Recovering from Depression
So
you have successfully come out of your depression, either because you have received
treatment, or because the depression went away on its own. How can you stack the
deck against it coming back? What's the best way to celebrate this renewal of
life?
Keeping Depression Away
Your enemies are stress and illness - either of these can bring on depression, at least temporarily. Your tools for fighting both stress and illness are eating right, exercising, and stress reduction. There's a good chance that you weren't paying much attention to your diet or exercising properly when you were in your depression, so this is a good time to get back on track.
Eating Right
Eating right doesn't necessarily mean dieting, although eating the right foods can result in weight loss. Many people who are depressed tend to gravitate toward comfort foods that include a lot of sugar and carbohydrates. Changing your diet to cut down on or eliminating certain substances and replacing them with nutritious ones will improve the way you feel. Good nutrition provides fuel not only for your body, but also for your mind. Conversely, nutritional deficiencies can rob you of your recovery.
Definitely consider eliminating as much sugar as possible from your diet. The rush of energy you get from consuming sugar inevitably leads to a crash a short time later, leaving you feeling tired and possibly crabby and looking for your next sugar "fix." You also should cut down drastically on the amount of liquor you consume. Remember, alcohol is a depressant. Also, if you are taking antidepressants, alcohol may hinder its performance. Alcohol can also interfere with your sleep patterns, and lack of sleep can lead to depression-like symptoms, like fuzzy thinking and irritability.
Caffeine is another substance you should think about cutting back on or eliminating altogether. Caffeine is a drug which affects your central nervous system and can cause instabilities in your blood sugar. Try fruit juice instead, which will give you an energy boost without the crash when it wears off.
Exercise
If you aren't doing do already, start exercising. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Exercise not only makes you look better, but it also makes you feel better in many ways. Exercise gives you more control over your own body, and the strength you develop empowers you. In addition, exercise will lower your stress level. The 1996 U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health concluded that physical activity could protect against depression.
Unless you are completely disabled, you can do some form of exercise. Start off slow by walking a few times a week. If you are older or disabled to some extent, a possible exercise is tai chi. It's low-impact, although a vigorous workout. You need no special equipment, except probably a video tape or book to teach you the moves. Another possiblity, if you are not interested in aerobic exercise, is yoga. It increases strength, balance and flexibility.
Stress Reduction
Stress in some instances is a life-saver. It triggers the fight-or-flight response in us by producing adrenaline, which can literally save our lives. However, the modern being rarely really needs this response, and triggering this response too often is hazardous to our health.
Set aside some time every day to bring your body back on an even keel. Learn a relaxation technique such as progressive muscle relaxation or meditation. Again, tai-chi and yoga are good for relaxing you. They both focus part of your attention on your breathing, and this is very effective for relieving stress. Plus, both are enjoyable, and who can't use a little more enjoyment in their life to balance out the stress?
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