This is a combination of the best:
1. Know you are not alone. Know that we are a silent legion, who, every day face the solipsism and judgement of HAPPY PEOPLE WHO THINK WE AREN'T TRYING.
2. Understand that the HAPPY PEOPLE are acting out of some genuine (albeit misguided) concern for you, that it's coming from a good place, even if the advice feels like you're being blamed for your disease. Telling you these things makes them feel better, even if it makes you fell terrible. (If they insist on keeping it up see #12.)
3. Enlist the help of a professional. See your doctor. You need to talk about the ugly stuff, and there are people paid to listen and help you find your way to the light at the end of the tunnel.
4. Understand that antidepressants will only do so much. They're useful, they'll level you out and give you the time you need to figure out your own path to getting well. They can be helpful. There are lots to choose from. They may not be for you, and even if they are, they take some time to kick in. Conversely, they may not be for you. Work with your doctor.
5. Pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, an activity you got joy from in the past and re-explore that. Or, sign up for the thing you always wanted to try. There is a long history and link between depression and creativity. It's a bright light of this condition, so utilize it to your best advantage.
6. Eat nutritionally sound, regular small meals. If you are having trouble eating, try to focus on what you'd like to eat. Conversely, if all you want to do is scarf down crap, try to ramp it off by downing a glass of water and doing #9 for 15 minutes, and see how you feel. Chucking your blood sugar all over hell's half acre is going to make you feel worse.
7. While you're doing #3, get some blood-work done. If you're low on iron or vitamin D, or if your hormone levels are doing the Macarena... these can all contribute to zapping your energy or switching your mood to BLEAK.
8. If you're in bed and the "insomnia hamsters", as I like to call them, are on the wheel of your head, watch midnight news or infomercials... Swap out your coffee for herbal tea. If you just cannot sleep, try the next tip...
9. Learn to meditate. Start by focusing on your breathing. Not sleep, not thoughts. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Meditation is focusing on being present in your body, not careening around in your brain. It may not be as good as sleep but it will give you some rest and recharge you.
10. Face a window as often as you can - at work, at home. Look out into the world. Watch. Observe. Try to fin something you find pretty or interesting to focus on. And, handily remember that 1 in 5 of those people out there feel the way you do.
11. Cry. Better out than in. Sometimes it's not convenient or career-enhancing to cry, so find a private place as best you can and let the tears go. You can always claim allergies.
12. Any "friend" who resolutely believes that your depression is because you're lazy, because you're not trying hard enough, who blames you for not bootstrapping out of it - that friend needs to be cut off. Polite (#2) is one thing, but there is a limit. You don't have to explain, you can just not respond. You feel badly enough, you don't need their "assistance".
13. Limit your time with people who drain you. You know who they are. Often you don't have a choice - but you can put the meter on. And, subsequently, be aware of what you're asking of those close to you.
14. Everyone has stuff they've got to deal with. What you have been saddled with is your stuff. Recognize, just as you're not alone, you're also not unique. The grass may look greener, you may be jealous or envious of others who don't have to deal with depression, but you likely do not know everything that's going on with them.
15. Let go or be dragged. This is an old Buddhist saying. It’s a very useful way to frame
aspects of depression. Betrayal, anger, fear... letting go is a process – often a painful and
difficult process - but it’s ultimately going to show you the path out of this terrible place.
Repeating the mantra can help when you’re feeling gripped by these feelings.
16. Wear clothes that make you feel confident. It takes as much time to put on nice clothes as
it does to put on sweatpants. You will want to wear the sweatpants. Fight the urge. The
whole “look good/feel better” campaign isn't limited to cancer and chemotherapy. Or
women.
17. Avoid fictional drama and tragedy like the plague. No Grey’s Anatomy, no to The
Notebook, or anything that won a Pulitzer prize. You've got enough going on In Real
Life. Comedy only. Or trashy stuff. Old episodes of WonderWoman?
Mindless drivel, like the latest CGI blockbuster. Or clever, funny books. David Sedaris.
Jenny Lawson. Fiction exists to elicit emotion, and the emotion you need to express most
right now is laughter.
18. Simple exercise, if you can. It can be something as simple as taking the stairs up a flight,
or walking around the block. It doesn't have to be elaborate, it doesn't have to involve
climbing a mountain or running a marathon. Baby steps.
19. Depression will lie to you. Depression will try to tell you what others are thinking. That
you are unloved and unworthy, that others think little of you or don’t care – or even wish
you harm. You are not a psychic. Keep repeating that. “I am not a psychic”. Repeat. The
only way to know what another person is thinking is to up and ask them.
20.If you are well and truly losing this battle, reach out to someone.
21. Forgive yourself. I'm writing out all these tips, and I can’t always muster the strength to
even stick my nose outside, or walk up the stairs, or eat my vegetables. Today, I got
outside for ten minutes. I will try again tomorrow. And I will try again the day after that.
This list will not cure you. This list will not flip on the happy switch. God, I wish it were
that easy. The theme here is to not to unknowingly sabotage yourself. All these little
things? Like your blood sugar, or watching non-stop episodes of House, or endless Try
Harder lectures from your Perpetually Perky sister?
They all make dealing with depression hard enough, all on it's own.
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