8 tips to relieve depression

Mood disorders have these symptoms. Here is a guide to deal with them.

Nowadays depression is a typical and very frequent problem of the society in which we live, being an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in the population.

We consider as depressed a person who presents at least a sad mood and partial loss of the capacity to feel interest and pleasure, together with other problems such as fatigue, anxiety and depression.This, together with other problems such as fatigue, poor judgment, sleep or eating problems, recurrent negative thoughts that make us see life in a negative way, sometimes uncontrollable and hopeless.

What can we do to remove depression from our lives?

Depressed people have mood, cognitive, behavioral, physical and interpersonal symptoms.It is a problem that generates a great amount of difficulties when it comes to living a normal life.

Taking this into account, we proceed to give you a series of indications or tips that are useful to improve your state in a depressive process. Although the tone of this article may seem light-hearted, all the indications given have a scientific basis, most of them being applied in clinical practice in people with different types of depression.

1. Draw up a schedule... and stick to it.

Depressed people tend to have a passive attitude towards life.. Depression causes you to lose enthusiasm and energy, losing motivation to make plans and do things. It is also common to think that no matter what you do there will be no improvement in your situation, which facilitates inhibition.

One way to combat this passive attitude is to make and commit to a schedule. This schedule should incorporate the different activities to be carried out throughout the day and week, forcing the depressed person to distribute his/her time in such a way as to avoid as far as possible any negative thoughts he/she may have. It should incorporate both daily obligations (going to work, for example) and daily habits (eating, sleeping and hygiene habits), and it is especially important to incorporate periods of leisure and socializing in a specific way (it is not enough to say I leave this time for leisure, but a specific activity such as going to the movies, for example, should be planned).

Drawing up a timetable is a way of forcing yourself to plan and act.But the schedule you make must be realistic or else you may become frustrated and your mood may worsen.

2. Set goals

Closely linked to the previous tip. It is about imagining a future or situation that you want to reach and that you believe you can achieve..

The goals you set for yourself have to be realistic and achievable in the short term, that will require a small effort but that are not so hard that you want to give up. If the goal you come up with is complicated or long term, break it down so that you can divide it into small goals that are achievable in relatively short periods of time. It's not about running a long-distance race, as you may fall off along the way. It's about taking one small step at a time.

3. Do sports

We all know the phrase "mens sana in corpore sano". In reality, this popular saying contains more wisdom than it may seem. It has been proven that regular exercise generates endogenous endorphins, making us feel in a better mood.making us feel in a better mood and reducing the effects of depression.

It also strengthens the body and the immune system, helps improve self-esteem and allows you to rest better. Data shows that it is even a protective factor for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, as well as for coronary Heart disease. So, do not hesitate to go running, swimming or go to the gym, as it will make you feel better and will be useful in many aspects. Endorphins relieve depression.

4. Make a list of everything that goes wrong

Writing down what happens or happens to us is a good way to do introspection.. Making a list of the things that make us feel bad can be very useful. However, making a list of everything that goes wrong is a process that can help to locate cognitively where the problem or dissatisfaction is, but it does not help if no further work is done. Once you have done this, write down what thoughts they provoke in you, and then try to imagine possible interpretations different from your own.

This helps to modify little by little dysfunctional beliefs and negative thoughts if we manage to integrate more positive interpretations and reject the most negative ones.

5. Unburden yourself

Anyone who knows a depressed person can probably tell you that the person is depressed and may even have told you the reasons why they are depressed. However, even if you can give reasons why they feel bad, many depressed people tend to hold back and keep quiet about their real emotions and thoughts about it.

In this regard, if you feel you are in a bad place, you don't have to hesitate to get it off your chest.. The list of things that are going wrong that we talked about earlier... burn it. Sing, scream, cry, run, play a contact sport that allows you to vent frustration. The important thing is that you do not close in on yourself and let your thoughts and, above all, your emotions flow.

6. Force yourself to go out and socialize

Depressed people tend, in the long run, to avoid contact with others.. Their state at first generates empathy and concern in friends or loved ones, but in the long run the negative and isolationist attitude that depression produces can produce some rejection in others.

That is why if you are in a depressed situation, it would be useful to participate in the social life around you. This does not mean that you force social situations or establish a relationship of dependence with others, which also tends to produce rejection, but try to go out, participate in the conversation of your loved ones and be open to participate in different plans and activities.

6. Do something you enjoy

We have said before that depressed people tend to have a passive attitude and lose the desire to do things. Even things that you were passionate about before now lose their meaning and the idea of doing them seems stupid to you.

For this reason it is important to force yourself to do them, trying to recover your illusion.. It is not necessary that the activity makes you completely happy or that you enjoy it as before, but it is enough that it makes you decrease a little the level of sadness, and in the long run you could regain the passion for it.

7. Explore

Introducing changes in your life can make you discover new sensations and new points of view about life.. It is not a matter of leaving everything behind, but of introducing some small variation that can be satisfying and even change the vision of the whole.

For example, sign up for a cooking, Chinese writing or origami course, or travel to a place you've never been before (even if it's a different neighborhood in your own city). You can discover a new passion, meet environments and people that make you reflect and value things in a different way.

8. Go to a professional

If you do not see yourself capable of getting out of the situation by yourself, you can always resort to the help of a professional. Mood disorders are, together with anxiety disorders, the most common type of problems that psychologists and psychiatrists usually work with.

This does not mean that your problem will be solved overnight, but they can help you establish strategies and psychological treatments to improve your situation.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
• Beck, A.T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International University Press, New York.