by Lorraine Nyc

Created on: November 12, 2008

Millions of people fight with depression every day. Most peoples' version of fighting is to either just deal with it or to take a pill (or a few). I have found other methods that I personally employ to either avoid or combat depression.

This article is written by a woman who has dealt with depression on a personal level as well as worked with people of all ages who needed help combatting depression. There is confidence in this writing that what is written is actually helpful.

Any doctor who is actually concerned with helping their patients will tell you that taking antidepressants is not a solution, merely a tool to assist in combatting depression while also finding other means to deal with it. The goal is to be without medication. So, here are some helpful things to do. Feel free to add your own or modify as needed to meet your needs. Please keep in mind as you read these that you can also modify ideas to meet your level of depression.

Basically what I have found to hold true for me more than anything else was for me to get back to the basics. That means keeping life simple, remembering childhood dreams and trying to get the most out of life. My monthly bills are waaaaay down because I decided some things caused me more stress than they were worth. I developed more interest in the things that made my son happy and found that I had left some things behind in childhood that needed to be brought back into my life. Like drawing and writing.

Keep color in your life. If you can't afford paint or wallpaper, put some colorful drawings or material on the walls. If you can't afford flowers, even dandelions can add color and cheer to a room!

Be around children. If you are so depressed that you can't even stand the thought of getting off the couch, watch children outside the window play or on trv and try to remember all the childish things you found joy in. Discover some new ones!

Set simple goals. Make a goal to make the bed. It's better than no goal at all. Then in a couple of days add to "make the bed" "do dishes" and so on until you are feeling better!

Plan 15 minutes of a new or old activity that made you happy. Increase the time as needed and as possible. If you used to draw, doodle for 15 minutes and see how you feel.

Keep a record of what you eat, do and how you felt when you did either. Make sure to note times so you can see what foods may be contributing to your depression.

Rearrange or redecorate. Sometimes change that is within our control helps us to see things differently.

Take a different route home from work or wherever you may go. Make it a point to notice things along the route. You'd be surprised hwo many interesting things you pass up out of habit.

Listen to music, even if it's depressing. If you really want to listen to depressing music then let your emotions out while you do so. Have a good cry if need be. Bottling things up leads to carrying a heavy load and adds to the weight of depression quite literally.

Probably one of the most important things to remember is that you are not alone. Millions of people suffer from depression every day. Each has their own unique way and reason, but they are all heavy defeating ways to live life. It really doesn't have to be that way. It's truly up to you.

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