Just getting out of bed can seem impossible when you’re feeling depressed. But simple steps, plus treatment, will help. Check out these 11 doctor-recommended tips to get you out of the dumps…
Some days, events go south: The grocery bag rips at the bottom. The cute guy doesn’t call you back. You’re PMSing. These down days usually disappear when the sun rises the next morning.
But when relentless stress, anxiety and disappointment pile up, spirits can take a nose dive – and stay there.
True depression, affecting almost 15 million Americans, is much more serious than the monthly bout of PMS. It drains your life and affects the way you sleep, eat and feel about yourself, family and pleasure.
Women get diagnosed with depression two times more often than men, according to the Mayo Clinic. Why?
For one thing, our hormones do a fluctuating rumba, especially during childbearing years. Then there’s the burden of so many responsibilities. You’re Mom, help mate, model worker, cleaning lady and errand runner. No wonder you’re down!
You can’t will depression away, but you don't have to suffer, says Dennis Lin, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Medical and psychological treatment can help you get better.
While you’re on recovery road, you can take extra steps to boost your mood. Read on to get 11 doctor-recommended tips to help you when you're feeling depressed:
The Do’s
1. Do a body check.
Some diseases, disorders – even drugs – can make you blue.
“Make sure you have no other medical problem, like a low level of thyroid hormones,” Lin says.
Depression is also linked with Parkinson’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and some infections. The stress of having a disease, like cancer, can trigger it too.
So can medications, such as steroids and those prescribed for high blood pressure.
2. Eat a steak.
“Nibbling high-quality protein – an ounce or two of meat, fish, poultry, eggs – every 2-3 hours can help stabilize blood sugar and keep your moods more even,” says San Francisco-area clinical psychologist Shoshana Bennett, Ph.D. (also known as Dr. Shosh), an expert on prenatal and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, and author of Pregnant on Prozac (Globe Pequot Press).
To double your happy quotient, focus on turkey, chicken, whole grains and black beans. They contain tryptophan, which converts to serotonin, one of the brain’s key feel-good chemicals.
3. Exercise your options.
Workouts boost moods, increasing brain chemicals such as norepinephrine and others just like antidepressants do.
“Exercise improves the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain,” Lin says.
It also stimulates the vagus nerve in the brain stem, which improves the way the brain’s emotional center works by increasing our stress tolerance, often a partner to depression.
Plus, workouts breed success and are great for curing depression.
“Even brief or basic light exercise every day can make you feel like you’re accomplishing something,” says Kate Muller, Psy.D., director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.
But start small: A 2-mile walk might feel overwhelming when you’re blue. Just walk around the house during a TV commercial. You can work up to more as you feel better.
4. Stop flying solo.
“Being isolated can make someone prone to depression,” Bennett says.
“When you’re alone, it’s easy to think that everyone is fine except you, and that leads to hopelessness," Bennet says.
It also makes you wonder if you’ll be feeling depressed forever.
So reach out to family or friends. If they’re not available, push yourself to go places where people hang out.
You don’t have to find your future best friend: Just being among people where you can share a laugh or two will help cure your depression.
“Go to clubs [that center] on things you’re interested in,” Lin advises. “Do volunteer work in a hospital or library. Take a class.”
5. Be narcissistic.
Depression makes the brain listless, so you have to stimulate it.
Therapists urge patients to push themselves to get pleasure by resuming activities they used to enjoy: Go to a movie, meet a friend for lunch or get a pedicure.
Women, in particular, “aren’t as good as men at finding down time to do pleasurable activities,” Muller says. “Men say, ‘I need a break.’ Women charge themselves with doing many tasks.”
When was the last time you had a massage or even window-shopped?
Having just one event – even a little one – to look forward to each day can lift your spirits.
6. Go fish.
"Omega-3 fatty acids help the brain be more receptive to [mood-boosting] serotonin,” Bennett says.
In fact, a 2002 National Institutes of Health study found that women with high levels of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, one of three omega-3 fatty acids) who ate a diet rich in fish – also high in omega-3s – had lower rates of postpartum depression than women who didn’t eat lots of fish and had low DHA levels.
Bennett recommends taking only fish oil capsules with DHA and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, also an omega-3 fatty acid) and following the dosage advice on the package. He also likes energy-boosting B-vitamins (available in a good multivitamin), calming calcium (1,200 milligrams) and magnesium (500 mg) for those with depression.
But first get your doctor’s OK before starting any supplements.
The Don’ts
1. Avoid “Debbie Downer.”
Commiserating with friends may help you feel less alone and put things in perspective, but too much could worsen depression and anxiety.
At least, that’s what happened to adolescent girls in a 2007 University of Missouri study. Scientists speculated that frequently discussing their anxieties seem more important than they were.
Besides, worrying may make you feel even worse about so-called life failures.
Plus, talking about a problem ad nauseam may stress out your friends.
“Then the quality of the friendship decreases,” says Richard Shadick, Ph.D., director of the Counseling Center at Pace University in New York City.
2. Take a chill pill.
It may feel like the worst of times, but try not to see everything through a dark lens, advises Kate Muller: “More balanced thinking leads to better moods.”
Muller asks her clients to assess a globally dark statement, such as “My life is terrible.”
Then, they have to describe exactly what’s terrible and decide if they are over- or understating their case.
More often, their lives aren’t as dire as they think.
“They’ve probably had good moments,” Muller says.
The process, called cognitive restructuring, is part of cognitive behavior therapy, a method that helps patients examine negative thoughts and behaviors and allows them to think realistically.
“We try to come up with a new statement that replaces the negative one, such as 'It has been tough before, but I’ve gotten through it.’” Muller says.
“That’s much more hopeful," Muller says.
3. Back away from the martini.
“Alcohol and marijuana are depressants,” Shadick says. “They slow down the body physically and mentally.”
Although experts say two drinks a day won’t hurt most women, Lin advises those at risk for depression not to drink regularly. A maximum of a couple of drinks a week is best, he says.
According to a study at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, women who were depressed at age 27 were more than three times as likely to abuse alcohol at age 30 than those who weren’t depressed.
Plus, alcohol brings on other problems, like weight gain, which can ruin your self-esteem.
Same goes for that daily latte.
Caffeine’s a downer when you’re blue too, says Bennett.
“It increases jitteriness and anxiety,” she says. “And if someone’s worried, it makes her extra worried.”
4. Cut the sweet stuff.
A double-chocolate cheesecake might seem like the best depression medication, and it may give you an energy lift when you're feeling depressed. But it’s not worth the crash that follows, says Bennett.
“If you find yourself craving sweets, it indicates low serotonin,” Bennett says. “Your carbs, whenever possible, should be complex.”
That means fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are all carbohydrate-rich fiber, which slows digestion so energy levels stay even, not up and down.
5. Don’t skimp on the zzz’s.
“If you don’t get enough sleep – 7-9 hours a night for adults – you're setting yourself up to be depressed,” Lin says. “It disturbs the chemical balance in the brain.”
Of course, poor sleep is a hallmark of depression. According to a 2009 study at Goldsmith’s College in London, people who had sleep problems as children were more likely to be depressed later in life.
To undo the sleepless curse, try these tips:
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Your body’s clock likes routine.
Don’t drink coffee after 10 a.m. – its effects linger for as long as 12 hours.
Don’t lay awake thinking and worrying either. If you can’t sleep, get up, do something boring and then try sleeping again.
Health writer Dorothy Foltz-Gray is a frequent contributor.
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