In this article, I will be sharing some personal tips on how to overcome depression from my personal experience. Disclaimer I am not a medical personnel and you should always endeavor to seek medical help.
However, these tips would help and guide you as you journey through your struggle with depression with a medical personnel or not.
In an era like ours, the world has seen itself come into the awareness of the existence of mental health illnesses. Of all of these mental health diseases, depression happens to be the most common one.
Found mostly in young people, depression comes with subtle yet persistent symptoms one of which happens to be a consistent state of sadness. Most people usually ask, what is the number one cause of depression?
You see, depression happens to be a very complex illness hence the possible causes of depression vary. Let’s explore few factors that can cause depression.
- Genetic influence; certain families have a long history of dealing with depression. Hence a victim is usually found in at least every generation.
- Substance abuse; the consistent abuse of alcohol, drugs, and certain substances can place its users in a state where he/she is at risk of becoming depressed.
- Grief of traumatic events, e.t.c
Do you know that before the pandemic in the year 2020, WHO announced that over a billion people were living with a mental issue?
To a point where about 264 million people around the world were affected with depression thereby making suicide the second-leading cause of death among young people. Mental health struggles and disease are real and one of the most popular illnesses young people struggle with.
Do you also know that the highest percentage of adults who experience symptoms of depression happens to fall between the ages of 18-29 years?
For me, the last the 8 months have been the most darkest days and moments of my life, it seemed as though I have never know light all my life.
I came out of a 5 years relationship that happened to be intertwined with every part of my life to find out that I have been constantly cheated, disrespected, and devalued.
This has been the most hurtful and devaluing experience for me. To find out that someone I vehemently invested, loved, and was loyal to for no reason cheated and hurt me in the most devasting way broke me.
It may hard to understand and comprehend but I lost myself and emotions on so many levels. I am in the process of healing and I have never experience the kind of depression I did or fallen into the level of depression. But it was terrible.
I struggled with terrible anxiety, self-doubt, confusion, self-hurt, self-sabotage just name it and all these struggles made me fall into the most daunting depression. Almost like every wall that I had build up was crumbling down.
For a whole month, all I did was wail not even cry, there was this emptiness inside of me and the only way that I could liberate myself to breathe was to exfoliate these tears.
I am still healing and rediscovering myself with my whole experience and I’ll be sharing all my tips, resources, story and directives on how to overcome depression and the baggage that comes with it.
Feel free to share your depression stories, tips, resources, and guides with me. And you can stand a chance of getting an invite to my podcast to share these experiences with a larger audience and how those low times made you feel.
Also if you’re going through a low time/ depressing phase do not hesitate to send me a direct message on Instagram, remember you are not alone, this storm will surely pass. All you need to do is take little steps, no matter how small; these steps will yield into big miles.
If you happen to be among the number of people who face symptoms of depression, it gives me so much joy to let you know that you can be free!
In this article, together we will explore diverse ways, steps, and techniques that will show you how to overcome depression. Stay with me and let’s dig in!
1. Focus On People Who Uplift You
Before I show you how you can use this step to learn how to overcome depression, let’s go through a few facts from the year, 2020.
– The government in Japan created a ministry of Loneliness, an initiative designed to help and support its citizens after the country experienced a spike in suicide rates in 2020.
Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga gave more insight into the situation when he said that women, in particular, were struggling with loneliness and he encouraged the new minister of Loneliness to create and administer effective solutions.
– In the middle of the pandemic, charities in the United Kingdom reported an increase in cases of loneliness among the elderly.
The above facts show us that one of the important steps to how to overcome depression is to avoid loneliness. You are more prone to becoming depressed if you have a routine where you spend 24 hours all by yourself.
If you are going to stop being depressed then, you’ll need to spend more time with people who uplift you and make you feel happy. Those people can be your friends or family members or even a friendly neighbor.
