DEPRESSION

    We are often told to share our low feelings with others to get help with managing the load.  It is really difficult, however, to tell other people who have not suffered serious depression what depression feels like.  Depression is so much more than feeling blue or sad.  It is suffering, agony heartbreak and the sense that this pain will never end.  Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of "The Prozac Generation," has described it as "a cage of fog without a key...a black wave."

     My clients have told me that when they are depressed, they are unable to enjoy anything and that they have even lost the desire to make things better.  In spite of all of the above, lifting of the fog is possible.  

     It would be insulting to suggest one of those sappy, insipid-type articles suggesting "Ten Surefire ways to Cure Depression..."   Life is far too complex to address it with such a schmaltzy approach.  While it may appear self-serving, I can tell you that therapy helps.  I know this because I have sat on both sides of the couch. 
 

     While waiting for your return call to the therapist's office, pay attention to some healthy lifestyle changes as well:


     Maintain a healthy diet.  Doctors tell us that those Omega-3s are important.

     Pay attention to your thoughts;  You can change your patterns of reviewing difficult, negative issues over and over again.

     Spend time with other people.  These may be friends, family or even that good-natured cashier at the grocery store.

     Exercise.  The serotonin that exercise increases can lift your mood.

     Expose yourself to moderate amounts of sunlight for more mood lifting benefits.

     Sleep.  Sleep long.  Sleep well.  Sleep without interruption. Check out a good article on sleep hygiene....zzzzzzzz 

     I can't remember the author of the following quote, but, she has frequently pulled me through difficult times.  

     "You are capable, brave and magnificent...even when it feels like you are not."

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