Tackling the Dark Cloud of Depression

Depression can be an incredibly exhausting experience. By its very nature it can make a
person feel hopeless about change. However, there is a huge amount of evidence that
shows depression can lift. Today’s post will show you how to take the first steps to
lifting the dark cloud that is depression.

First, it’s important to know how depression is maintained. A consistent low mood begins to lead to feelings of fatigue, exhaustion and low motivation. This lack of motivation results in you cutting back on previously enjoyable activities, neglecting daily responsibilities, and leaving important decision-making to others. In turn you may feel worthless, guilty, numb or hopeless, and these feels only serve to exacerbate your low mood, and turn it into a depressed mood.

The fatigue in depression is different to normal fatigue. Unlike normal fatigue (e.g. after
running a race) where you need to physically rest, the fatigue in depression requires you
to do more activities to increase your mood. In fact, there is a strong body of research
that shows becoming more active decreases fatigue and increases your ability to think
clearer.

Now, when I say active, I don’t necessarily mean exercise (although exercise can help)!
As humans we need a balance of three types of activities. Those that bring us enjoyment
(or used to bring us enjoyment before depression hit), those that bring us a sense of
achievement or mastery and those that involve other people (socialising).

Here are some practical tips to start to tackle your depression head on:

Draw up a current week in your life

Are the activities you do boring, repetitive or anti-social? Are there large gaps in your
schedule that you fill with sleeping, gaming or watching Netflix? It makes sense then if
nothing good or exciting is going on in your life that you don’t want to get up.

Come up with two lists of activities you can do when you feel low
 

List one - For when your mood is very low (0-3/10)

Example list
Enjoyment – playing with my dog, going on the balcony and sitting in the sun, eating my
favourite snack
Achievement - getting out of bed, having a shower, changing clothes, making a tea,
putting my dirty cups in the sink, clearing my bedside table
Socialising - texting a friend, asking someone you live with how their day was

List two – For when your mood is flat (4-6/10)

Example list
Enjoyment – seeing a movie, going out for lunch, going to gym, reading
Achievement – cleaning my desk, doing part of an assignment, cooking a healthy meal,
paying a bill
Socialising – meeting a friend for coffee, talking to a loved one
Note: It can be useful to make tasks time limited not task limited (e.g. read for 15
minutes, rather than finish the chapter).

After you do an activity, check in with your mood.

How do you feel? Did you mood change? What activities helped you feel better? Do they
help your long term interests? Was there certain activities or times of day that made you
feel worse?

 

Remember: Action before Motivation

Your depression will want you to stay in bed, withdraw and wait for motivation to strike
before you get better. The problem with this is that until you start acting as if you are
better, you won’t get better. Motivation strikes after action. Think about when you last
did an essay or started an assignment. Did you feel worse before you began or towards
the end when most of it was done? Starting anything is the hardest part.

The voice in your head may say things like ‘this is too hard, it’s stupid…you should be
doing more’. Ignore it for now. You can have thoughts, but they don’t have to dictate
your behaviour.

By becoming more active you can see that you have some control over your mood and
even if your mood doesn’t increase every time, it gives you a different focus than the
depression and negative thoughts.