How to Deal With Stress and Depression?

Quote by vanessa26

1. Wake up and go over the good things in your life even the small ones that may at times seem insignificant.. because trust me they aren't.

2. Try something new anything go to a new restaurant.. switch up your usual drink or food try a new hobby.. go somewhere you've never been.

3. Don't isolate yourself for long periods of time.

4. Snuggle a cat they are literally little serotonin machines

5. Watch a comedy

6. Get yourself that something you've been putting off

7. Do something for others it feels great to make a difference.

8. Write or vent your feelings in some way Tyr quicker you unbottle the quicker you heal.

9. Protect your energy if someone or something causes you emotional distress let them go they aren't for you.

10. Remember that bad days come and go that you just have to ride the wave sometimes.

11. Most importantly love yourself ♥

Very well said. Thank you and much needed!

Writing from very personal experience with depression here. I'm sure most of this has been mentioned, but it's always worth repeating.

1. Get Help. I know it's not that easy for everyone and it's hard to actually do either way, but there is no substitute for a trained professional.

2. Make sure you have a consistent sleep cycle. Depressed people tend to stay up super late, sleep well into the day and it just messes you up in so many ways. Actually put an alarm on the time you'll be going to bed and another one 8-10 hours later to get up again. It's brutal at first, but you will get used to it.

3. Be active. You don't need to be an athlete, but go out and do something. For me that turned out to be walking, it really helps clear my head and gets me lots of fresh air. Again, set a time where you'll do your activity. Don't allow yourself to put it off! I know it's hard, but it get so much easier with time.

4. Be social. Your insticts tell you to isolate yourself, which only keeps you in the downwards spiral that is depression. It can be something small, or something big, but don't let yourself lose touch with everyone. If you already have, get back in touch. You'll find most people are happy you made contact, not mad you didn't before. If you need to start at zero, google group activities in your area. It's not easy to make new friends as an adult, but it also not nearly as hard as people say.

5. Be kind to yourself. I've told you a lot of times to push yourself, and you should, but of course that's not going to work every time. You'll have bad days and that's fine. Accept them as that, a bad day, and strife to make tomorrow better. Beating yourself up over it only makes it feel like you failed and then you'll be less likely to even try next time. Everybody fails sometimes. Everybody has bad days.

You owe abusers nothing. You owe people who don't respect boundaries anything. Blood relations mean nothing. My partner has been suicidal since she was three when she first attempted to take her life. After decades of ups and downs, she finally stepped up and cut off her family completely. Blocked numbers, stopped going home, and concentrated on herself and the family we made together.

It's been the first time she's made actual progress and her suicidal thoughts are now an extremely rare, as opposed to daily, occurrence. There's a lot of crap out there like, "you only get one family" or "of course your mother loves you." Realizing this isn't true for everyone and the concept only helps abusers has been far more help than any pill or psych visit for her. Much of the depression treatments simply address symptoms or just try to make you productive but never deal with the root problem. It's a journey and our society is shit at helping people in need. Depression is an individual condition and no two people will experience it the same way, so there isn't a general treatment for it. Look for the root cause and prepare for some rough times while you address it. It hurts to heal, and if you have any trusted support ask for help. Even if it's just being in the same room.

Quote by RowanThorn

You owe abusers nothing. You owe people who don't respect boundaries anything. Blood relations mean nothing. My partner has been suicidal since she was three when she first attempted to take her life. After decades of ups and downs, she finally stepped up and cut off her family completely. Blocked numbers, stopped going home, and concentrated on herself and the family we made together.

It's been the first time she's made actual progress and her suicidal thoughts are now an extremely rare, as opposed to daily, occurrence. There's a lot of crap out there like, "you only get one family" or "of course your mother loves you." Realizing this isn't true for everyone and the concept only helps abusers has been far more help than any pill or psych visit for her. Much of the depression treatments simply address symptoms or just try to make you productive but never deal with the root problem. It's a journey and our society is shit at helping people in need. Depression is an individual condition and no two people will experience it the same way, so there isn't a general treatment for it. Look for the root cause and prepare for some rough times while you address it. It hurts to heal, and if you have any trusted support ask for help. Even if it's just being in the same room.

