Depression is not an emotion, it is an illness. It is not feeling down for an hour or for a day and it is definitely not something to be glorified. Many of you might have never faced this in your life, many other are deeply depressed. Have you ever thought why this depression, why medications, why do you take so much of pressure in this one life when it is meant to live happily. I agree that everyone experiences sadness at times, but depression is extreme sadness that can last for days or months. It affects different people in different ways but major combination which all would have is self-doubt, feeling of emptiness, hopelessness, worthlessness. The other symptoms are just connected to these. Has anyone thought that when you feel sad, why is it for? What is the reason? Are you the only person who is responsible or someone who behaved ill with you is actually responsible by you tend to blame yourself and then the world seems to be disgusting? Let’s talk about it and how can you help yourself to overcome depression rather than taking anti-depressants and isolating yourself for ages.

Is depression word so fascinating?

It is better to cry and vent out your sadness than to push yourself into depression. We consider men to be strong and women as weak, whereas men are the weakest people one can ever see. It is just that they do not show on their face like how women have mastered. Most of men tend to isolate themselves when they have to face any issue because they are taught since their childhood that men do not cry. Why? Aren’t they humans too? People who cannot express, cannot talk are major patients of depression. I believe there should be at least one person in your life who you can talk everything out in you and that listener should not be judgemental too. Listeners play most important role in their life that can help them overcome the illness.

Causes of depression

As I mentioned above, there can be combination of many things majorly includes self doubt. Life events or stress is another factor.

1. Psychiatric disorders: Obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, social phobia, is a part of un-diagnosed disorder and needs to be attended by a health expert.
2. Life events: Family issues, marital issues, financial issues, work-related issues, all these can be the cause of depression if you think about it so deeply.
3. Health problems: Medical illness which cannot be controlled can lead to depression. One starts feeling weak mentally and physically, leaving no hope to live a normal life.
4. Personality: A major concern these days, where adults think they are too fat or thin, too short or tall. They need it all perfect in life, low self-confidence, always into competition, pressure of being the best and achieving milestones. All these can trigger depression.

Now that we know the causes let me mention few points which can help you cope with depression.

1. Stay connected: It can be difficult to overcome all by you; it requires a lot of effort to beat depression. At the same time it is also difficult to reach out to people and talk to them as you would assume that people will judge you and it would be better to isolate and withdraw. You may feel exhausted to talk, or ashamed of what has happened so before people disconnect with you and you feel guilty, you prefer to take that step first. But reaching out to people connecting to your loved ones will get you back and make you feel alive. Your loved ones do care about you and want to help. If you feel you do not like to talk to the same people, it is never too late to make new friends and improve your connection.
2. Do things that make you feel good: Everyone knows that we cannot force ourselves to have fun and experience pleasure in this situation but all you can do it push yourself to do things even when you feel lazy and don’t like it. Take time for things you never thought you could do with your job and other chaos. Cultivate an habit of meditation every morning, feel and eat healthy, take up a hobby that you love to do, painting, art and crafts, learning a musical instrument, reading positive books, dancing etc. Get up and get going. Express yourself creatively and fight your battle to the finish line.
3. Challenge negative thinking: The most important but difficult task. Bad things happen in life and there’s not much you can do about it. There is nothing that you can control. Just go with the flow and think that God has given you one life, why waste in thinking about something negative, not trying to the fear of failure, becoming weak to an extent of losing self-confidence and questioning yourself for every little thing you do whether is it right or wrong. Every situation or everything that happens in life is for a cause, nothing is ever right or wrong. Irrational and pessimistic attitudes will not lead you anywhere but hurt you more deep. Overgeneralizations, jumping to conclusions, emotional reasoning, labelling yourself in a negative tone are all negative thoughts.

Put your thinking on a side stand for a while whenever you feel sad or upset about anything. Analyse weather what you are thinking or going to conclude is actually true or not, should you not tell a friend who bought you into this? Can there be any other solution or alternative to it? Cross-examine your thoughts, you may be surprised by the answers you get and you can easily come out of depression. You will have more balanced perspective towards every situation. Never blame yourself for anything, every coin has two sides, discuss and vent out your emotions before it converts into illness.

PS: No matter what you are going through, you are stronger than Depression!