Many Suffer From Depression

In today's world, many people suffer from stress and depression. They both go hand in hand too. I myself have had to cope with it on an everyday basis. There are many things that can bring it on too. Sometimes the least little things can set it off. I am writting this artical to make others, that suffer from these terrible afflictions, to become aware of some of the simple things that they can do deal with their distress.
I have talked to my doctor about my battle with depression and he has prescribed a couple of different medications for me to try. The medications though, did not seem to be the answer for me. At times, while on the drugs, I would be in such a state of mind that I could not help myself even as bad as I wanted to. They also seemed to take the lead out of my pencil, (if you catch my drift,) and this was even more stressful and depressing for me. Finally, I told my doctor that I didn't feel that the drugs were doing me any good, so I stopped taking them.
In December of 2000, I had to under go heart surgery. They told me, before the surgery, that with this type of surgery that it was quite common for people to become depressed. Well that was not good news to me since I had been experiencing it already. Sure enough though, after the surgery, it became much worse for me. Thats when I opted for the medication to try and help my situation.
I have come to realize now, that depression is something that is just not going to go away. Its something we must face everyday and deal with accordingly. It is a state of mind that we constantly live with.
What is in our minds can control how we feel and act. Other people can sense our state of mind and this can be good as well as bad. If we are in a good mood, others can perceive this by our actions. Likewise, if we are often under a spirit of depression, others may sense negativity and try to avoid us. This is especially bad if we are meeting new people or are beginning a new job. The new contacts that you are making, don't really know you very well and first impressions of you are being formed. A nice smile can always help to off set this. Even if you're not in a smiley mood, it will still send out possitive vibes and help to make for good first impressions.
When we are alone though, a simple thing such as a smile can't hide our true feelings inside. We know we are feeling down and out. We can smile all day long but, we can not lie to ourselves. Thats when we must face our problem of depression head on.

What Can We Do?


Realizing that depression is only a state of mind and that our mind is basicly our thoughts or what we are thinking, we can alter our moods by controlling our thoughts and what we are thinking.
When I feel the depression coming on, I immediately take charge of my thoughts and try to focus on things that are more possitive. I focus on things that I like to do and things that make me happy.
You might start by making yourself a list of these things that you enjoy doing. Things like shopping. It can be eating or your favorite food or restaurant. Perhaps your favorite programs on T.V. or maybe you have a favorite game site that you like going to. Do you have any hobbies that you like doing? I like to paint and do art work. This is something that I often can keep my mind occupied with.
Now mind you, you don't need to do the things that you are thinking about right at that point in time. Take shopping for instance. You may love to shop but, you don't have the money to run out and splurge on yourself. However, you can still look. Maybe, there is something that you have been wanting to buy yourself but you haven't quite saved up enough money yet. Whats stopping you from hopping onto ebay and looking up the item you are wanting to buy and getting some pricing on it or maybe driving to the shopping center and looking about or just picking up a catalog to browse. Any of these things can occupy your mind and help relieve stress and depression.
Take eating for example. You may not even be hungry at the time. You can think about your favorite restaurant though and maybe get the calender out and plan for a lunch day or a night to go out and enjoy yourself. Maybe call up a friend and invite them along with you.
Though it is ok to break out the ice cream and topping now and then to take your mind off of your depression, you don't want to get in the habit of eating everytime you are down and out for obvious reasons.
As for your hobby... "Oh, I don't have a hobby," you might be saying. Well good! This will give your mind another challenge then. You can try to think of something that you would enjoy doing as a hobby. Maybe starting up some sort of collection of getting into crafts or just setting down with a pencil and paper and doodling. There are countless things you can do for a hobby.

Try To Avoid Commitments

Ever tell someone that you will be there on a certain day and at a certain time and then when that day arrives, you are not in the mood to go? This is why you should try to avoid commitments such as this. Such commitments can bring on stress, anxiety and bouts with depression no sooner than you make them. Try not to commit yourself. Do things on a more spur of the moment basis. Do things when you feel like doing them. Visit others only when you feel up to it. If you make a plan to go visit someone or do something two weeks from now, you don't know how you will feel about following through with your plans when that time arrives. You may be in a totally different state of mind by then. You may just feel like staying at home and watching T.V.
People that deal with stress and depression have huge mood swings. Acknowledge this and allow for it in your daily planning.
I'm not saying never make any plans at all. Just limit those commitments whenever you can. Try not to limit yourself to a certain time. Tell your mom or whom ever that you would love to come and see them either this weekend or the next and that you will call them later and give them a more definite time. Try to do things on your own terms to avoid stress.

Try To Keep Yourself Organized

One thing that can most definitely cause you much stress is being unorganized. I hate clutter, yet you can always tell just where I have been because I don't like to put anything back where it belongs. Bare in mind that everything has it's place and there is a place for everything. This does not mean that the very second that you are done using something that you must jump up and put it back in it's respectful place. You do need to keep up with yourself though because, chances are, no one else will. Take the time to keep your place clean and organized. There is nothing worse than having to search for 20 minutes or for hours to find something that you need. Time can cause you stress and stress can cause you depression and depression can cause you health problems and health problems can cause you money problems and and money problems can cause you more stress and the beat goes on and on. It can be a vicious cycle.
There is no need to set aside a day in advance to get yourself organized. Its always best to wait until you are in the mood to do it. As I often say, "I'll do it when the spirit hits me." Unless, you are in the mood to do it or unless the "spirit hits you." you will probably not do a very good job of it anyway. Again, always do things on your own terms and in your own good time.

Many Things Can Lead To Stress & Depression

There are any number of things that can bring on stress and depression. Most however have solutions. Granted some may be more complex than others. Sometimes a high level of stress can often cause you to over look simple solutions.
One day my cell phone kept ringing and I was just out of the shower and trying to get dressed to go out. I was quickly becoming annoyed. "Oh, why don't that phone stop ringing?" I yelled. Then my friend says to me, "Well why don't you just turn it off?"
We sometimes have to take time out to deal with the problems that are causing our stress and depression in order to avoid it any further. Some solutions are easy some not so easy but 99% of the time, you can find an answer to the problem. Don't be afraid to face problems head on. Take some time out to assess the situation so that you may rationalize with yourself to come up with the appropriate way to deal with it. You may choose to discuss the problem with a friend or your spouse to get a better perscective on it or another opinion or viewpoint.
Maybe the problem causing your stress and depression is financial. Once again there are ways to fix this. There are many ways to make money. I have found that selling is a very good way to come up with quick cash. "I have nothing to sell," you may say. Not a problem either, I have bought items on ebay cheap and put it back on ebay and sold them for more to make money. There's always a way.
One more easy and final way to help ease stress and depression and probably the most important, is to always remember to drink plenty of water. Our bodies are about 75% water. Our bodies need water in so many ways. Drinking plenty of water is good for our health any way you look at it. It purifies our system and it can help us to think much clearer too.

I hope this has helped some of you. If you have anything that you feel would be helpful that you would like to add, please feel free to do so.
GCJ