7 ways to cope with depression without spending money

Often people who start to taking medicines to treat any condition or disorder think that they are enough and that they do not need to do anything extra but it is not true. For example, for the treatment of depression therapists recommend to use combined methods of treatment such as weekly have meetings with your psychologist, take antidepressants, start working out, implement behavioral therapy, change your diet and daily schedule. Practice shows that people who approach the problem from different sides achieve positive changes quicker than people who rely only on antidepressants. Though you should not refuse professional help and appropriate medications intake as depression is a serious disorder that should be treated respectfully, you can follow these simple tips how to cope with it additionally.

1. Do not blame yourself that you are depressed. It is a disorder and not just a mood that you artificially create for yourself. You did nothing to deserve it and you should not feel guilty or obliged to anybody who thinks that you simulate the disorder.

2. Talk about your condition with your friends and family. Though people who have no history of mental disorders, hardly can understand you, you need to inform them what you are going though. First of all, sometimes people cannot recognize it. It is easy to notice when someone has a physical disease and needs help and compassion but with mental disorders you have to inform people.

3. Start working out. It can be hard to start exercising since depression makes people apathetic and not willing to move and go outside but you have to overcome this feeling. Making one step at a time, eventually, you will see an enormous change. First of all, in exercising boosts endorphins, hormones that are natural antidepressants, production. Secondly, in the long term you will enjoy overall health improvement which is always good.

4. Start eating healthy food and avoid junk food. Depressed people often go to extremes – either do not eat at all or eat too little or overeat. You need to take care of your physical health even if you don’t feel like doing so. It is proven that junk food while giving an instant satisfaction causes mood fluctuations, fatigue, and a lot of other harm to your health both in the short and long run. One of the reasons for the depression development is imbalance of chemicals in your body. With food you can either worsen this imbalance or improve it. Moreover, you can exercise and enjoy the result of exercising only if you will stick to a healthy diet.

5. Do not make any financial or property decisions during the peak of your depression. The perception of reality is quite distorted in the disorder and you don’t want your major decisions be influenced by your current emotions. If the decisions are required fast, make sure at least to consult with people whom you can entirely trust.

6. Do not delay visits to your doctor. If you have scheduled appointments or procedures, do not cancel them. If you feel any new symptoms or discomfort, go to the doctor immediately. Depression can cause a variety of symptoms that you wouldn’t think are related to the disorder. For example, it is common to have stomach aches and indigestion, headaches, and even cramps. Nevertheless, you need not to neglect your health even if you are drowning in apathy. With appropriate treatment depression will go away and you have to be healthy to enjoy your new life then.

7. Avoid suppressing your negative emotions with alcohol or illegal drugs. Though some people are reluctant to go to the doctors and prefer to cope with the  depression symptoms with alcohol or drugs, this approach is doing quite the opposite of what they actually need. Such substances can only worsen the condition resulting in deterioration of the chemicals balance. The toxins you accumulate from such substances do not help either.