Dealing with depression: Tips to overcome depression and live happy life

According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), chances of an individual developing an episode of depression during the lifetime are nine percent in India. According to WHO, depression is will become the second leading cause of death and disability across the world by 2020. In India, most people do not seek help for their depression. Those who feel troubled, depressed or anxious think ten times before accessing any kind of professional help such as counselling and psychotherapy.

Depression drains your energy, and hope. While overcoming depression isn?t quick or easy, it is possible to overcome. The key is to start with small actions, stick to them and build positive actions on it. Feeling better takes time, but you can get there if you take decisions to change yourself and make positive choices for yourself each day. Based on my counseling experience, I am discussing tips to deal with depression.
Take decision to recover:Recovering from depression requires action, but taking action when you?re depressed is hard. In fact, just thinking about the things you should do to feel better, like going for a walk or spending time with friends, can be exhausting. The things that help the most are the things that are the most difficult to do. There?s a difference, however, between something that's difficult and something that's impossible.
Seek psychologist/counselor:If you've been feeling depressed for a few weeks or more, feel worthless, make an appointment to see psychologist or trained counselor. Discuss your symptoms with them and they will guide you with the treatment plan. If medication is required then counselor will refer to psychiatrist. Along with medication, counseling and psychotherapy would benefit the most.
Seek psychiatrist:Based on the symptoms, psychiatrist prescribes medicines. Many types of antidepressant medications are available to treat depression. Learn about dosages, side effects and duration. Take medicine as guided by the doctor. Use a daily reminder/medication saver system to make sure you are taking all of the necessary medications, and throw away old medications or those you are no longer taking. Do not discontinue any medicine without psychiatrist?s suggestion.
Don?t rely on medications alone.Although medication can relieve the symptoms of depression, it is not usually suitable for long-term use. Counseling and psychotherapy can be very effective along with medication.
Learn as much as about your depression.It?s important to determine whether your depression symptoms are due to an underlying medical condition, due to certain life events or due to life style problem. Learn about triggers, early signs and coping strategies as well as about your medications, how they work, what to expect, possible side effects and dietary & lifestyle restrictions. The severity of your depression is also a factor for treatment. The more severe the depression, the more intensive the treatment you're likely to need.
Change lifestyle.Remember that medication works best when you make healthy lifestyle changes as well. Lifestyle changes are simple but powerful strategies to overcome depression. Sometimes they might be all you need.Eat healthy food; avoid smoking, alcohol and other drugs.
Be active.Don?t withdraw from life.Interacting with friends, family members can improve your mood.Keeping in touch with friends and family means you havesomeone to talk to when you feel low.
Exercise.There's evidence that exercise can help lift yourmood. If you haven?t exercised for a while, start gently by walking for 20 minutes every day.Cycling, dancing, morning and evening walk, gardening, swimming would also help you feel better and recover fast. In addition, you can join yoga classes, laughter clubs. If you don?t find anything interesting, so household chores such as cleaning, sweeping and mopping.
Healthy eating habits.Eating well is important for both your physical and mental health. Eating small, well-balanced meals throughout the day will help you keep your energy up and minimize mood swings. Avoid sugary foods (ice cream, pastry, cake, chocolates etc.) that may provide quick boost but add fat and unwanted calorie to your body. Include carrot, spinach, sweet potato, potatoes, strawberries, orange, tomato, wheat, nuts and seedsalong with plenty of water. Eat food that contains vitamin B2, B6 and B12, Omega 3, complex carbohydrates.
Sleep.Sleep has a strong effect on mood. Depression typically involves sleep difficulties. Sleeping too little or too much, influence you mood and worsen the depression symptoms. Sleep deprivation exacerbates irritability, moodiness, sadness, and fatigue. Make sure you're getting enough sleep each night. Aim for eight hours of sleep.
Social activities.Strong social networks reduce isolation, a key risk factor for depression. Keep in regular contact with friends and family, or consider joining a class or group. There are different ways to be social, (1) participate in social and cultural events, (2) join support groups on depression. You can encourage each other, give and receive advice on how to cope, and share your experiences. You may find about support groups from psychiatrist or psychologist/counselor and (3) Volunteer to someone or some organizations. Volunteering is a wonderful way to get social support and help others while also helping yourself. Try to keep up with social activities even if you don?t feel like it.Often when you?re depressed, it feels more comfortable to retreat into your shell, but being around other people will make you feel less depressed.
Manage stress.Manage stress because stressexacerbates depression and puts you at risk for future depression.Make changes in your life to help manage and reduce stress. Take the aspects of your life that stress you out, such as work overload or traumatic relationships, and find constructive ways to minimize stress and its impact.
Avoid alcohol or other drugs.In depression, people like to drink, smoke or take drugs as a way of coping with or hiding your emotions, or just to fill time. But use of alcohol or other drugs won?t help you solve your problems.In fact, it may interfere the treatment.
Manage relationships.Understand the patterns of your relationships, nurture better relationships, and improve current relationships. These will help reduce isolation and build social support system which is very important in dealing with depression and preventing it in future. Do not take extreme step to break relationship with family members and significant others rather try to manage relationships. Isolation and loneliness make depression even worse, so maintaining your close relationships and social activities are important. Develop positive ways to handle life?s challenges and problems.

