Ways to Help Depression
By Jonathan Anderson
Austin counselor, Jonathan Anderson, shares an overview of depression. Treatment of depression and its symptoms is more accessible than ever before.
Ways to Help Depression
Depression can be one of the most difficult states to manage as it often seems to rob a person of their motivation, their hope, and ultimately their follow through and even happiness itself. It makes life appear as gray and dull, and that one's situation is hopeless; it further often convinces a person that they are helpless to change things for the better. Given so much energy drain and lack of motivation, it is no wonder that people dealing with depression find it so difficult to cope with. Even ideas that one knows would work, if only they would follow through and do them, do not seem to provide hope or motivation to try and make things better.
Depression can act like a magnifying glass -- it can take even the most simple problem and magnify it into a seeming mountain, complete with jagged ice slabs, avalanches, and hidden dangers. Somebody living with depression may find themselves feeling like 'not wanting to bother' to do things they know would help, or that they used to enjoy doing. They may describe their life as feeling like a 'black cloud,' where one bad thing seems to be consistently followed by another bad experience. This kind of depression can be triggered by life's circumstances (divorce, grief, etc.), or by one's genetics, or a combination of multiple factors.
Fortunately, we are learning that depression can be managed, and the more effort and follow through you put into your healing, you will likely find that the results are longer lasting and become more accessible, even when you find yourself in a backslide. A few general ideas that anybody will benefit from when dealing with depression:
Depression ~ Psychiatry
1) TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR! Your family doctor is a great place to start. . . He or she may refer you to a psychiatrist for further evaluation. DON'T PANIC!! NOBODY THINKS YOU ARE CRAZY -- a psychiatrist referral is just a logical step; consider this--you wouldn't just stop with your family doctor when getting your heart looked at, you would follow up with a specialist. . . a cardiologist; A psychiatrist is just a specialist in the human mind and it's chemistry. Your doctor/psychiatrist will be able to talk to you about these next ideas:
Foods That Help Depression
2) HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE - Always check with your doctor before beginning any change in eating and exercise habits. Upon approval from your doctor, you will find that eating a healthy diet (this does NOT necessarily mean eating less!!) that is balanced in protein, carbohydrates, fat and vitamins/minerals helps to balance your brain chemicals. Exercise also has a direct impact on your brain chemistry. When you exercise, you are causing your body to produce very healthy endorphins, you are pressing out toxins created by stress and anxiety, and helping your brain to metabolize (process) oxygen, protein, etc. in more effective ways. The result? You literally think better, you literally begin to feel better. If you are on any medications (including antidepressants) you will find that your body is also better able to use these. NOTE: A study at Duke University showed that 60% of a group of subjects that exercised 3 times per week, for 30 minutes each session, for four months, were able to completely manage their depression WITHOUT medication. This is a substantial finding encouraging what our bodies have known for thousands of years--that a healthy lifestyle creates a healthy experience of life.
Counseling and Depression
3) COUNSELING - As difficult as diet/exercise can be to accomplish (due to depression's impact on motivation), some may finding asking for help to be even more difficult as it may feel like a weakness. . . but consider the following parable:
Depression can be one of the most difficult states to manage as it often seems to rob a person of their motivation, their hope, and ultimately their follow through and even happiness itself. It makes life appear as gray and dull, and that one's situation is hopeless; it further often convinces a person that they are helpless to change things for the better. Given so much energy drain and lack of motivation, it is no wonder that people dealing with depression find it so difficult to cope with. Even ideas that one knows would work, if only they would follow through and do them, do not seem to provide hope or motivation to try and make things better.
Depression can act like a magnifying glass -- it can take even the most simple problem and magnify it into a seeming mountain, complete with jagged ice slabs, avalanches, and hidden dangers. Somebody living with depression may find themselves feeling like 'not wanting to bother' to do things they know would help, or that they used to enjoy doing. They may describe their life as feeling like a 'black cloud,' where one bad thing seems to be consistently followed by another bad experience. This kind of depression can be triggered by life's circumstances (divorce, grief, etc.), or by one's genetics, or a combination of multiple factors.
Fortunately, we are learning that depression can be managed, and the more effort and follow through you put into your healing, you will likely find that the results are longer lasting and become more accessible, even when you find yourself in a backslide. A few general ideas that anybody will benefit from when dealing with depression:
Depression ~ Psychiatry
1) TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR! Your family doctor is a great place to start. . . He or she may refer you to a psychiatrist for further evaluation. DON'T PANIC!! NOBODY THINKS YOU ARE CRAZY -- a psychiatrist referral is just a logical step; consider this--you wouldn't just stop with your family doctor when getting your heart looked at, you would follow up with a specialist. . . a cardiologist; A psychiatrist is just a specialist in the human mind and it's chemistry. Your doctor/psychiatrist will be able to talk to you about these next ideas:
Foods That Help Depression
2) HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE - Always check with your doctor before beginning any change in eating and exercise habits. Upon approval from your doctor, you will find that eating a healthy diet (this does NOT necessarily mean eating less!!) that is balanced in protein, carbohydrates, fat and vitamins/minerals helps to balance your brain chemicals. Exercise also has a direct impact on your brain chemistry. When you exercise, you are causing your body to produce very healthy endorphins, you are pressing out toxins created by stress and anxiety, and helping your brain to metabolize (process) oxygen, protein, etc. in more effective ways. The result? You literally think better, you literally begin to feel better. If you are on any medications (including antidepressants) you will find that your body is also better able to use these. NOTE: A study at Duke University showed that 60% of a group of subjects that exercised 3 times per week, for 30 minutes each session, for four months, were able to completely manage their depression WITHOUT medication. This is a substantial finding encouraging what our bodies have known for thousands of years--that a healthy lifestyle creates a healthy experience of life.
Counseling and Depression
3) COUNSELING - As difficult as diet/exercise can be to accomplish (due to depression's impact on motivation), some may finding asking for help to be even more difficult as it may feel like a weakness. . . but consider the following parable:
Two people are trying to survive a trip across the desert--each has 2 broken legs. One person is of the mindset that asking for or accepting help is a weakness. . .the other person, while not liking to be in a position to ask for help, is willing to ask for and accept it. A caravan of people happens upon our 2 travelers and offers free passage and medical care; our first traveler rather loudly shouts that he is strong enough to do this on his own and refuses their help. . . our other traveler humbly accepts the help (despite his twinge of feeling weak). The traveler who accepted the help survives the trip and lives a happy life, eventually repaying the caravan's generosity; the other dies alone in the desert. Ask yourself, "Who is stronger and smarter? The one who allowed himself to be weak during a time of weakness, and is now alive and happy? or the one that did not allow himself to show weakness and is now dead and alone."
Now some of you may be able to string together a response to this parable where the dead one seems stronger and smarter. . . To you, I say that you are either on a spiritual/philosophical level well beyond most of us, or you may be engaging in a defensive rationalization that protects your ego from dealing with whatever issues you may have yet to face. You and you alone know which one it is; there is no reason to prove yourself to anybody other than yourself.
(Click here to see the rest of this article and how Jonathan applies genuineness, awareness, trust and empathy to depression.)
Jonathan Anderson's career providing professional counseling as well as management and personal consultation for thousands of customers over the past 10+ years has prepared him to help people as they explore ways to find balance in their lives. He provides his counseling and consultation in a manner that is applicable to real-life situations (i.e.even metaphysical discussions are always brought back to real-life, even scientific, applications to your life). See Jonathan's blog on psychology, therapy, healing and learning.
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