I completely agree, but family can be those friends that have chosen you for family. That is what it is for me. I spent holidays with my best friends family because I grew up in an abusive household. Family is where you make it.

Probably the easiest way to stave off depression is to volunteer your services at an organization that helps people. When you give of yourself in this way, and the effort is reciprocated in gratitude of the agency, then you will find that depression becomes far less of an impediment, and in fact may lead to more richly rewarding feelings of accomplishment and joy. Just google "How do I volunteer in [my town/city]?" and go from there.

Quote by connorjames

Mental health is very important and should be taken care as soon as it feels. I dont have many tips but I want to say that one should deal with his stress and depression as earliest as he feel before it goes to higher level where it is difficult to handle it. There is very less trend of life coaching instead people prefer psychiatrists more. A psychiatrist deals with your depression and mental disease. However, a life coach helps you to deal with your life problems i.e mental, physical, emotional and social through every stage of your life with strong spirituality. If you know that how can you live your life against hurdles and problems you can improve your life quality and leads to prosperity with strong spiritual mindset and strong emotion intelligence. Life coaching is the natural treatment of depression according to me.

I would agree. Or a priest/teacher. There are some problems that are not behavioral or psychological. They are the level of one’s soul/meaning of life.

I am fortunate in the fact I don't think I could ever have been considered as having depression.

Stress induced anxiety? Yes, as a teenager I went through some pretty awful times.

My personal ways of dealing with stress which I would recommend though, are;

1) Running until I can't anymore then walk back.

2) Kickboxing - get rid of the aggression that is caused by stress.

3) Gym

4) Get rid of any diet(s) and eat food which I enjoy, foods which make me happy, but keep exercising!!

5) Having a chat with people outside the situation that are close to me.

6) Do not drink any alcohol.

Do I think that is the correct way to do it for most people? No, not at all, but that is what works for me.
Everyone is different and enjoys different things.


As for the depression, I would suggest speaking with a professional. 100%.
Again, it is not something I can say I have been unfortunate enough to have experienced, but people close to me have, it was heartbreaking to see.

However, each of those people searched for someone to sit and talk to, watching them become "themselves" again during that process was rewarding for us all on the outside. I can't imagine how it felt to release.

Look for non-medicated alternatives first and seek medication if you are unable to find things which help.

My husband has problems with depression. He got help in his early-30s. That is very important as he recognises the warning signs now.

He runs and swims which really helps, when he knows that it is coming, he stops drinking as this does make it worse.

He is very much against medication as he has seen friends hooked on these and some have terrible side-effects. But I know this is unavoidable some times.

Most of all, I am more patient with him, and we do a lot of things together that try to distract him. If we are making plans, I try not to overwhelm him with too much change but we take little steps. We talk things through, and try to keep him in the habit of being positive. It is easy to forget the things we should be grateful for and thankful for.

Be kind to yourself. I think this most important. Depression isnt an easy recovery. Take the little wins when you can. If you can get help- do it. It doesnt have to medicine,although thats ok too. Sometimes having a 3rd person to talk to just helps.

Take baby steps. No one expects you to get better overnight. Theres some good advice on here, but I also think some depression doesnt go away if you go for a run. You have to be able to get out of bed, take care of yourself go through the whole progression towards those things. Start small if you cant do all the good things right away. Its work which is hard when you feel shitty, but taking one step a day can start you out on a whole new journey. Source: depression episodes my whole life. Hugs to anyone out there struggling.

GET HELP!!!!! You can not be objective about your own issues. And loved one's or family members will be biased also. Go to a professional that can be objective and diagnose issues. And do it now!

At some point in life each one of us will have some level of mental health issue. It is not a sign of weakness to seek help.

