not thinking that you look particularly unwell. It's very important and something that really goes against the grain for people who have depression that you advocate for yourself for the care and kindness and consideration that you need because depression is a very real illness and a very serious illness. So I know it will be difficult, but it's important to advocate for yourself or find someone who will advocate for you to get you the help that you need.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 One of the most important things I ever learned in my recovery from depression was mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to recognize your thoughts, listen to them, work out where they're coming from, what self-belief you have that triggers the thought. The thought then triggers a feeling and that can be a feeling of constriction and potentially the road to depression or expansive if it's a positive thought and you feel uplifted. So mindfulness, the ability to recognize the thoughts and also the feelings is really really important and something that was critical in my path of recovering from depression.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙Depression masking is when people go out into the world on a daily basis, interact with colleagues, co-workers, friends and pretend that they are not depressed. Yet when they go home at night they will feel the full effects of their depression. If this is you I'd like to caution you against doing this. Please get help for your depression because depression can get worse if left untreated and as it gets worse and worse and worse it will start to change the way you think. You might reach a point where you're unable to realize how depressed you are. So if you know now, at this moment, that you have depression and you're masking it... that's a really good time to go and get help.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 If you have depression, is there kindness and compassion in your life? Are kindness and compassion being shown to you from others? And are you showing kindness and compassion to yourself? It's often the case that people who suffer from depression don't have a huge amount of compassion and kindness in their lives.

For more "Depression Help", please visit http://www.epicentering.com/ 💙 I wanted to try to illustrate for you what recovery from depression can look like, because I know when you're in depression you can't visualize ever coming out of depression, and you can't even remember what it's like before depression. 💙 The amount of energy you had is just completely foreign territory. I remember being so exhausted and not being able to think that I could put multiple steps together, and now I was only cooking today. 💙 It's nothing particularly impressive, but when I look at it back through the lens of how difficult it would have been to achieve this, I thought maybe it would be a good example of how when the energy comes back, you can just do these steps step by step, and it doesn't feel like a massive insurmountable obstacle. 💙 So I hope this helps as an illustration of recovery from depression. 💙 #depressionrecovery #depressionsurvivor #depressiontruth #depressionheroes #mdd #majordepression #clinicaldepression #managedepression #healdepression #mentalwellness #healingjourney #recoveryispossible #mentalhealthawareness #selfcare #innerpeace #positivemindset #overcomingdepression #depressionrecovery