heyy!! do you have any advice for ppl with depression and severe anxiety thank you for making this blog <33
hi! hereâs some advice for depression/anxiety that helped me:
- learn how to have neutral or carefree/optimistic inner voice that challenges the more negative, hopeless one. your inner monologue underpins your whole life, so itâs really important for it to be kind and encouraging, instead of having one hopeless, self-defeating voice all the time. imagine what you would say to your friend, and try to say it for yourself. itâs ok if you donât believe it at first, but itâs good to just practice.
- feel and validate all your feelings, without attaching beliefs to them. you can allow yourself feel a certain way, like youâre very unlovable and unworthy, but still know theyâre a passing feeling, rather than a true fact. and on the worst days, know that itâs okay to feel this way, and let yourself feel everything and cry, but remember that the beliefs attached to those feelings (eg. Iâm so horrible, Iâm so unlovable, Iâm not worth it, people are better off without me)Â arenât true.
- pay close attention to your feelings, through noticing your body tense up, or feeling your throat is tight, and then consciously give yourself time to ground yourself, think of your go-to good things/memories, breathe deeply and release your tension through activities that you know would help you feel better.
- create your own self care routine for whenever you spiral, feel depressed, unmotivated, or feel anxious, and look at it often.Â
- keep a list of positive reminders that help you, good things to stay alive for, or things that make you smile every day, and your favourite songs and memories. just reminders to look at that make you feel calm and less bad.
- i think often, your actions have to start before your thoughts can follow. so do things that you would do if you cared deeply about yourself. for example, work on eating and sleeping like you cared more about your body. do things that oppose what depression and anxiety want you to do, and the thoughts will follow.
- focus on the present. each day, write a few small goals to complete. itâs important to feel a sense of achievement, as it gives you confidence in yourself.
- remember that inside you there is an inner child that needs you to listen to them, ask them what they need, and comfort them with calming reassurance and activities. and you need to keep in touch with your inner child very often (whenever you feel bad), close your eyes, see them in your mindâs eye and ask them whatâs wrong and allow yourself to feel everything without judgement, while also giving the child forgiveness, comfort and reminders. stay with them until they feel better, and imagine giving them a hug, telling them itâs ok. it sounds strange but this is one of the most important things that helped me.Â
- do less things that drain you, like social media or staying up too late. do more things that increase your physical capacity to feel good, like doing exercise, being outside, dancing, singing, going on a walk, surround yourself with calming scents, drinking tea, hug something, doing a guided meditation, listening to music, having a better posture, sleeping enough and at the same time each day, eating enough, being in nature, playing with a pet.
- do hobbies that make you forget about your phone. promise yourself that youâll try to do it daily for a short achievable time, like 15 or 20 minutes and try to commit to it for a long time. start something from the beginning, and as you improve, so will your confidence that you can learn anything. I recommend learning something musical, because it really helped me. itâs also important to have zero expectations. be proud of improvement, but you shouldnât expect improvement. your main goal should be to have fun.
- make peace with your past. find your own closure. forgive yourself. look through old photos of yourself and learn to love your younger self and be thankful for them.
- do forms of play. like stuff that makes you excited as if youâre a child again. maybe itâs swimming, riding a bike, skateboarding, dancing, or something creative.
- do loving-kindness meditation. imagine everyone thatâs on your mind lately, including yourself, and wish them safety, happiness and warmth every morning and night, and imagine the love radiating from your heart to them (it sounds strange but it helps me!)
- donât be afraid to ask for help. you donât have to go through this alone! and youâre worth the âburdenâ of getting help!
- notice and appreciate the little things in your life. take more photographs of pretty things you notice that arenât that exciting to others. find beauty in the everyday things. romanticize the mundane things in your life.
- positive visualization!! imagine that inside you, youâre not barren. imagine youâre a field of flowers or a forest, always growing. imagine your dream home, your dream goals and places youâd love to visit one day. imagine what it would like to be recovered, and let this motivate you.
- donât be hard on yourself. if you feel like your heart is aching, let yourself feel the pain, and place your warm hands on your chest. and tell yourself it will be okay. comfort yourself how you would comfort someone who is crying and blaming everything on themselves.
- donât think youâre a failure because you havenât recovered yet! recovering from depression and anxiety takes a long time, because youâre practically relearning everything you know. be patient with yourself, keep going, and accept bad days are natural and arenât telling of your overall progress. and be proud of yourself for living with anxiety/depression every day and trying to recover from it.
- have a morning routine that makes you calmer. it helped my anxiety a lot to eat breakfast while reading a book. because jumping straight into being productive after waking up made me wired and stressed. and have a night routine too to unwind, like journalling, reading, listening to a playlist that calms you down, or other activities that makes you feel safe before you sleep.
this is a bit long but i hope this helps đˇâ¨
