Tips for Beating Depression

Depression is not a fun experience; trust me, I've spent a lot of time there. The good news is, I'm not there now; but yet I remember distinctly the hopelessness that once haunted my days. It felt as though the light that I once imagined had vanished from the world and no one noticed but me. There were many times that I longed for an end to my suffering; to be free from the emptiness that I felt. I know that I'm not alone in this, so I'd like to share a few tips for beating depression that have helped me over the years.

Trust that the light at the end of the tunnel is real. It's okay to suffer; it's a part of life. But remember, it's a part of life! Without darkness what would be the use of light? It is in the darkest moments of our lives that we truly grow; just as the phoenix is reborn from ashes, so too will you. Just as the caterpillar enters a cocoon without knowing what will happen, you too will emerge transformed. Have faith.

Stop trying to control things that you have no control over, and the only thing that you have control over is you. When a negative thought enters your mind about another person or circumstance that is out of your control, release the thought knowing that it is not your burden to carry. This does not mean to stop being compassionate or stop helping others, because these things are good for you. What you need to release is fear. We are all lost searching for light, and the light that we seek is within each of us. We each must carry our own burden to find the light.

Know that people are well-intentioned when they offer bad advice. People can speculate, but no one knows exactly what you feel. "Be positive" really is great advice, but from my experience it only made matters worse to have my problems trivialized. People often misunderstand, but it is not necessarily because of a lack of empathy. It's just difficult to know the right thing to say to someone that's struggling. This makes us feel even more alone in the world; but the truth is we're never alone. Keep looking within and you will see that everything that you're looking for is in there. The problem is that we look for it in the world around us but even that is really inside of us. Light is reflected back to our eyes to trigger a chemical reaction in our brain to create an image of the world around us. It's only perception. It's only an illusion. Your true spirit is a creator. Something worth thinking about.

Find creative hobbies. In my darkest moments I could find peace through creativity. In fact, building this website is one of the creative outlets that's helped to pull me back from the abyss. Find something that you're passionate about and pour your heart into it. You'll find that during moments of creativity your problems seem to vanish.

Writing can be an excellent way to make sense of it all. Writing your thoughts down can help to pacify the storm while you come to understand your emotions. Understanding and coming to term with your feelings is a vital step in the process of beating depression.

We must accept that we are living with the pain, not dying from it. In other words, live. We cannot allow ourselves to use our feelings as an excuse to stop living, because these excuses become habit and we are what we repeatedly do.

Practice mindfulness. This is part of the acceptance process. You must accept the way that you feel in each present moment. This does not mean to accept the title of your condition as an inherent part of you because your present moment is constantly changing and to accept a title labeling yourself as "depressed" or "bipolar" is to carry that condition into each present moment to follow. Accept how you feel right now, trusting that you will not always feel that way. To learn more about how to practice mindfulness click on the link below.

Mindfulness Techniques

Use positive affirmations. Don't expect positive thinking to make your problems disappear instantly, because if you do you will soon become disillusioned and give up. Retraining your cognitive patterns takes time and more important than the thoughts themselves are the feelings that they are meant to evoke. Keep a stack of notecards around and write down positive thoughts or quotes as well as things that you are grateful for and read them daily. There are also several great videos out there with positive affirmations that you can listen to. Below is a link to an article about conscious autosuggestion if you'd like to learn more about the effects of affirmations.

Conscious Autosuggestion

Here are a few quotes that can help you to understand your suffering. Bookmark this page if you'd like and refer back to them when you're feeling lost.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could spare them from all suffering? No, it wouldn't. They would not evolve as human beings and would remain shallow, identified with the external form of things. Suffering drives you deeper. The paradox is that suffering is caused by identification with form and erodes identification with form. A lot of it is caused by the ego, although eventually suffering destroys the ego--but not until you suffer consciously."

Eckhart Tolle

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."
Khalil Gibran

"All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming."
Helen Keller

"The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering."
Ben Okri

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream."
Paulo Coelho

"Don't Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering."

Miguel Angel Ruiz

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.”
Charles Dickens

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