by Brandon Elliott

Created on: March 08, 2009

It's common in this day and age to feel depressed a lot of the time. With the way the economy is going, people are becoming more stressed than ever before and more depressed than anyone ever should be. Although depression is sometimes inevitable, there are easy ways to fight depression that will have your spirits up in no time at all.

Medication / Therapy

Obviously, if you are depressed all the time or think about suicide on a regular basis, you need to see a therapist or phsyciatrist and have medicine prescribed to you. Depression is an illness, and a state of mind. The illness needs to be treated with medicine, but the state of mind can easily be cured in other ways.

Food

There are foods that will trigger depression and foods that will fight depression. Some foods that you want to stay away from before bedtime in order to get a good night's sleep (which will in turn, fight depression) are spicy foods, red meats, and tomato-based foods. The best foods to eat to fight depression are fruits, chocolate, or fats from fish or nuts.

Exercise

Yoga, meditation, walking, running, and lifting weights are all forms of exercise that will help fight depression. Exercising for an hour each day will make your body feel better and possibly even you feel better about your looks. Your jeans will fit right, and you will be fighting depression off in no time. I ran cross country in my high school years, which helped me get through the day.

Music

Listening to music is probably the first thing I do when I feel depressed. I lay down in my bed and listen to the lyrics, the sounds, and think about everything that's bothering me. Listening to good, quality music will help you fight depression and help you release your feelings.

Writing

After listening to music, I usually go to my computer and start writing. I release all the thoughts that were just going through my head and put them into the form of a poem or story. Not only will this fight depression, but it will make for an interesting read for someone else. Also, I keep a journal with me so if I suddenly feel depressed, I can write what I'm feeling and deal with my emotions that way.

Reading

To me, nothing cures depression or sadness better than a well-written book. A book offers a portal to other worlds, worlds that are sometimes better than the one you are currently living in. Reading will take your mind off of your problems and help relieve some of your "blues".

Stay busy!

The main thing you can do to fight deoression is to stay busy. If you are constantly doing something with your time and making use of yourself, you will feel better and won't have time to be depressed. Use your favorite hobby as an outlet for the times you feel that all hope is lost. Talk to a friend and let someone know how you are feeling.

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