- It’s Probably Not The End Of The World: Catastrophizing is a short cut to a deeper depression when you’re struggling with some challenging feelings and thoughts. Whatever you have experienced is definitely significant. It might even be really terrible. Likely, it isn’t actually the end of the world, no matter how certain you feel. Help yourself by taking a few deep breaths and remembering this too shall pass.
- You Can Let It Go: Letting go is a weird thing when you’re struggling with depression because depression often includes rumination. Ruminating thoughts means playing things over and over again in your brain, analyzing them, running an analysis on your analysis and ultimately- wasting time. Every minute you spend in the past is a minute you lose in the present. Practice some mindfulness and bring yourself into the moment now. What’s done is done. Let it go and move forward.
- Wait, Are You A Psychic? What’s done is done. What’s going to happen is going to happen. Unless you’ve got those psychic traits which help you to have premonitions and predict the future, you don’t know anything for sure. Staying stuck in the future is about as helpful as staying stuck in the past (hint: it isn’t helpful at all). Cultivating trust and faith helps you to prepare to handle life on life’s terms, one of the hallmarks of recovery.
- Don’t Should On Yourself: Shoulda, woulda, coulda- but you didn’t. That’s okay! Believe that things happen exactly as they should, as they could, and if it were meant to happen differently, it would.
- Get By With A Little Help From Your Friends: Isolating during difficult episodes of depression just helps you sulk into the depths of depression further. Reaching out to friends and family or recovery peers might give you some ideas for coping you’re having a hard time remembering at this moment.
- Allow For Grey Areas (Even Some Color): Black and white thinking gets you in trouble. Life is not one way or the other. There has to be room for grey areas, even though they can be confusing, and even a little bit painful at times. More importantly, keeping things black and white keeps out all the color! Life can get messy and colorful sometimes. Keeping things to black and white can make it a little bit drab.
- Real Or Not Real? When depression is working at its finest, it can cause some peculiar thoughts. A small voice of reprieve might be telling you that what you’re thinking isn’t true. The depression might be louder trying to convince you that it is. You might reach out to a friend or trusted family member and play a game of real or not real: is what you’re thinking accurate or is it a delusion of depression?
- Allow Yourself To Be Depressed: Depression happens. Whether you are clinically diagnosed with major depression, have co-occurring depression with other disorders, or experience things in life like loss which cause depression- depression happens. Remember that with all of your tools, you will get through this phase. If the depression continues on without relief, it is time to call your psychiatrist or therapist for an appointment.
Living with depression can be manageable. Avalon Malibu has created programs that not only help clients heal but learn how to transform their lives. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.
