Health
Daily Strategies to Battle Depression
Guest Blogger: Kyle O’Brien
Depression is one of the most complex and misunderstood disorders out there. Like 
anxiety, depression can strain one’s mind, throw off focus, and send our daily routines into disarray. Getting out of emotional trenches can be difficult, even with the aid of medication. Stressful signals such as problems with work, personal life and other constant triggers can be a crux for a person battling depression.
This disorder affects nearly 21 million people around the nation, roughly 15 percent of the general population. Those affected can be hamstrung to a certain situation differently than others, and sometimes general perception from others about the disease doesn’t help that person deal well with the disorder as a whole.
But as science and medicine advance with the help of independent clinical trials and research, so too do treatments and medications to help contain some of the most aggressive sensors and triggers of depression. Even still, there are non-medical aides out there, as well. From support groups on down to eating habits, here are a couple ways to help contain the stresses of depression.
Feeling Well through Healthy Foods
Eating well helps constitute a better balance with your body. Meals high in fruits and vegetables (home-cooked meals, no less) and protein with natural ingredients is very impactful on not just how a person feels for that day, but over a long period of time with the right regimen. Balancing proper vitamins and the levels of water and juices consumed throughout the day is just as important.
Surround Yourself with the Right Crowd
This touches base on support groups and being around those most dear to you and who make you feel great all-around. Friends and family members who will be there for you in your time of need and can help work through the problems together. Trusting your emotions with those who are willing to reciprocate the same gives you the calming assuredness needed to fight off most any depression trigger.
Exercise
Proper exercise releases those “feel good” endorphins into your body, a sense of rejuvenation and positive mindset that can help reverse downtrodden feelings associated with depression. Working on proper breathing exercises will help control the flow of oxygen throughout the body, while relaxing (but demanding) workouts, like Yoga or Pilates, can help keep your body in shape from both a physical and mental standpoint.
Adapt to Certain Situations
There are two sides to this coin because some may react differently to one situation versus another. Since this being said that depression can be linked to certain anxiety disorders, social phobia symptoms can range from anything like inability to connect with large social situations, such as talking to strangers or meeting new people. For some, the feelings of having to talk to strangers could trigger very intense moments of high blood pressure spikes, nervousness, nausea, trembling, and other common symptoms to the point their emotional state is fragile.
With the help of your support group, it’s possible to gradually work one’s way into confidence-building conversations, participating without fear of thinking you’re doing something wrong when you’re not, and working out the kinks of isolation and shyness that compounds bits and pieces of depression.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, there are medicinal aides as well as personal therapists out there to help guide sufferers through the disorder, but it’s good to know that disorders such as depression and anxiety can be combated through doing activities and maintaining a healthy regimen to achieve as active a life as possible. Because at the end of the day, depression shouldn’t have to be an inhibitor to one’s daily routine.
About the Author
Kyle is a freelance writer who has consulted for CTT Research, a clinical research company.
