Self-Help Strategies
to Prevent Depression

Most people mistake sadness with depression. While sadness is a kind of misery that we all experience when we have had a long day at work and have to come back home to an empty house, depression runs way deeper than that. It not only damages our physical and mental health, but it also changes our overall personality!

The world can be an unforgiving place to live in when bad times struck us. However, instead of beating ourselves down, we can use that effort to push back and fight for a better lifestyle! By implementing these self-help strategies to prevent depression, we can head towards a wholesome life where we can be happier and healthier than ever before:

Exercise and Meditate

Exercise or any form of physical exertion causes our body to release a chemical called ‘endorphins.’ These endorphins interact with our brain nerves, giving them a sense of comfort and a strong feeling of happiness.

On the other hand, meditation is about focusing our energy on relaxing our muscles, so the depressive thoughts are guided out of our bodies voluntarily.

Health consultants recommend a 30-minute workout and meditation session for ideal health conditions. While the best time to meditate is before going to bed, you can indulge in a physical activity any time of the day as long as you are giving a two hours gap between exercise and lunch/dinner.

Journalize Your Thoughts

Bottling up our thoughts, especially negative emotions, is never an indicator of positive mental health. To rectify this issue before it gets out of hand, we can start a daily self-help diary to journalize our thoughts and emotions that need an immediate outlet.

Freeing ourselves of the thoughts that make us feel restricted alleviates the symptoms of stress and anxiety, leading us to the land of depression. Moreover, it offers us a way to flow out the negativity while making way for entering newer, better ideas.

Own Your Imperfections

There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to real life. While people may occasionally target us for our imperfections, it is essential to remember that these imperfections make us whole. Furthermore, where there is a flaw, there is always a positivity that far outweighs our personality’s negative points, even when we don’t realize them on our own.

The key is to balance our imperfections with positive points in life. Once we do that, we will realize that the blessings we have been gifted with are far more numerous than the faults people accuse us of!

Show Yourself Compassion

Compassion is not something we should only show others. In actuality, if there is someone who needs it more than anyone else, it is our own selves.

We always think before speaking to our loved ones when they are in a painful situation, so we don’t hurt them unintentionally. Similarly, it must be a requirement to befriend and treat ourselves exactly the way we would a loved one. The difference between our ’before and after’ self-care plans will astound us for sure!

Seek Positivity and Challenge Negative Thoughts

This is a vital step to implement if we want to be our best-self and fight off depression at all hard turns successfully. For that, we need to completely cut off our ties with anything that feels toxic and challenge our negative thoughts by defending ourselves capably.

Nothing can get us off track once we know how to deal with our negative emotions without losing ourselves during the process.

Find Ways to Forgive Yourself

None of us can lead a life where we don’t make any mistakes that we resent afterward. However, it is essential to understand that these ups and downs are a significant part of life that makes us learn and relearn things with time.

Instead of getting angry with ourselves when things don’t go according to plan, the best course of action is to practice self-help, forgive ourselves, and start working out a plan to revise the mistakes we have already made.