Avoid the Deep Dark Depths

If you were in the depths of a major depressive episode; no energy to get out bed, no desire to seek pleasure, feeling sad, lethargic, down, and depressed every waking moment, possibly feeling like you didn’t want to go on, what would you do?


I hope you have the support in place around for someone to say, “we need to get you some help”. I hope you have the resources to find and acquire the help you need. Better yet, I hope you never get to that point.

Sadly, a lot of people do. Stress becomes anxiety, anxiety trends towards depression, and eventually a person can get so low that it takes considerable measures to come out of it, or it leads to more difficult mental health issues.

This is a simple list of activities to engage in to help prevent mental illness. You may be amazed at their simplicity. I hope you are. I hope you read these and say, “I do these EVERY day!” Engage in these more days than not each week, and you will be on your way to maintaining wellness.

Eat healthy. Drink Healthy. There’s a reason we are told to eat our fruits and vegetables. It makes you healthy. The more the better. The more colors your can fit into a meal, the better. Limit your intake of processed foods. If you can’t produce the ingredients, why put it in your body? Those chemicals alter the chemicals in your brain and lead to altered moods. Too much sugar, caffeine, or alcohol can do the same thing. Instead soda or coffee, try tea or water. Lots of water. At least 2 liters (about 8 8oz glasses) each day to flush out your system, help you feel full, provide the hydration you need, and because it’s better for you than a Monster.

Sleep. Not too much, not too little. Generally 7-9 hours is good every night. The important factor many people miss out on is not to alter your sleep schedule too much. If you go to bed by 10pm get up at 5am every morning, don’t stay up until 1am and sleep until 9am on the weekends. Research indicates that you shouldn’t alter your sleep schedule more than +/- 1 hour from your “norm”. Doing so is about the same as subjecting yourself to a bad case of jetlag; it alters brain chemistry and leaves your brain reeling from the change.

Exercise. 20-30 minutes each day. Get out and walk. If you are good at walking, go for a run. If you can’t do either, ride a bike. If you can’t do that, lift weights. There are more ways to exercise available to than there ever have been. You can enjoy a health club membership or use a dvd at home. You can work out with expensive equipment, or go for a walk in your bare feet. Whatever you choose to do, do it consistently for 20-30 minutes every day. You will maintain and improve your physical health; and that will have a myriad of positive effects on your mental health.

Socialize. Not just online, but with people you care about and who care about you. We are hardwired to be social creatures; not indulging in that evolutionary mandate leaves us feeling isolated and alone. Giving time to be with friends and family helps to build connections and increase the presence of the “feel good” neurotransmitters in our brains.

Spiritualize. Commune with a higher power, pray to God, read from Buddha, or meditate in nature. Recognizing we are not omnipotent and admitting our flaws as humans can have a positive humbling effect. Seeking guidance in a belief system greater than our individual knowledge can offer perspective. Connecting with the religion (a system of expression spirituality) of our childhood links us to past generations. All of these can be positive factors in promoting wellness and overall emotional health.

Manage stress. There are two ways to deal with stress; avoid, deny, remove, or change the stressor; or learn to cope with it in a more effective manner. If you are feeling excess stress, identify the stressor (work for many – but even that can be more specific), and determine if you can change it or cope with it better.

Manage your moods. Moods come and go for a variety of reasons, many of which may be outside our control. What is within our control is how long we allow a negative mood to stay and fester, and at what point we choose to engage in behavior to bring about a more positive mood. If you find yourself spiraling into a negative mood that you can’t come out of, enlist the help of others (see Socialize). If they can’t help, consult with a professional.

Manage your thoughts. Much like moods, thoughts come from out of nowhere – quirky firing of neurons brought upon by something we saw out of the corner of our eye can yield the strangest of first thoughts, or impulses. Again, something we are not always consciously in control of – but just like moods, we are in control of what our next thought is, and how we choose to act on that thought.

Manage your money. While we’re talking about managing factors in life – mismanaged finances can be the greatest source of individual stress and relational discord. It’s ironic and somewhat funny how many quotes and commentaries you can find throughout history, from the ancient Greeks to the current Session of Congress and everywhere in between; how poor financial management can lead to emotional turmoil. Take care of your money, and you will be taking care of your health.

Go do something. Stretch your brain and your body. Get up from the computer and do something different. If you sit around all day, go for a walk. If you spend most evenings watching tv, read a book. If you spend your day in a cubicle, get outside in nature. If you haven’t seen something truly amazing in a while, go see the ocean, an art museum, go up to the observation deck of a skyscraper, write a book, or go volunteer in a pediatric cancer treatment center. Expand your horizons, do different things, try new things, and you will maintain the flexibility of your brain and hold on to more of your fluid intelligence longer into your years. Besides, it’s fun.