For me, the people that strengthened me and uplifted me were my family and few close friends during my depressing times with uncontrollable meltdowns crying, and regrets they’ll always encourage me, inspire me, try to make me laugh, cook my favorite meals and share positive energy with me.
This wasn’t always easy but they were consistent and it gave me the reassurance and reminder that I am valuable, important and they needed in me in their lives.
Spending time with the people you care about allows you to bond and connect with them on a deeper and more intimate level not to mention the fact that it helps regulate your mood and emotions.
Sometimes what most people who experience symptoms of depression need is to spend time with someone other than themselves. I am not against enjoying your own space and company but most victims of depression are extremely lonely people who lack a solid social support system. Remember that no one is an island.
This is not to say that social butterflies don’t struggle with depression they do but if you’re an island, the chances are extremely high.
Hence learn to embrace social gatherings and activities. You can practice the art of going on dates with your friends or staying over for dinner with your family.
Practicing this consistently will place a subconscious awareness in the minds of those people about you. I understand that socializing can be quite difficult for people who are introverts or who face anxiety. However, if you will outgrow depression, this is a step you must take.
Keep this in mind, you are not alone.
If you are a homebody and struggle with socializing or making friends I have outlined a step-by-step guide on how to make friends as an introvert or extrovert feel free to check out those tips they have helped me in making/keeping valuable relationships and I believe you’ll find these tips helpful.
2. Seek The Help Of A Medical Specialist Or Therapist
Getting medical attention is one of the most helpful steps that will teach you how to overcome depression. Why? Because most times, people do not even know that they are depressed. How do you know that you’re depressed? Watch out for the following symptoms.
- Consistent feelings of stress and anxiety.
- Feelings of hopelessness or sadness for no exact reason.
- Lack of interest or motivation in activities.
- Pessimism and a lack of control over emotions.
- Persistent mood swings and irritation.
Once you find yourself experiencing the above symptoms then you should begin to seek medical help. Why? Because the medical experts will subject you to consistent testings and procedures that will help you break out of depression. It becomes easier and faster for you to get back to your old self once you begin to consult a therapist.
There are tons of places where you can book sessions with renowned therapists. However, if you want to know how to overcome depression and stress, you can make use of certain apps like Wysa. With an app like Wysa, you can learn how to overcome depression alone.
If you want to know more about apps like Wysa that can show you how to overcome depression.
Don’t be afraid of getting medical help early. Why? Because your mental health matters too!
I know this is one thing people shy away from talking about but getting a therapist is one way on how to overcome depression and heal from your pain, trauma, or fears.
During these 8 months one thing that saved me from wallowing deep was talking to a therapist and not just anyone but a therapist I could connect with, that understood me, and I felt comfortable with.
I was able to get a therapist from Better Help and other local Therapists in my country. I just couldn’t pass the storm on my own even with my family and friend’s assistance and I needed professional help badly.
I had high levels of anxiety, my sleep patterns were disrupted, I was afraid, constantly agitated, confused, my appetite was low, I was easily irritated, my mood swings were extremely high and I knew that I needed medical attention.
I didn’t want the bitterness, pain, I had to consume me negatively and create faulty patterns. Though these are still being worked on.
Especially with the way, I choose to perceive men in general but my Therapist alongside a Relationship/Life Coach really helped me understand a lot that I was suppressing, faulty patterns, and negative triggers that I am still working on.
I’ll be sharing more details on my journey on my podcast so be on the look for that.
3. Get Rid Of Faulty Mind Patterns
Here’s another step on how to overcome depression. Getting rid of faulty mind patterns. I strongly believe that depression also springs from the presence of poor and faulty mindsets.
Disposing of those mindsets will do a whole lot of good and also set you on the path to freedom. Coming out of my relationship I began to perceive men as cheats all to protect myself from getting hurt again.
