Caring for oneself is a key component in the battle against depression. Lifestyle choices such as exercising, avoiding alcohol and drugs, eating well and being social are well known. But there are a number of other ways to help brighten your mood.
Track your sleep. “Sleep is like the brain’s wash and rinse cycle,” says Dr. Drew Ramsey, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. “During sleep it deals with a lot of junk and waste products. The brain is just as active at sleep as during the day, it burns as many calories, and sleep lets it heal itself.” He suggests using a sleep app to monitor how much or how little sleep you’re getting. “Eight hours a night is actually incredibly rare for most people,” he says. “When you see the digital data, it helps people enact behavioral change.”
Socialize — but do it carefully. “Being around people rather than isolating yourself can be helpful in warding off depression if you choose to be around people who will lift your spirits and ease your pain; that is, people who are positive thinkers, who are caring, kind and supportive of you, are fun and/or easy to be around,” says Alison Ross, adjunct associate professor at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. For example, she says it’s a bad idea to visit your parents for the day to avoid being alone if your parents have the kind of marriage where they bicker every chance they get. Likewise, don’t hang out with a friend who talks nonstop about herself and the new cute guy she’s dating.
[Read: 7 Unusual Treatment Options to Battle Depression.]
Exercise — but don’t force it. People who have a history of depression typically struggle with it in an ongoing way. “They have good days and not such good days. It goes with the territory,” Ross says. “It’s great advice — and proven through research — that exercise helps fight depression, but it’s hard to exercise when you’re feeling sad. So give yourself a break. Nothing worsens feeling depressed than berating yourself for not doing the ‘healthy’ things you’re supposed to be doing. Be compassionate towards yourself.” If you’re only up to taking a walk to the corner store to buy some milk and eggs or to the end of your street to get a bit of fresh air, give yourself credit or that. “Doing something is better than nothing,” she says.
Learn to play a musical instrument. “Music is a unique emotional experience, and creating music is a powerful way of human expression,” says Ramsey, who took up guitar and piano later in life. “You don’t have to be great. I just play a few songs, but you can demonstrate skill acquisition, and it is very pleasurable.”
Create a happy home space. Many people struggling with depression feel isolated and disconnected — stuck inside themselves and in their lives. Ross believes they are “in search of home.” She thinks many young adults who move around a lot — from their hometown to college, from college to their first job, from one job to another, from one apartment to another — need to create a warm, homey, personalized living space so when they’re home they feel comforted by their experience and happy to be there. “Hang photos of yourself with family and friends or posters and artwork you like on the walls. Invest in at least one piece of furniture that’s the most comfortable, cozy or cool thing you own. Get involved in a DIY project that will take your mind off your sadness — for example, put up bookshelves, buy a chest of drawers at a flea market and paint it, organize that drawer of socks, you get the idea,” Ross adds.
[See: Am I Just Sad — or Actually Depressed?]
Take care of another living thing. Pet ownership has been shown to decrease loneliness by 36 percent, Ramsey says. “For some of my patients, and certainly for myself, caring for a pet is mood-lifting, centering and rewarding.” Growing plants can have the same positiveimpact. Tending to pots of herbs in your kitchen or garden “can be very therapeutic,” he says. “Some patients say they have a black thumb, but as they care for house plants or a pet, their thoughts of themselves change a bit.”
Stay in therapy. Because depression is often a lifelong struggle, it’s important to stay in therapy even when you are feeling well, Ross says. “One of the benefits of staying in therapy past the crisis point that brought you into treatment in the first place is that when you start feeling depressed you have a therapist who knows and understands you and can help you feel less alone with it. Depression is a combination of biology and psychology. Oftentimes there is a trigger of some kind — a loss, a rejection, a disappointment — that contributes to feeling sad in addition to having a biological propensity for feeling depressed. A therapist can help a person understand the trigger and oftentimes this understanding is a big help in feeling better,” she explains.
[Read: How Do I Know If I Have Depression?]
Eat shellfish. “If there is one category of behavior that can make the biggest difference, it is diet,” Ramsey says. The brain needs key nutrients like vitamin B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. And bivalves, like oysters and clams, are packed with them. “Nothing is as concentrated with zinc and B12 as the oyster,” he says. He even encourages his Orthodox Jewish patients, for whom shellfish is not kosher, to eat them. “There is no real replacement for them,” he says.
Try couples therapy. “I see many people, and I am one of them, whose mood is tied to the state of their marriage,” Ramsey says. “So one treatment people miss is couples therapy. If you can get your primary relationship in a good spot, that is very helpful for depression.” Having a partner who can help you stay on track, more than just remind you to take your Prozac but help you feel nourished and cared for and able to endure the bumps in life, is very helpful, he says. “George Vaillant [who directed a 75-year longitudinal study on human development, called the Grant Study] said that ‘love is happiness’ — period, full stop.”
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What Lifestyle Changes Can Help Fight Off Depression? originally appeared on usnews.com
