Depression holding me back

I've been dealing with the same thing . I spoke to my doctor and she put me on something and I'm slowly feeling like myself and becoming more motivated

Ow, I've been there. It does get better! I know the very last thing you want to do when you're depressed is exercise...but it really really really helps! It releases endorphins that help improve your mood, help you feel more relaxed, and you get to feel proud of yourself that you did something good for your body.
Additionally, one of the best bits of advice that I've ever gotten was to not wait for motivation. Do things because you know you have to. Set some goals (something that will make you proud of yourself - also helps with depression!), plan out how to achieve them, and then make a contract with yourself that says that each day you will take baby steps towards your goals. Treat it as something really important. *Do Not* beat yourself up if you fail for a day or two or more. We all do that once in a while. But keep trying!

Depression is rough, and can sometimes take a long time to go away, but it does get better. There's absolutely no shame in seeing a doctor if you need to. Just keep trying! Every day just keep trying!

just keep swimming, dory. thats what i do. and talk to your doc about an antidepressant.

As others have written here, exercising -- getting the body moving indeed helps to lift the depression. It's proven through research that it changes your body chemistry so that you feel better. But of course, the problem with depression is that it tells you to stay in bed, or "I'm not worthy to do anything for myself," or it fools you into believing that you don't have the strength or that it hurts too much to get going.

First things first, I'd recommend seeing a doctor and telling him/her that you are suffering depression -- if you haven't already.

But here are some things that work for me that have helped. If you haven't figured it out, I've dealt with chronic depression most of my life.

If you are a spiritual person, pray. Nothing fancy, simply ask for God's healing and strength and tell him what you'd like to do today. If you're not that spiritual, just "put it out there." Just verbalizing out loud what you want to happen often triggers the brain to make it happen. Saying out loud -- "okay...I'm going to walk up and down the stairs 5 times."

Set a small, realistic goal. If you're hoping to run 5 miles 4 times a week, but you haven't been able to run one mile once, setting a goal of running 5 miles today is not realistic. Think of something simple, small, realistic for today -- Knowing that you can expand your goals later on. And then verbalize it as described above.

And then petend to do it. It sounds silly, but we often self sabotage by triggering our fears when starting to do the things that we've been avoiding doing. so when I'm in a rut, what I do is I begin by saying to myself that I'm not going to do this thing but rather I'm just going to pretend to do it. I ask myself, "If I was going to run one mile, how would I start?

"Well ...first get into comfortable clothes. I can do that." so I'll go ahead and change my clothes.

"Alright, I'm in comfortable clothes so if I were to run one mile, I'd go outside to the end of my driveway and stretch. I'm not going to run, but I can at least go to the end of the driveway and stretch a bit."

I have those kind of conversations with myself along the way. Before you know it, you 'll find yourself doing that workout. Again, this all sounds silly, but I find it works.

Good luck and I'd like to hear how you're doing.

I'm currently struggling with this as well. I hate it. The good days are good, but the bad days are really bad. I'm currently having a bad day, so I don't have any advice, but feel free to ad me if you'd like.

Help me I fight anxiety stress and depression everyday I am on medication and have some days that are good but most are stressful which leads me to overeat I also am struggling with an alcoholic husband who is always blaming me for his drinking when drunk I force myself to workout but with everyday it's getting harder

bmfatchick wrote: »

I also am struggling with an alcoholic husband who is always blaming me for his drinking when drunk

Might I suggest you attend a local Al-anon meeting? There you will learn that you are NOT to blame for your husband's choice to drink. You will also learn a whole lot more. You can only control yourself. He is in charge of himself. Period.

Good luck