I vowed and promised myself never to let love wander in this heart again and I don’t know how soon I’ll be ready to embark on that journey but I know I’ll find a good partner but I don’t just know when that would be happening
Before my relationship crisis, I had terrible and severe case of low self-esteem and inferiority complex by the age of 10 I had no confidence or belief that anything good or valuable could ever abound from me and that limited/negative mindset lead to lots of poor and toxic life mistakes/decisions which include canceling all the early red flags or pointers that came up in my relationship that my partner wasn’t faithful, I simply didn’t love myself so any crumps of affection that was given even in a toxic state was highly valued above everything.
My depression was largely influenced by the faulty mindsets I had. Those mindsets became huge rocks of limitation that held my growth still for years. The moment I began to make efforts to change those damaged belief systems, was the moment I began to outgrow depression. It took long years but it didn’t take forever.
Do you also struggle with depression, then begin to put in efforts into changing your mindsets. The best way to break out of depression is to begin to consciously expose your mind to materials that will change your perspective and also do serious damage to your ignorance, Keep a list of your strengths and wins, your vision, and goals.
You can achieve that by consistently consuming large amounts of information through books, audiobooks, videos, and even podcasts. Before you know it you’ll come to realize that most of what you believed and accepted were lies.
Nothing changes a man’s access to knowledge. Exposing your mind to knowledge will also change you!
4. Embrace Positive Thoughts And Words
This is also another very helpful technique that will show you how to overcome depression. Our thoughts and words are all products of our mindsets and our mindsets can also be influenced negatively or positively by our words and thoughts.
I began to pay attention to my thoughts and words when I was a teenager. The results were not immediate but my life, today is a product of my efforts to ensure that I thought and spoke positivity.
It wasn’t easy but I made sure that every time I wanted to say something negative or adopt negative thoughts, I would try to stop myself from saying it or conceiving such thoughts. It took time as I said but with time, I reduced the number of negative thoughts and words that could be found around me.
Our lives are products of what we think and say daily. If you consistently speak negative words, you are bound to suffer the results of it. The same goes for being positive too.
How do our words and thoughts help us in dealing with depression? Depression is strengthened by an abundance of negativity. Take that negativity away and what you’ll have is a soul free from the dark webs of depression. So, what you’ll find in the words and thoughts of a depressed person are little expressions of that negativity.
So when you begin to work on your thoughts and words, what you’re doing is subjecting your mind to a slow yet subtle means of reprogramming
Whenever you speak negative words like, “I’m a failure,” you’re conditioning your mind to see you as a failure and then your self-image keeps getting poorer every day.
If you can learn to change how and why you think and talk, it will have a great influence on your depressive state in a positive manner.
Become more intentional about your thought and word life and watch yourself escape depression.
Feel free to check them out bookmark and include them in your daily routine. One positive utterance a day would make you glow more from the inside and take charge from the outside.
During these 8 months, I created a positivity journal where I write down positive words to myself, it could be from the internet or from my spirit.
5. Get Busy
Spend more time doing the things you love. If you want to learn how to overcome depression and anxiety, here’s one tip you’re going to have to take advantage of.
Yes. One of the ways to deal with depression is to engage yourself in useful activities. Find your passions and become active in them. Take time to acquire more skills and knowledge in your career.
Even simple things like hobbies are things that can keep you busy and engaged. Ever heard of the saying, “An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop?” That’s what happens to people who do not learn to get serious about doing something worthwhile.
Once you do not have activities that eat up your time and energy, you are bound to feel unmotivated and also think negative thoughts.
Here’s what I do whenever I feel depressed or anxious. I get involved in activities that will stretch my mind.
For example, In these 8 months rather than sinking in the pain and hurt alone, I have opened other blogs, I am working on my podcast, working on other products for my brands and I am taking so many online courses and programs. This has really helped in keeping my mind excited and busy.
For you, it might be a creative art like painting or even singing. You just find that one thing that can keep you busy and spend time with it.
6. Eat Whole And Healthy Foods
I know that a lot of people think that nutrition involves just “calories in and calories out,” but no. It’s far from it. Your eating habits can also influence your mental health.