Face your fears.Don?t avoid the things that you find difficult. When people feel low or anxious, they sometimes avoid talking to other people or quit job. Some people can lose their confidence about travelling or doing something alone. If this starts to happen, facing up to these situations will help them become easier. If you are not doing job, join the job, if you are avoiding going out, go out, talk with your old friends. In short, do not allow fear to make you more depressed.
Have a routine.When people feel down, they can get into poor sleep patterns, staying up late and sleeping during the day. Try to get up at your normal time and stick to your routine as much as possible. Develop a routine and stick to it. For example, wake up in the morning, get ready, cook food, have breakfast, read newspaper or magazine or book etc.

Challenege negative thinking: I am sharing few strategies to face negative thoughts.
Be softer and less critical to self.Ask yourself if you?d say what you?re thinking about yourself to someone else. If not, stop being so hard on yourself. Think about less harsh statements that offer more realistic descriptions. For example, rather than thinking, "I can't do anything," "I am not smart," think, "I can do it. I will do it," "I am improving day by day."

Allow yourself to be good enough.Many depressed people are perfectionists, holding themselves to impossibly high standards and then beating themselves up when they fail to meet them. Appreciate your efforts and minimize high and unrealistic expectations. Aiming too high won't make you do anything. Something is better than nothing. Appreciate that at-least you have done something.
Socialize with positive people.Notice how people who always look on the bright side deal with challenges, even minor ones. For example, despite criticism, how someone managed the situation positively, how someone smile, rather thanshoutingto a person, simply said, we are in queue, I appreciate if you standin a queue." Think of these positive action and then consider how you would react in the same situation. Even if you have to pretend, try to adopt their optimism and persistence in the face of difficulty. Whatever you pretend now and repeatedly it becomes a reality. So pretend to be positive and act positive you will be positive.
Avoid blaming others.In depression, it likely to blame self or others especially when unexpected things happen. Accept the situation as it is, take the responsibility for bringing change in self and move ahead.
Believe in you and trust others.If often happens that you start doubting others. You may engage in thinking what others would be thinking of you and as a result, you start evaluating the most of the day about others actions and behavior with your belief, ?Others are thinking bad about me.? ?Others are planning a plot against me,? ?Others are making fun of my depression.? For example, instead of thinking, ?I am going through hard time. All people are against me and I will never overcome depression,? think, ?I will face some challenges in my living situation. Others? opiniondoesn'tmatter to me much. I am charge of my life and I am improving and becoming positive and happy.?
Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.Whenever you experience a negative thought, write it down the thought and what triggered it in a notepad. Review your notepad when you?re in a good mood. Ask yourself if there?s another way to view the situation and possible positive thoughts to replace those negative thoughts. When you encounter similar negative thoughts, replace them with positive thoughts you wrote.

I have though management tool. If you wish to use it, feel free to write to me. I would be happy to help you.
Learn to relax.Practice relaxation.A daily relaxation practice can help relieve symptoms of depression, stress, and boost feelings of happiness and promote well-being. Relaxation techniques such asdeep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation or guided visualization. You can learn these from psychologist/counselor. A daily relaxation practice of 20-30 minutes can improve your mood. I have recorded relaxation, guided visualization for clients. If you need a copy, feel free to write to me.
Stay cool, calm and energized.Make use of your five senses, namely,sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste in whatever you do. Listen to music that lifts your mood, place flowers where you will see and smell them, massage your hands and feet, or sip a warm coffee or tea. When you eat, try to smell the food, recognize the taste, its warmth, and listen to sounds of chewing food and voices in stomach. My clients found these techniques effective.
Seek professional support in emergencies.In the time of crisis where you are grappled with extreme negative thoughts to harm self, suicidal thoughts, seek professional support. At such time, talk to a family member, friend or counselor or professional you are consulting. Share your feelings. Keep list of suicide help line numbers in your pocket. Following are useful resources in emergencies in India:
http://www.snehaindia.org
hrrp://www.befriendersindia.org
http://connectingindia.org
You will find details of various organizations fromhttp://www.suicide.org.

Share whether this helped you or not. You can share your experiences of dealing with depression or your perspectives on dealing with depression.