The recent pandemic has forced many of us to stay at home, refraining from school, work and social gatherings. This abrupt change in our routines and general way of life can easily cause flareups of depression symptoms, especially if they were pre-existing. While depression is amongst the most difficult of mental illnesses to combat, it is not impossible.
Staying connected to your friends and family is a really effective way to begin combatting depression symptoms. Support is an essential tool when dealing with depression, and it can be really wearisome trying to gather support within yourself. Especially when symptoms have the ability to amplify your failures and diminish your accomplishments. That’s why reaching out to your loved ones is key: they’re not going to look at you through the same gray colored lenses that you may find yourself looking through. The act of reaching out will not annoy them, and it will not turn you into a burden. Reaching out can be difficult, I’ll admit. I often feel guilty when I reach out to my loved ones for help, especially when my depression exhausts me and smothers my desire to communicate. But then I think about how I would feel if my loved ones were going through something similar. I certainly wouldn’t want them drowning in their own guilt, so I remind myself that they wouldn’t want that for me either.
Even though most of us are quarantining, we can still reach out to our loved ones. Skype, FaceTime and even Snapchat video calls are all ways to reach out to our loved ones in a manner that’s most similar to face to face contact. Seeing each other’s faces and laughing with one another will absolutely boost your moods, and I cannot speak for everyone who suffers from depression, but it certainly reminds me of the most important joys in my life. Although we’re staying inside, we can still schedule meetups and online hangouts. Playing online games together, having a Netflix party or even scheduling recurring video calls will help us regain the sense of routine we’ve lost while attempting to manage symptoms.
Depression has an awful knack for taking away the pleasure we usually find in our activities. For example, I absolutely love reading! But when my depression flares up, just a single page is enough to exhaust me and frustrate me. However, combatting the impulse to quit and do nothing instead is paramount when it comes to cushioning depression symptoms. Although the first step is often the most difficult, it’s all you need to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Just like avoiding your favorite hobbies, pursuing them until you find yourself enjoying them once again is a habit that can be formed with enough repetition. Another tip for combatting these particular symptoms of depression is to flip the script! When I feel bogged down for how much I feel I’m not accomplishing, I flip the script and praise myself for how much I have accomplished! Even if the accomplishment is meager, it is still worth celebrating because it’s a step in the right direction.
Although we are inside most of the time, we are still permitted to go outside and exercise at least once a day. If you have a dog, take them for a longer walk than usual. Your puppy will have a blast and you’ll have reason to go outside and exercise, feel the sunlight on your skin and get some fresh air. Don’t have a puppy dog? That’s okay! Going for a walk on your own is still an effective way to get out of the house and to get yourself moving.
Most importantly, though, hold onto your hope. This pandemic is traumatic for us as a species, and we’re finding ourselves hurting together. It’s so easy to slip into a hole of despair while we do our best to stay healthy and wait for a vaccine. But it’s critical that we keep in mind that we will get through it. This too shall pass, as they say.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!