Overcoming Depression

How To Beat Depression

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned that focusing on things that bring happiness and joy can sometimes help me keep from becoming too depressed. Well, now it's time to actually focus on why it's necessary to do this in the first place, and to see what other ways are effective in overcoming depression. This is something that I deem extremely valuable to learn about and even more important to know how to overcome it.

According to the Webster Merriam dictionary, depression is defined as " a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies". I think the key words here is "disorder". True, chronic depression is not just a passing feeling of sadness that lasts for only a few moments. Depression is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the right way. If you think you can just try to live with it and try to banish those feelings, you're not going to see much results. I believe that it's necessary to become familiar with the things that contribute to depression. By doing this, we can then address them and do something useful to alleviate the pain that depression brings.

One major cause of depression is other health problems. I'm sure pretty much everyone has fallen into the terrible cabin fever that comes with being cooped up in the house after being sick for a while. This happens to me after only a few days of having a temporary sickness, like the flu or strep throat. Well, with more serious health problems, that cabin fever can easily turn into depression. Chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, anemia and cancer are just a few of the life altering illnesses that have been known to cause depression. When people are diagnosed with these illnesses, a lot of times they are forced to stay bed ridden or don't have the ability to exert themselves by going out of the house very often. This leads to the cabin fever and boredom. Soon they start feeling like there's no hope and their lives just won't improve at all. These feelings all lead to depression.

There are specific ways to target these causes and find cures for them that will therefore help toward curing the depression. The health problems that can lead to depression are varied and sometimes can't be cured, but they can be treated in the best way possible if they are addressed. One thing that can drastically help is to get out into the sunshine as much as possible. Soaking up the vitamin D and breathing in the fresh air can not only help improve your physical condition; it also helps to put you in a better mood and fights that cabin fever. Even if your disease limits you from going out very much, you can at least try to step out to your backyard or into a courtyard if you're in the hospital. Seeing and appreciating God's beautiful creations can put you in a much better mood and allow you to be in the right mindset to resist some of the pain of depression.

Another major cause of depression is loneliness. This can actually coincide with the severe health problems sometimes when people don't get visitors as often as they'd like, but loneliness can really happen to anyone. We all have friends and family, but some of us have more or better ones than others do. I know that when I'm having a problem that's keeping me down, my family and close friends are always there to show support and help cheer me up. Not everyone is so fortunate. Sometimes people do have these strong relationships, but they don't get to keep in touch as often as they need to and therefore feel lonely a lot of the time. Statistics show that twice as many women are diagnosed with depression as men. This is due in large part to the fact that some mothers end up being alone with their children at home and begin to feel lonely, as with postpartum depression seen in mothers with newborn babies.

Of course, the obvious way to get rid of loneliness is to try to improve your social life. Get out more and try to maintain the relationships you already have while being open enough to make new ones. Joining a support group is a very good way to be reminded that you're not alone in your depression. It's also the perfect place to get to know people and make new friends because everyone in the group already has something in common. You can go from there and find other things you might have in common so that you will have a bit more to talk about than just depression all the time. :p Just know that you never have to be completely alone.

A Surefire Way To Overcome Depression

I know that there is One who will always be with us, whether we're depressed or not. This One is Jesus. Whenever you start to feel like your depression is unbearable, ask Him to relieve your burden by casting all your cares upon Him. He can handle it much better than you ever could and wants to do so. If you trust in Christ, He will never let you be completely overwhelmed by your depression. Even when things seem hopeless, God is always there to help us in the midst of all our problems. With God, all things are possible. With Him, it is definitely possible to overcome depression. :)