Have you noticed that people who suffer from depression suffer from a lack of appetite and inconsistent eating patterns? Hence if you’ll become a depression-free person, you’ll need to watch what you eat.
Food is the building block by which our bodies are maintained and protected. People who eat whole foods stand lesser risks of suffering from mental health illnesses.
In case you do not know, food can both and add to depression. A bit that is comprised of junk like hot dogs, sodium-rich canned vegetables can do a lot of damage to the general well-being of the body, mental health included while diets rich in fresh, whole foods can aid general health and also mental health.
Although food is not potent enough to heal an individual completely from depression or depressive symptoms, a person’s mental health can be positively affected and improved by a healthy diet.
Hence, if you’re looking for ways to boost your mental health, food is a great place to start from.
Do you want to learn how to overcome depression? then you must try this out. Make consistent efforts to avoid junk and eat fresher foods. Go to the market and get foods, fruits in their rawest forms. Learn how to cook and make fruit consumption a daily habit.
7. Exercise More Frequently
Another important tip that should be considered in learning how to overcome depression, is that of consistent exercise. You might wonder, “how does exercising help my mental health?” Well, here’s a few facts that can clear your doubts.
Research has shown in recent times that exercise has good side effects on depression. A review that analyzed about 35 trials of exercise for depression showed that there were moderate clinical effects.
Exercise is relieving depression especially when it is vigorous, energy-consuming, and done uninterrupted for some time. Exercise also helps improve the mood by helping you promote a sense of mastery, control and boosts your self-esteem.
Exercise also boosts your metabolism, increases serotonin and beta-endorphins in the brain.
It becomes an even more effective means of learning how to overcome depression especially when it is combined with a healthy diet and consistent doses of rest and sleep.
You can choose to do this on your own. You do not need to sign up for a gym program for you to exercise properly and effectively. I do this weekly.
At the end of each week, I play volleyball in the mornings and take long walks in the evening. On some days, I jog to keep fit. It puts your mind and emotions in a safe place and makes you feel better. At the end of the day, you’ll have no reason to regret exercising.
8. Have A Self-Care Routine
I believe that this step is one of the most underrated of all the others. If you’re struggling with depression, you should give this a try!
Now, you might be wondering what it means to have a self-care routine. A self-care routine is a compendium of small activities that affects your mind, emotional well being and body positively.
Self-care routines are very helpful activities that can teach you how to overcome depression and keep your emotions in check! We have a truckload of content on self-care routine on the blog that can help you kick start your self-care journey.
Whenever I feel terrible or cranky, I always ease off with my self-care routine. It helps me relax and keeps my energetic emotions in a calmer and stabilized state. I find it easier to think and go about my day after I indulge in my self-care activities no matter how small or little.
During these 8 months when the strong wave of stress and anxiety would knock me down, taking long hot baths with calm, nostalgic sounds/music in the background, in the morning before work and before bed in the evenings, helped me soothe my nerves.
Sleeping and rest became a lot easier. However, you determine what kind of activities you can add to make up your self-care routine. Even nights where I’ll cry endlessly, with high levels of anxiety, tending to myself no matter how small helped in calming me down.
Another self-care activity that was intriguing for me, was going to new restaurants. This made me feel so special and valueable, I made a list of the most popular and affordable restaurants that I could visit, and each time I walked out of those restaurants home I left with a sense of happiness that I am valuable, deserving of the care, time and resources I had chosen to spend on myself for myself.
Self-care is something I vehemently encourage not just on bad days, good days but on every day that we live on earth. It is a fundamental instrument to balance amidst the chaos that we are constantly exposed to.
So from today, I want you to pay more detail to the activities you do in your spare time. Which of them keeps you in a good mood or makes you feel relaxed and happy? For you, it could be a pedicure or a visit to a spa, It could be sleep, yoga, or even meditation. You just find out what fits you and makes you feel better
9. Journal
I found this tip to be very helpful during my dark days of depression. As a writer, journaling was quite easy and natural for me. So, my notes were filled with stray thoughts, poetry, and even short stories.
