You Feel Depressed. What Now?

1. Acknowledge how you feel, and accept that this is going to be a more challenging day.

2. Commit to doing the absolute essentials but don’t push yourself to do everything. 

3. Prioritize what’s important. Do what needs to be done. If it is something that can wait, set it aside for now. 

4. Work through your to-do list in small chunks of time – making sure you take plenty of breaks.

5. Tell someone who will understand. We need to get support when we’re feeling low, but not everyone will be there for you. Figure out who will be there, and who won’t be there, for you. 

6. Be wise in your use of social media. It may be good to go offline for a while, to switch off your phone and to protect yourself from stuff that just exacerbates the way you feel. 

7. Make sure you leave the house and get a change of scenery.

8. Deliberately invest in some form of self-care … and make sure it’s something that you know will help your mood. Also, remember that tomorrow is another day. 

TJ

Is Life Trying to Tell You Something?

1. The same themes and patterns (which are usually self-defeating) keep reappearing, or repeating themselves.

2. Unresolved issues and heartache from your past, are stopping you from living and enjoying your life now. 

3. You have trouble coping with powerful emotions – like overwhelming anger or extreme sadness.

4. You feel anxious, restless and dissatisfied, and feel as if something in your life needs to change.

5. You feel confused or surprised by something that has happened, and can’t pick up the pieces and “be normal” again.

6. You keep pushing down your feelings, and denying your emotions, but they keep resurfacing – and just won’t go away.

7. You make superficial changes because you’re scared of digging deeper.  - but that doesn’t work because the real problem is still there.

8. You can’t let go of something that meant a lot to you – a disappointment, or a failure, or a past relationship.

If any, or all, of these hit close to home, life is trying to tell you something.

Stop, think, get help, and formulate a plan to move forward.

TJ