Do These Before You Cave In To Depression

The experience of falling prey to depression is diverse in different people. Some may get victimized by it sooner than the others. When someone resigns to depression, the way the patient feels and acts affords a conspicuous aberration from his/her usual behavior.

Eventually, the patient is left with emotional and physical wreckage. Subject to its enormity, a serious depressive syndrome can lead the patient to suicidal hanging as well.

In light of famed Indian actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, when the news of his suicidal hanging broke out, it amazed everyone, considering the actor had a persona of having a stronger frame of mind, full of positive energy, and dreams. Though his death is still under investigation, it, however, inundated the web world with articles theorizing depression, its side effects, and remedies.

Is Depression Preventable?

Opinions on whether depression can be prevented or not vary from experts to experts. Some believe it is preventive, while ambivalence of other experts makes it a subject requiring concentrated medical analysis for a conclusive verdict.

Who Could Be The Victim Of Depression?

• A person gradually resigns to depression when he is encountered by situations too difficult to be controlled.
• A depressive person could be an example of someone having gone through some traumatic changes in his/her life.
• Certain health disorders like cancer or diabetes could trigger depression in a patient.
• Women are believed to be the victim of depression twice as often as men.

Common Symptoms Of Depression

• Patient resigns to the state of unhappiness or depressive mood.
• Person no longer remains interested in things he/she once enjoyed.
• Patient becomes insomniac or sleeps more than usual.
• Feeling of energy deficient or too much exhaustion.
• Not indulging in normal physical activities. Restricted physical movements in the patient, as observed by others.
• The patient slowly starts to underestimate his worth or feels guilt-ridden all the time.
• Lack of fixity in taking decisions. Low concentration/thinking.
• Suicidal feeling.

Please be informed that depression is not sadness. It might bear semblance of depression, depending on its severity.

Certain factors, such as genetics, biochemistry, personality, and environment can contribute someone to depression.

Things To Do Before You Cave In To Depression

Avoid Anything Negatively Projected

I know it’s a kind of a cliché piece of advice. You may have repeatedly heard it from many counselors. Doctors have also said to depressive patients not to pay heed to anything having a depressive element in nature.

The point I want to make here is that if you pay too much attention to anything containing a higher dose of negativity, then the likelihood of having an attack of depression becomes quite frequent or in the worst-case scenario, it becomes persistent. Moreover, things of depressive nature trigger depression instantly to someone who is already under the influence of this medical syndrome, more often than not.

Suggestions To Follow:

• Try not to watch movies, web series, or any TV program projecting the depressive nature of their casts.
• Do not try to watch such movies in which depressive people are shown dealing with a suicidal tendency and eventually resort to suicidal hanging under the enormity of the mental illness.
• Don’t visit a place/places triggering an instant depressive emotional outburst.
• Certain environmental factors can trigger depression in you if they are anyhow related to any incident of your past that was horrifying to an extent of triggering depressions.
• According to my belief, a depressive person should not indulge in conversation that is heated, argumentative, and longwinded in its projection of a depressive element.
• Avoid such conversation that can make you feel more depressed than relaxed. Avoid quarrelsome people or those who are negatively charged.

Engage Your Mind Into Something Highly Productive

An empty mind is a devil’s favorite house. Don’t forget that. If you let it remain un-engaged, the likelihood of it getting infested with negative thoughts can’t be ruled out. These thoughts would finally turn your mind into a receptacle of depressing thoughts. This happens in response to the fact that our cerebral system is designed that way. Meaning – it is not impregnable to negative thoughts, unless you subconsciously empower yourself not to let them screw your mind.

In most cases, the mind becomes a hellhouse of negative thoughts when you let it open, allowing it become vulnerable to depressing thoughts.

Try to keep your mind busy with something highly productive. For example, if content writing is your forte, make sure you write at least 5000 words of an article/blog every day. This will result in two benefits – boosted ability in your creative expressions, and secondly – your mind won’t switch to negativity.

An engaged mind into productive works/tasks seldom has time to tender negative thoughts. Your way of engaging your mind into creative works depends on your choice.

You can keep it occupied in something productive, not in something that’s counterproductive to its health, like depression. You can partake into music competition, go joyriding, or take part into sports-like activities or any recreational or creative activities.

Engagement in such activities will not only boost your mental health but ensure the mental fecundity of being highly energetic and creative. And mental health of such nature is always impregnable to depressive thoughts.

Suggestions To Follow:

• Choose an activity that is your favorite.
• Get creatively involved in, for example, writing, to keep your mind busy.
• Never procrastinate important tasks, for this will make you susceptible to switching your mind into a certain kind of activity not useful for its mental health.
• Don’t let your mind travel through hurtful events down in memory lanes. They will trigger depressing thoughts.
• Read books inspiring readers positively. One of my favorite books in this category is THE POWER OF POSITIVE THOUGHTS. Very helpful and worth-reading book.

Cut Short Your Presence On Social Platforms

Are you fond of tweeting your favorite quotes all the time? Can’t you feel okay without being on Facebook looking at posts, likes, and virtual gossips? Do you find it hard to stay away from social platforms?