All of which were expressions of the pain and despair that came with being a depressed young adult. Till today, I still journal consistently as it has become a part and parcel of my life.
The Life Compass Journal was my twin in these 8 months each month I redid the exercises all over again and each time I felt so much better analyzing my emotions, fixing my limiting mindsets and faulty patterns.
The results of journaling are mind-blowing and astonishing. In those notes, you can find a haven for you to pour out all your bottled-up pain and hurt.
You can find a place where all your secrets and thoughts can be kept. For me, I found a good friend in those little scribbles and notes. If you are interested in journaling but do not know how to or where to start, no worries I have a detailed article that can guide you on how to start journaling for mindfulness, mental health, and self-improvement as well as important journaling prompts that’ll change your life and the right journal to equip yourself through this journey.
There are things that I have told no one else except my journals.
Most time, when I find myself becoming frustrated, I pour out everything into my journals. Why? It drains of all those negative emotions and energy.
With journaling, you can express yourself, scream, wail, and even cry without being judged! It’s like having a listening friend who does nothing else but listens.
This can be very helpful to you because I found out recently, that most depressed people do not want to be advised, counseled, or guided. What most depressed people seek is some kind of intimacy that only comes from giving a listening ear. For them, they feel safe knowing that there is someone who cares enough to hear them rant and cry about how messed up they feel their lives are.
You don’t even have to use a journal and a pen. You can journal consistently with the notepad on your mobile phone or with apps like Daylio.
The most important thing is that you pour out yourself into those spaces when you need to. If there’s any took that has been most helpful, it’s this one and I recommend it strongly to anyone who wants to know how to overcome depression, experientially.
10. Avoid Materials That Trigger Negative Or Sad Emotions
If you want to understand how to overcome depression, here’s one mistake you must not make.
One mistake most depressed people make is that they are not intentional about what they expose their minds to. They view and listen to materials that make them feel unhappy to a point where it becomes addictive. Yes.
I know you haven’t heard this before but it’s the truth. You can become very addicted to being depressed. So addicted that it becomes the only life you know how to live. Happiness becomes a foreign language and being unhappy becomes a lifestyle.
Maybe a personal experience will help you understand better. When I was depressed, I wrote dark poetry. The contents of the videos and music I listened to were extremely toxic and depressing. Think of the darkest songs you know of. Yes.
Those were the kind of songs I listened to. As a result, I was always sad. Even for reasons that were beyond my control, I was always sad. When I found out that I was doing more harm than good to myself, I began to take steps.
I stopped writing dark poetry, deleted a lot of my songs, and got materials that were devoid of that kind of negative energy. It took a while. A very long while before I began to feel better.
Consuming dark materials will not help you, instead, it drives you toward a worse fate, suicide. Part of the steps I took that helped me stop listening to such materials was that I began to listen to more enlightening podcasts. I also began to pay more attention to the kind of materials I fed on.
You must learn to avoid contents that trigger your emotions negatively. It is not enough to undergo therapy if you keep taking in poisonous materials that keep your mind polluted and clouded.
You can liken the scenario to taking actual poison. Do you know how it ends? It ends in death and I do not want to find you among the number of people who are dead today because of suicide.
Remember, avoid any form of materials that can trigger your emotions negatively. It never ends well!
In conclusion, all the above steps will not give you the results you want if you do not take them. If you do not put in the required efforts, you might never be free from depression. The struggle against depression is like a fight to the death. You have to be intentional and focused. You have given it everything you have.
On some days, it might seem like you’re losing but that’s not the time to give up! No! It took me four years to break out of depression. If I had given up, you’d not be reading this article.
Never stop pushing to be free from the webs of being depressed. I’ve been there long enough to not want to wish that for anyone. I’m going to live you with this. Coming out from depression is not a day’s job. It will take time but it won’t take forever.
