How do you fight depression?

I have had moderate to severe depression intermittently since childhood, so I believe I know the ins and outs of it pretty well. I personally don't like drugs, but don't judge anyone for taking that route. That said, there are several facets of my life that seem to work together, and giving each of them proper attention is like an amplifier for happiness. On the flipside, the less I attention I give them, the less happy I feel.

Here is what works for me – I slowly have introduced these practices over the last year or so and depression has become the exception rather than the norm:

NUTRITION
1) Eat more fresh and unprocessed food - Over the years I have found that engineered junk food tends to have a rebound effect the next few days for me; the withdrawal feels like quitting smoking did for me many years ago. I suspect some of the same ingredients put in cigarettes to make them more addictive are also used as flavorings in some processed food. I never get these reactions from minimally processed food. In fact, when I keep a pretty clean diet that has lots of vegetables and fruit with whole grains, I feel energetic and positive. I slowly introduced new healthy foods in my diet over time and realized how great they made me feel. I bought a juicer and make fresh vegetable and fruit juices a few times a week that make me feel wonderful.

2) Take a fish oil supplement - I really like Trader Joe's Sea Gummies with DHA

3) Take a multi-vitamin and mineral complex a few times per week or more often as needed, depending on how nutritionally sparse the diet is.

4) Swap virgin coconut oil (medium chain triglycerides--MCTs) for olive oil or butter in recipes – helps brain health and regulation of blood sugar/satiety

KICK ADDICTIVE HABITS TO THE CURB
Nothing brings on severe depression like a cycle of addictive withdrawal. Whether it’s from binge eating, drinking too much, or smoking, you’ve got to kick the habit because the elation-depression cycle will never go away until you do. I’ve quit smoking, limited drinking to one glass of wine on Friday night, and am working very hard on curbing binge eating despite the urges that come up (they get easier to say no every time you do say no! It’s just mental conditioning and habit.), and combined with my other good habits, I feel so much better than before.

MODERATE EXERCISE
…is better than an antidepressant, IMO; studies show at six weeks of either exercising moderately daily or taking an SSRI that both groups had greatly improved mood and the SAME levels of serotonin in the brain. Skeptically, I put it to the test, and you know, it took about six weeks for me to feel amazing almost every single day, save for two days a month when hormonally I feel horrible about two days after my TOM (been that way since 14 years old!), when my estrogen and norepinephrine are at all-time lows. But even that with daily exercise even those two days are very muted and able to be handled with minimal effort. It’s awesome. In any case, with exercise:

1) Find your sweet spot. I personally found that 45 minutes daily is the magic number for me to alleviate depression. In past years I was only doing 15-30 minutes of exercise each day, and didn't see the kind of lift in mood I was looking for, but after increasing the intensity and duration to 45 minutes, I saw a drastic change in outlook and mood. I use exercise videos so I can change them up easily and reduce boredom by trying new things. Vigorous low-impact cardio seems to be the best for alleviating depression and improving mood to dare I say, happy levels.

2) Experiment with new forms of activity. While I have favored aerobics in the past, I tried a qigong video the other day that blew me away with how calming it was, and I’ve just ordered a dance video. While I have “two left feet” (am super uncoordinated lol), I’m in the privacy of my own home with this video, so I’m going to have fun with it and see if I can’t teach myself a new skill while getting some exercise in.

QUIET “ME” TIME
Discover or rediscover activities that you used to find enjoyable. I schedule actual “me” time on a daily basis and really look forward to it.

1) Reading. At first it was just getting in the habit of reading before bed, which got me relaxed and ready to sleep and allowed me to catch up on stuff I’ve been meaning to read for a while. Now I’m reading cool stuff of interest all the time, which keeps my curiosity piqued and less focused on ruminating on me.

2) Take numerous mental breaks during the day. I like to break up my work day with “get away from the computer moments” every few hours to go outside for a quick walk or even just to do a full-body stretch. It’s good to unplug and feel like a human being.

3) Contemplative time. Whether you call it meditation, prayer, or just “figuring stuff out” time, I like quiet time a few days a week to figure my stuff out. I’ve also found that morning journaling before checking e-mail is amazing for finding out what’s eating at you and to move beyond it. In my journal for each entry, I first empty my head, then I solve the problem by offering solutions as if I were a therapist, and then I move beyond it and set goals. It’s a great tool.

SOCIAL TIME
1) Real people! Social media is sometimes a good replacement for social interaction, but ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. Instead of poking someone on Facebook, pick up the phone and call them. It means more to both of you. Go out and talk to people, even if it’s just the mailman for a minute or the girl at the grocery store in the checkout line. Real human interaction is necessary to feel part of the world. Technology has isolated our world, but the good news is that it’s easily remedied by reaching out to other people in real life.

2) On that note, avoid real but toxic people. The family I grew up with, honestly, is a mess, and interacting with most of them, even by phone only, is so stressful that it’s usually a one-way ticket to depression and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for days on end. So, I’ve had to work hard at finding the right balance of distance with them. For some people in my family, that means no contact at all, and for others, that means only every now and then. This past year I’ve also had to make some hard decisions and face difficult truths about friends who are simply mediocre friends; I’ve backed away from those who are “bad friends” and while at first it hurt a lot to face the truth that maybe I was a doormat for many years because I had self-esteem issues and put up with it, it feels great now because I’ve opened up the door for better friends who are just as invested in the friendship as I am.

3) Find other people interesting. Ask them about their interests, thoughts, and feelings, and not simply as a vehicle to air out your thoughts and feelings. Finding other people interesting is a magical way not to think about yourself—and everything you don’t like about you and your life.

4) Strive to help other people and you will help yourself in the process. Every person in this life has problems and everyone goes through hardship that challenges them. Seeing that you’re not so different from others in that regard will help you get off the pity train.

REGULAR SLEEP
The brain likes regularity. Try to shoot for at least 7-8 hours daily and around the same time. If you have the luxury of napping during the day and feel so inclined, go for it.

PERSONAL GOALS
1) Set goals and stick to achieving them, and once you master them, set more. Finding purpose is as easy as setting goals and making progress toward them. They don’t have to be big and lofty (but it’s OK if there are a couple of those in there, too). Start small, with easily achievable goals. I started with a to-do list for daily errands, and now find that I set goals to challenge myself in many ways because it makes life more of a fun game with rewards and payoffs. So, for instance, I set weekly goals for exercise, diet, writing and reading. Working on these goals and knowing that I need to put forth practice on them daily in order to achieve them gets me out of bed in the morning and gives me something to do. In other words, I have purpose. I find that my goals are now getting larger, and it’s more exciting. I’m actually going to try to write a book that I’ve had in mind for years. I’m scared of failure, but what the heck. I’m not going to tell anybody about it; it’s more of a personal goal.

2) Learn something new, no matter how cheesy, tacky, or silly others might think it is. Ever wanted to know how to square dance or bird watch or make music or cook something amazing? How about race a car or climb a mountain? Do something you’ve always been curious about and stick with it for at least two months. Learning stimulates dopamine and relates to goal setting, two things that alleviate depression. You just may find an activity or new form of study that makes you happy, and isn’t that better than feeling like crap about everything all of the time?

This is what has worked for me. Hopefully some of it can work for you, or at least inspire you to explore and discover what works for you.

Best of luck

As much sadness as there is in this world, there is as much happiness. Choose it consistently, and it chooses you.

Not sure why, but never tied in sleeping issues to depression. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea this summer. I am not bad enough to need a mask though. However, my doctor gave me no help on how to combat this issue other than telling me that my tossing and turning will not injury my back even if it hurts bad the next couple of days.

Debbie