It is important to figure out ways to find hope when depressed, this gives for healthy living and fruitful relationships.
Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing, while depression is a mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest.
Are you willing to find hope in the backyard of depression? Statistics revealed that more than eighteen million adults are suffering from depression across the world. In this article, I will be exploring ways you can find hope when depressed.
1) Get a therapist:
Do you know that there are various types of depression?
One major type is Clinical Depression. Clinical Depression is a more severe form of depression. It requires the help of a specialist.
Depression does not have a single reason. Seek professional help often. Open up to a therapist to offer you professional guidance.
Pouring out your mind to a therapist might give you the needed solution you desperately desire after all a problem shared is a problem half solved.
Please note that therapists do a ton of good with helping you recover.
2) Challenge Negative thoughts:
This is one of the excellent ways to find hope when depressed, these thoughts will always come, your resilience to challanging them matter a lot.
Try to silence any negative thoughts in your head. Do you know that depression can lead to suicide? Loosen yourself from the grip of depression.
When you get depressed, always be optimistic that things will get better. Avoid living in isolation. Research revealed that negative thoughts thrive in isolation. Hang out, have fun and get a new routine.
One of the wisest kings that have ever graced the earth quoted” Guard your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the issues of life”. you possess the keys to your thoughts. Guarding your thoughts gives hope amidst depression.
3) Be Mindful:
Ride the wheels of your thoughts to the present, this indeed is a great way to find gope when depressed.
Some causes of depression include the loss of a loved one, rape, marital crises, financial downturn, emotional breakdown, psychological challenges etc.
Events of the past have held some victims of depression hostage. Have the belief that you can’t change the past but you can control your present and look into the future with wings of hope.
4) Turn to your support system:
Who is your support system? Your friends and families can be your support system.
An African proverb says ” “In a time of testing, family is the best”. Your family can always be a pillar of hope for you when you share your thoughts and the causes of your mood swings. A single dose of love can organise a funeral for depression.
Depression can be harmful when it is not properly treated. According to the Depression Research Foundation: Depression affects more than 18 million adults. Depression is the primary reason why people commit suicide. Depression is treatable.
5) Exercise:
Exercise is a physical activity intended to improve strength and fitness; it is definitely one of the ways to find home when depressed.
Research has revealed exercise and physical activity can help to lower the symptoms of depression and boost energy knowledge.
Try to take your mental health seriously. Remember, there is light at the end of the tunnel. When life throws you a lemon. Make lemonade out of it.
6) Set a goal:
When goals are accomplished, you will be as happy as a king. Depression prevents victims from accomplishing set goals.
When you set a goal and it is achieved. It brings hope when you feel hopeless. Remember that today is not indicative of tomorrow. It is important to know the causes of an individual’s depression before tackling it.
I recall an African proverb that says, “There is no shortcut to the top of the palm tree”. Failure to achieve set goals has drawn many to the rivers of depression. Hope can be found when goals are achieved.
7) Speak encouraging words:
There is value in speaking encouraging words.
Encouraging words and thoughts are like gold. An adage says ” Gold should be sold to the one who knows the value of it”.
Encouraging words provide you with the needed strength to know that yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is pregnant.
Attach importance to the words you speak because it is one of the great ways to be hopeful about the future.
8) Realize that the source of your happiness is YOU:
Life itself is challenging. To be honest, life has been unfair to some people. You should realize that life is filled with prosperity and tragedies. Life will always throw grenades at you, but how you respond to situations determines how far you go in life.
Happiness and sadness are your choices, choose wisely. Sadness leads to depression. When there is life, there is hope. You can choose to be happy by engaging in things you love doing.
Read a new book, hang out with friends, engage a fitness trainer, and avoid drug abuse and alcohol. Dump the introvert lifestyle and embrace an extrovert lifestyle. Enjoy meeting new people who can serve as a source of inspiration to you. life is for the survival of the fittest. In life, we are determined to embrace happiness ourselves.
9) Do not be ashamed:
Statistics revealed that over 60 per cent of people going through clinical depression are usually ashamed to take their medications.
Clinical depression includes mental breakdown and bipolar disorder. In continents like Africa, many fear taking medications for their mental health for the fear of stigma.
This doesn’t help but it’s as a result of an established stereotype of associating mental illness with shame, one of the ways to find hope when depressed is to take out the shame and be open about the fact that one needs help.
Many people abandon their medication to hide their health status. A lot of people see depression as a death sentence, fortunately, depression can be managed if you are not ashamed to voice out your concerns.
Introverts tend to keep to themselves without realizing that human beings are social beings that can provide solutions to humanity. When you are not ashamed to share your problems, depression will cease to be your companion.
CONCLUSION
The fact is that life is filled with ups and downs and the main way of finding hope amidst depression is to identify the root causes of depression. Memorize the amazing gifts life has offered you.
Sometimes, your brain might be lying to you that things aren’t working well. Hopelessness is not a permanent feeling. Whatever you can’t control shouldn’t steal your happiness.