Quote by letsgonow69

GET HELP!!!!! You can not be objective about your own issues. And loved one's or family members will be biased also. Go to a professional that can be objective and diagnose issues. And do it now!

At some point in life each one of us will have some level of mental health issue. It is not a sign of weakness to seek help.

Honestly, and I say this with caution, many professionals don’t help at all. Most lack the real world experience, many therapies are based on masking or hiding trauma. CPTSD, PTSD, and many depressions are treated mostly with medications that are like putting a bandaid on a gunshot.

I’ve seen a lot of people with trauma spiral downward under professional care. Seeking out trauma groups is normally more helpful in the long term. People who have survived and know what you’re going through are your best resource. Avoid any professional who insists on keeping a relationship with an abuser going (especially prevalent for parental abuse). Seek out ones that deal specifically with your problem. Treating CPTSD with a general psychologist is like going to your family doctor for brain surgery. They might know the basics of what is happening but don’t know how to do what you need.

I encourage anyone with childhood abuse to seek out information online about Complex PTSD. Lots of great YouTube videos by survivors and psychs that have personal experience with trauma.

I say this because I almost lost someone very important to me who was bounced between a lot of doctors that were frankly terrible and did more damage than helped.

And lastly, cut out anyone who continues to abuse you, physically or psychologically. Think about your relationships, many are more abusive than you may realize. Read up on narcissistic relationships and see if any feel familiar.

Get out of your head.

Shower, hike, engage with others ……

I don't. I just acquire it, get stressed and depressed by stress and depression too, and live my life!

sex, meditation, playing sports are my 3 keys

To this day I still don't have words of encouragement when it comes to this as I don't suffer from said diseases.

Exercise and CBT but nothing really replaces meds when you’re in a dark place. Getting outside isn’t going to miraculously cure mental illness.

For me it is music, cure for all my troubles.

Playing guitar, sitting in my sauna, good exercise, and getting out in nature are what help me the most.

Quote by PrincessC

Exercise and CBT but nothing really replaces meds when you’re in a dark place. Getting outside isn’t going to miraculously cure mental illness.

I've heard CBT referred to as professional gaslighting... "Have you considered not being depressed and being happy instead?" I'm not against therapy, just not a huge fan of CBT as the only approach to therapy worth using.

If you're depressed and the depression isn't easily pinned to a particular event or issue that you're going through - if it doesn't have an easily identifiable cause - then it's likely a matter of imbalanced brain chemistry, and medication can help fix that (along with therapy to process whatever is bothering you).

Other things that are helpful is recognizing that you're in depression and not trying to function like you aren't. Depression is hard. Give yourself a break. Avoid making major life decisions when you're depressed. Also try manage your responsibilities and obligations when you're not depressed to take into account that you may become depressed again, and what is manageable when you're doing well, may be overwhelming when you don't have the emotional/mental resources to tackle it.

Holistic self-care inc. gratitude, mindfulness, walking in the woods & energy cleansing.

Get outside...see the sun...meet new people...kick yourself in the ass.

Hi, just poppin' on to share something I learned recently. I started working with a man certified in TRE (Tension and Trauma Relief Exercises). My goal was to help relieve my sometimes debilitating stress and anxiety. The gist is you start with seven specially designed exercises and by the 7th exercise, your body is tremoring. This "tremoring" is supposed to release tension, stress, and even past traumas that are held within your muscles. I found out your lower back is where most trauma is held. After a few sessions, you decrease the number of exercises and my teacher showed me how he tremors now after the one floor exercise. I'm down to three exercises now to start my tremor. And once the body shaking begins, you let yourself tremor for 10 - 15 minutes.

It sounds weird I know, but I went into it with no expectations, hoping for an honest response from my body. All I can say is I found it incredibly healing. I had injured a lower back joint two months ago and was left with lingering tightness. It's now gone. I tremor before bed and sleep very sound. And I felt an emotional release. A lightness to me. I met my sister for dinner after my first session and she noticed a difference in my mood (for the better) and asked what I had been doing.

