5 Ways to Help Yourself through Depression

Depression is a term used to indicate the presence of sad, empty, or irritable emotions, accompanied by physical, physiological, and cognitive changes that significantly affect individual functions. Today, more and more people are sadly suffering from depression. Since the pandemic seems to be raging today, the situation seems to have deteriorated.

In any case, in most cases, the onset of a depressive episode coincides with the triggering event.

What are the main causes of depression?
It is not possible to describe a precise etiology of the disorder.
The most accredited hypothesis is that the individual would develop the depressive episode due to the presence of a series of vulnerabilities:
Genetics, which refers to the genetic makeup present in the individual.
Biological, given by the presence of certain neurotransmitters in specific brain areas.
Psychological, that is, the way of thinking and reacting to life events.
Social, the availability of healthy and functional relationships.
In other words, we can say that depression develops in genetically predisposed people and that they are exposed to environments that accentuate their vulnerability.
However, if it is not a serious depression matter, you can find some remedies to fight it.
Below is a list of 5 helpful ways to deal with depression.

First way: healthy nutrition
Following a healthy diet is the basis for general well-being. Specifically for depression, you need to supplement your diet with foods that raise serotonin, such as dark chocolate, omega-3-rich fish, and eggs. If you think you need any further serotonin you can take some natural serotonin supplement.

Second way: regularizing sleep
Avoid sleeping more than 8 hours a day. Depression generally brings with it disabling, insomnia, sleepiness, and a feeling of fatigue and being tired. But sleeping a lot reinforces the depression.
Try to postpone the daytime "naps" in the evening: you will have a homeostatic drive to sleep that will make you sleep well at night. Remember that sleep efficiency decreases with increasing time lying on the bed before falling asleep and upon waking up.

Third way: avoid negative thoughts and think realistic
When you are depressed, you have a tendency to amplify your feelings and experiences related to external events, and being "catastrophic" reinforces the depression. You don't have to be optimistic, but realistic. Realists do not mean that you are a failure or that the events that lead to negative consequences are related to you in some way, otherwise, you make a cognitive mistake called "personalization"

Fourth way: live in the present
Try to be mindful. Most of our disturbing emotions derive from the fact that we focus our attention on thoughts that do not belong to the sphere of the present, but to that of the past and the future. Living in the present means listening to your body and focusing on the activities you are experiencing at that moment. Always live in the present, try to grow your social relationships. Social relationships are a protective factor for those vulnerable to developing depression. Do not stop seeing and hearing your friends and relatives, and remember to be assertive, that is, express your opinions, your emotions, and your needs without stepping on others but not even yourself.

Fifth way: regularity of activities.
Choose 1 or 2 useful and/or enjoyable activities to do per day and strive to complete it and do it again in the following days. At first, it will be very tiring due to apathy and anhedonia, but you will see that the usefulness and pleasure in carrying out the activity is positive reinforcement; and the sense of mastery in carrying out that activity will bring you an increase in self-esteem.

Warning up
If your depression problem is much more serious and cannot be solved with one or more of these remedies, we recommend that you go to a psychiatrist. He will be able to advise you better and provide you with specific medical care to solve your problem.