Eleven Important Ways to Take Care of Yourself When You Have Depression/Anxiety
I needed a go-to list of things for self-care so I started making this. Now that I’m done, I thought I would share it for whoever else needed it - but first, some encouraging words: I’ve been through some crazy highs and lows these past few years and if there’s one thing I’ve been able to take from all of those, it’s that it will all be OK at the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end yet - this too shall pass!
1. Pay attention to your ‘home space’.
It’s important that you have at least one space in your life where you feel like you can be at home. For me, that’s my single dorm. No matter how low I feel, I make an effort to tidy up and keep that a place I can feel comfortable and relatively content. Losing things tends to make my moods a lot worse and cleaning makes me feel accomplished (even if it’s just a tiny task like sweeping the floor or making the bed). I also spray my room with scents and try to let as much sunlight in as possible - they’re small things, but they can help reinvigorate you a ton!
2. Attend your therapy sessions.
Reasons you might not: you’re feeling much better, or you’re feeling much worse.
As you’re feeling better, you might be tempted to skip a session or two or five. Instead, attend all sessions, and discuss your reluctance with your therapist. From a book I read: “Personally, the times I skipped sessions with my therapist showed me that I was avoiding profound subjects — or that I was reacting defensively to something in my life. Talking instead of walking showed me how self-defeating patterns were operating and that I needed to address these tendencies.”
If you’re at a particularly low point where you’re missing a ton of appointments and are struggling to get out of bed in the morning - and I know this is hard - force yourself, at the very least, to make it to therapy. You need it the most now, so don’t deprive yourself of that support!
3. Take your meds as prescribed.
Do this, do this, do this. I cannot stress that enough! Missing a dose can interfere with your medication’s effectiveness, and your symptoms might return. It can also deal you a ton of terrible side effects, like really terrible migraine headaches, nausea, and problems sleeping. Alcohol and drugs also can mess with your meds. Stopping medication altogether might trigger discontinuation syndrome. If you’d like to stop taking your medication, don’t do it on your own. Talk with your prescribing physician so you can get off your medication slowly and properly. Take this seriously!
Sleep has a big impact on mood disorders. Too little sleep exacerbates mania and too much sleep worsens depression. So it’s important to keep a consistent sleep and wake cycle along with maintaining healthy sleeping habits. Yes, consistent. It’s not always easy, but consistency is key here!
Depression’s debilitating and depleting effects make it difficult to get up and get moving. Hitting the gym and running on the treadmill personally helps me a ton with my anxiety as well - when nothing seems to help me calm down and focus on what’s important, running all that bad energy out and taking a warm shower brings me back where I need to be. Plus, endorphins help stabilize mood.
Poor nutrition can actually exacerbate exhaustion and impact cognition and mood. Eating well is something I struggle with from time to time - and while this isn’t a perfect substitute, I have found trying to stick with a daily multivitamin also helps perk me up.
Self-explanatory. In order to prevent relapse, it’s important to know what pushes your buttons and worsens your functioning. Which links to the next one…
8. Avoid people who are toxic.
Toxic individuals are like emotional vampires. Don’t underestimate the impact envious, judgmental, or competitive people can have on your mental health! If you can’t stop seeing these people in general, limit your exposure and try having healthier individuals around when you’re hanging out with the toxic ones. If a specific toxic person won’t leave you alone, even after you’ve tried distancing yourself, don’t be afraid to reach out and get help from an authority figure.
9. Stay connected with others.
Social isolation is your worst enemy. This can be difficult when all you want to do is hide or feel exhausted. Even if you’re a huge introvert like I am, try to do one ‘social’ thing a day - even if that’s just eating around other people. Don’t lock yourself in - it’ll make things worse. That said…
10. Take time to detox when it needs to happen.
If you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed, overstimulated, and can just sense you’re not in the best place mentally - treat yourself for a day! I have a list of movies, books, and tv shows I’ve been meaning to watch growing on a page in my diary. Don’t be ashamed of turning off your phone, logging out of social media, and just watching a movie alone or reading a book for the whole of your Friday night. This is a chill-out playlist I made, and this is a breathing pacer - follow along, and it’ll help you zen out.
I know, seems kind of Little House on the Prarie, but I swear making a habit of writing in one - even if it’s just to vent - can help you alleviate stress, order your thoughts, and develop your concerns if you need to share them with anyone. A diary provides the privacy of your own head and the distance to be able to hear yourself think. I’ve found writing before bed helps me take a weight of my chest and actually get to sleep - I used to toss and turn, thinking too much, but now that’s less of a problem.