If your answer to any one of the above questions is in affirmative, then the lingering fear of depression is just around your corner.

It may surprise you to know that a research has revealed that a person’s over-engagement on social platforms can make him vulnerable to depression or low self-esteem.

The unseen danger of social media is that it is highly addictive. It can trigger in you this irresistible urge to hook up to highly tantalizing social media posts. The consequence of such engagement is that you don’t contribute your presence to where it is inevitable, such as spending time with family, friends, or coworkers.

I have personally felt that social media posts are very much contributory in destroying one’s family life. You may have also gone through a similar kind of experience when you happened to see someone’s jovial post that would have made you feel envious.

Point is, everything on social media is just an illusion. Someone’s happy-face picture or luxurious lifestyle displayed in their pictures doesn’t necessarily represent their existential reality. However, those not very successful in life can victimize themselves with depression after comparing their life with those posts on social media.

Suggestions To Follow:

• If possible, delete all social media apps from your smartphone.
• Figure out what triggers you visit social platforms. Quell such urge. Over time, you will get used to avoiding social media.
• Have a timer in front of you. It will alert you to cut back on social media if you stay logged on several times a day.
• Spend your time on social media, if it is absolutely necessary, and productive.
• Unfriend or unsubscribe those people sharing depressive posts.
• Try to read success quotes, spiritual, motivational stuff.

Prioritize Real People Over Virtual Ones

Having thousands of friends on Facebook is seldom better than having few friends in real life, who, at least, check on you in time of your needs. To say otherwise, the real people like your family or friends are the ones who will never turn on you in time of your needs. Instead of prioritizing them over your real friends and associates, make sure you socialize with the real ones. It has been found that depression sinks in those minds having no real friend in life.

Loneliness or not having someone trusted to bare your heart is one of the reasons behind the onset of depression.

Suggestions To Follow:

• Having thousands of Facebook friends may be a sign of virtual triumph, but don’t prioritize them over your real friends and associates.
• Your real friends/associates are the ones who would come to your help first, than your virtual ones.
• Try to talk to real people, someone very trusted to you about any negative feelings. Talking helps reduce the enormity of negative feelings.

Never Underestimate The Power Of A Sound Sleep

Research says a person can develop a higher chance (tenfold) of becoming vulnerable to depression if he/she does not sleep well. There is no substitute for high-quality sleep. It is inevitable for someone’s mental and physical fitness. Therefore, always prioritize your timely sleep. The soundness of your physical and mental fitness contributes significantly to battling depression. People who sleep well become less susceptible to depression, as per the study.

Suggestions To Follow:

• Don’t use your smartphone at your bedtime.
• Do meditation. It induces sound sleep.
• Make sure your mattress is soft enough to induce good sleep.
• Cut back on consuming caffeinated beverages.

Additional Tips To Avoid Depression

• If you just feel that you are in for depression, make sure you are not surrounded by toxic people. People who are outrightly bully, argumentative, jealous, and trash-talkers can cause you depression. This study says negative social interaction causes depression in people.
• Eat foods that are healthy for your physical and mental fitness. Good foods, including omega-3s, are actively associated with building you impregnable against depression or other types of maladies.
• Cut short on alcohol intake, smoking, or drug substance. These things are associated with high risks of depression relapse.
• Exercise every day. Keeping your body active with physical movements like exercise, jogging, or doing yoga can help you become mentally strong to avoid getting depressed.
• You are the unique creation of God. Hence, don’t berate yourself for your mistakes or anything inducing a barrage of negatively judgmental questions on you (e.g. I shouldn’t have done this).
• Talk to experts or someone you know very well who can handle depressive people. Many counselors provide cost-free advice for depressive patients to handle their problems positively. Consult them.
• Leave everything to God. If something you can’t control, just let it go to divinity. Believe me, miraculous healing happens to the wounded soul, who just confide their problems to God and pray Him to handle it.
• Spiritual activity can also help you avoid depression.

Conclusion

Depression is not something that can’t be handled at all. The first rule of thumb is understanding the root cause of it. Once you have figured out the cause of depression, the idea for its solution automatically steps in. It has been observed that depression victimizes those people more living in self-isolation. It is very important for you to understand that depression should not be touted as a problem untreatable. However, such thing is largely curable, if the patient has strong willpower. Until and unless you let this belief sink in, that you can drive away depression, it will remain stuck in your mind.

Conversations with trusted people, engaging in playful activities, reading motivational books, socializing with real people, and most of all, believing in yourself and your positive traits are some of the recommendations you should follow to defeat depression. Remember, depression lasts to an extent of a patient’s unwillingness. No doctor or counselor can ever help you with depression if you don’t stir up yourself to cast it away. You can read countless tips on the Internet to avoid depression, but without self-willpower, you can’t handle it well. You have to encourage yourself to fight against depression. Very soon you will notice that the mental condition you thought of incurable is now nowhere to be felt.

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Please let me know your experience in the comment section below.

Note – This post does not endorse an absolute medical remedy for depression. It is just for information to help readers understand depression and how to handle it. I strongly recommend immediate medical attention for the patient having a severe case of depression.