YES I SURVIVED DEPRESSION, YOU CAN TOO!

Depression, for me, has been a couple of different things – but the first time I felt it, I felt helpless and things I had never felt before. I lost myself and my will to live.

Ginger Zee

What is Depression? A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.

Possible causes include a combination of biological, psychological and social sources of distress. Increasingly, research suggests that these factors may cause changes in brain function, including altered activity of certain neural circuits in the brain.

The persistent feeling of sadness or loss of interest that characterizes major depression can lead to a range of behavioral and physical symptoms. These may include changes in sleep, appetite, energy level, concentration, daily behavior or self-esteem. Depression can also be associated with thoughts of suicide.

Thinking in medical terms depression has a detailed definition including the causes, symptoms and effects of the same. But what is exactly depression and why do we face it??

Unfortunately in India mental illness is not considered a grave issue and is usually ignored. People feel shy to ask for help when going through depression, or may be if they ask their near and dear ones for help they are ignored saying it’s just a phase!!

Sadly, people who go through depression, deal with lot many feelings on a daily basis. They look normal but inside there is a hurricane they are dealing with regularly. Being a victim of depression not once but twice, I find it important to address it to the fellow moms and everyone in general so that you know it’s time to seek help!!

Before we talk about the ways we can try to overcome it, I would want to pen down few points to help you understand how do you judge you are a victim to this muted illness.

When you are depressed you feel weird and completely abnormal. Few symptoms of this illness are given below:-

• You stop going out and avoid outings completely 
• You feel like sleeping all day because that makes you feel cut off from the world
• Your appetite drops and you eat just to survive
• You get angry quickly and often experience mood swings
• You feel like crying when alone
• A feeling of worthlessness and a burden to the world keeps popping in your mind
• You start accusing yourself completely for every wrong happening around you
• You stop doing things you enjoyed the most
• You feel frustrated and finds your life a complete failure
• You don’t talk much and are mostly silent
• The worst is feeling to end your life because you aren’t worth living

These are few of those symptoms which I personally feel are the most common when going through this ailment. Ironically depression in a women and men might have different symptoms as well.

Besides taking medical help there are certain things I feel one can take up to overcome from this ailment. These are things which I felt helped me to come out of it as a warrior.

•  VALUE YOURSELF, it becomes very important in this phase to value yourself. Do not degrade yourself in your own eyes. Tell yourself you are the best and you deserve to be valued. What people say about you shouldn’t matter, what should matter is what you feel about yourself.
•  START FORCING YOUR MIND TO THINK POSITIVE, it’s tough!! I know it’s very tough to think positive when your mind is surrounded with negativity. But tell your mind, you are good, tell your mind things are good. We win half of the battle when we start thinking positive.
•  INDULGE IN AN ACTIVITY YOU LOVE DOING, the phase of depression is such when we don’t feel like doing anything forget about an activity! We don’t even feel like getting up from the bed or having a meal. But it’s important to indulge yourself in some activity which you loved doing before. It’s important to occupy your mind with something productive.
• JOIN A FITNESS REGIME, it helps. It is scientifically proven when you work out you release happy hormones. You need it all the more when you have depression, it helps you to start feeling the need to be happy again, to live again and feel that “life has life in it.”
• DO NOT ISOLATE YOURSELF, Talk to people, make friends, and go out. Generally, when we try to attempt this we look happy to everyone else, but deep inside the bearer of the illness knows hanging out is not making pave to a happy life, but trying this will keep you away from the dark dead thoughts like worthlessness or suicidal tendencies.
• TRY TO EAT A HEALTHY DIET, it’s important to take a healthy meal. I felt a complete loss of appetite during my phase. If you don’t eat, the physical weakness will just add on to the misery. Eat well to help your body function properly.
• WRITE A DIARY OR LISTEN TO SONGS, if you have a habit of writing, pen down your thoughts, or listen to songs to overcome the uneasiness. Sometimes when you are not in a position to deal with your thoughts its best to pen them down and release those unwanted thoughts.
• TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL, I found it not easy to share it with someone on how I felt. However, we all have that one friend or a cousin or may be our mom with whom we can share our feelings. Share and feel light about it!
• FIND A WAY TO HELP SOMEONE, I agree it’s the time when we need help, but it’s a bigger boost when you try and help someone in need. I found solace in charity. Watching the poor kids with smile when I gave them chocolates or things was a self-satisfaction, it didn’t only bring smile on their faces, but mine as well!
• OPT FOR RUNNING, Get your headphones, your favorite music and go for a solo run, this time off with yourself will help you shed away all dark thoughts, at the end of the run not only you would sweat out the calories, but will burn those dark thoughts as well.
• TALK TO A DOCTOR, it’s always a good idea to consult a doctor and take medical help if needed.
• Sadly, how long it takes for you to overcome depression is unknown, it completely depends on the depth of illness and how strong you as a person are to deal with it. But. as it’s

said, where there is a will there is a way.

From my experiences, I would just convey one strong message, we have one life, we see lot of things we don’t intend to, but that’s not the end of life, if you fall, get up , collect yourself and rise above than the last time. The warriors are those who face and pass it and not the ones who never want to face it.

Stay strong and remember why we are here, for whom we are here. What is the purpose of our life, it surely isn’t to give up!!!

Rise from the ashes, there is a life ahead!!!