If anyone wants to try it, Google TRE and the exercises are found online. I'd suggest starting with a certified teacher though before you move to doing it on your own. It was helpful to me for someone to lead me through it, reassuring me, offering suggestions. Just my experience. My teacher has three sessions with clients, then they are able to confidently do it at home on their own. So, a very low monetary investment to something I have found very helpful.

I hope you all find peace and joy in whatever you do to cope. ❤️

Struggling with some self-loathing lately - second-guessing almost everything I say and do. Feeling like I can't help but reveal what a completely worthless asshole I am with every word or gesture. Every impulse seems to be an occasion for regret almost as quickly as I act on it (case in point: I'm sure I'll regret posting this immediately after hitting the 'submit' button). But I'm trying to keep things in perspective, remembering that I'm most likely my own harshest critic and others probably don't have as negative a view of me as I have of myself right now. I'm also limiting my time on social media which seems to be a big trigger when I'm feeling this way. And until I sort myself out, I'm just working to accept my flaws and the fact that until I feel better, my social interactions are just going to be awkward and shitty and imperfect and that's maybe the best I can do for now, so I might just need to be okay with it. Finally, I know from experience, this mood is temporary and will pass eventually if I just ride it out - even though it might be weeks until it changes - and when it does, I'll have a different picture of myself and the world.

Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know

Struggling with some self-loathing lately - second-guessing almost everything I say and do. Feeling like I can't help but reveal what a completely worthless asshole I am with every word or gesture. Every impulse seems to be an occasion for regret almost as quickly as I act on it (case in point: I'm sure I'll regret posting this immediately after hitting the 'submit' button). But I'm trying to keep things in perspective, remembering that I'm most likely my own harshest critic and others probably don't have as negative a view of me as I have of myself right now. I'm also limiting my time on social media which seems to be a big trigger when I'm feeling this way. And until I sort myself out, I'm just working to accept my flaws and the fact that until I feel better, my social interactions are just going to be awkward and shitty and imperfect and that's maybe the best I can do for now, so I might just need to be okay with it. Finally, I know from experience, this mood is temporary and will pass eventually if I just ride it out - even though it might be weeks until it changes - and when it does, I'll have a different picture of myself and the world.

Hey, do unplug for a bit. Get in nature. Take a,walk in a park. Do something just for yourself because YOU deserve it. Google "release negative energy" and you'll find simple meditations, special frequency music that WILL help (at least get your mind off the self-loathing for a bit). Take care!

I wish I could enjoy being out in nature, but unfortunately with the weather being what it is, it won't be pleasant for another few months. But I appreciate the support and suggestions. Doing my best to take care of myself and do things that make me happy. Thanks Kimmee.

Don't be afraid to ask for help.Don't sweat the little things.And for goodness sake don't end yourself, life is hard sometimes but no matter how low you get you'll get better

Always remember regardless of what your inner self says you are perfect. What you do and say is exactly what you were supposed to do or say. Just enjoy the ride, you are on the greatest roller coaster that has ever been invented. Every moment, every second is the most amazing thing that you will ever find. What is it that you think should be different?

Even though it’s the hardest to tell yourself these things, this is what I’d tell a friend.

Though it feels like the end, it can be you new start.

I know everything looks dark, but you’re as bright as the stars above you. Look up!

Those people that said “I’m here if you need me.” Lean on them from time to time. You’ll be glad you did.

Never forget, you are not alone. I see you!

I have been very annoyed, and disappointed but never depressed. From what I have seen from a distance depression appears to be a solitary pursuit and as such requires, it seems, distractions and increased humanity. I have far too many idiosyncrasies to suggest what might be good for someone else. Whenever the “rats” approach I go somewhere they cannot follow.

My depression & anxiety disappeared when I stopped drinking a couple of months ago. I used to treat both with alcohol to forget what was bothering me.

Personally I feel much better now.