The third anniversary of this blog just passed on June 16. I missed it. Let’s look forward, though. With depression we absolutely need to look forward. I have shared different ideas for dealing with depression. We need to remember that there are always things we can try to ease our depression. Today, I am going to share a few things I am trying to help with my depression and anxiety. Often, both depression and anxiety hit me at the same time. So, some of my strategies help me with both.
Interrupting the Depression Loop with a Playlist
Listening to music can help break the negative loop depression goes on. Many of us with depression experience negative thoughts or ideas running through our minds. It may seem like these thoughts are on a loop because they happen so frequently. I find that if I focus on lyrics when listening to music, I can interrupt the depression loop or anxiety spiral. What the lyrics are saying is not as important as just syncing into those lyrics, although there are some great lyrics out there to connect to. I try to learn the lyrics of songs I like. Even if it is only for the brief moments the song is playing, I can distract myself with the lyrics.
I have several playlists on my phone. They are for different moods and meet different needs. Creating the playlists is another way of disrupting the depression loop or stopping the anxiety spiral. Deciding on music that meets certain needs or helps certain moods can help us find hope in addition to the distraction. Let me give you an example of a mood lifting playlist. A few years ago, I worked at a school where the environment was contributing heavily to my depression and anxiety. I created a “Morning Work Drive” playlist. The songs played long enough to fill my commute. The lyrics of these songs spoke to me, and they were all by some of my favorite musicians. This playlist gave my mood a boost before I arrived at work, which helped with my mood once I was there. In all honesty, I still had to leave that position at the end of the school year, but the playlist helped me reach the end.
If music is something you find comforting or soothing, try making playlists and tuning into the lyrics of your favorite songs. Those lyrics might be able to replace that depression loop or anxiety spiral.
Walking and Noticing
Walking is known to help improve mood. There is a lot of research out there about this. Rather than go through the research I will just share my experience.
Walking is the exercise I lean into. I used to walk by myself. I would often combine listening to music with my walks. Being alone and just walking without purpose helped me. Somehow it cleared my head. Some days it worked better than others. That is something to remember with anything you try to ease depression and/or anxiety. Some days they work better than others.
Now, I walk with my dog. Getting a dog and having to walk her has given me a way to escape from my thoughts. I try to follow what my dog is doing. Like all dogs she stops to sniff. I try to follow her lead. No, I do not sniff, but I do stop and notice my surroundings. I try to notice what I see, smell, and hear. As I am noticing my surroundings, I am taking my mind away from the depression loop or the anxiety spiral. I try to name what I am noticing. That gets my mind using words other than what depression and anxiety want me to hear. It is an interruption. That interruption is important. When there is an interruption in the depression loop or anxiety spiral, it keeps them from pulling us in.
I find that if I walk at a good pace in between the stops to notice (and for my dog to sniff), I get my heart rate up. This makes me feel better physically. Depression causes a feeling of being physically drained and heavy. Noticing as I walk makes me feel a little lighter. When I feel better physically, I can let my mind relax. That sounds easier than it is. One walk is not going to change things. It is the practice of committing to walking that makes the difference. You do not need a dog. Just get out there and take a few steps. Maybe the first walk is only five minutes or just to the corner. That is okay. Just get out there and walk.
Journaling
I share a lot about how writing helps me heal. It is a major part of how I cope with depression and anxiety that barrels down on me. Journaling is only one form of writing I use. With journaling I tend to write whatever I am feeling or thinking in the moment I have my pen poised over my journal. I use journaling to brain dump. Is that a legitimate term? I do not know, but I am going to use it because it aptly describes what I am doing. I am letting everything flow out of me. I journal to free my mind. I journal to process the thoughts and feelings in my head. My journal gives me a space to store everything. Once my words are stored in my journals, I can choose if or when I go back and reread them. Rereading can be a form of processing. It can also allow us to see where we have come from.
Other times when I use prompts that I find online or in books. Prompts can help guide our writing, which can prevent us from getting stuck on a specific idea. This can be important if we have been journaling about something painful and need a break. Trust your gut as to whether you should be writing whatever you need to get out of your head or whether you need the distraction of a prompt.
Meditative Drawing
Again, I am using a term that I made up for something I am doing. I did not look up whether this is a real thing or if this term is already in use. For me meditative drawing started from two conversations with mental health professionals. First, my psychologist mentioned I could try drawing when I did not want to deal with words. It was an alternative to journaling. I quickly bought a sketchbook, drawing pencils, and ink pens. The problem was I knew I was not good at drawing. So, the sketchbook and drawing implements sat untouched even though I meant to give it a try and kept telling myself I would.
Then the psychiatric nurse practitioner who leads my TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) treatment suggested I try creating a pattern that I drew repeatedly when I was struggling with depression or anxiety. She suggested using circles. Somehow that made drawing seem easier. I pulled out the sketchbook and have been drawing simple designs, mostly variations of the same one. I use different colors to express different emotions or feelings. I always title the drawing at the bottom. The title reflects whatever I was thinking or the purpose the drawing was meant to serve.
Drawing circles helps me. It slows my anxious thoughts, and it quiets my depressive thoughts. I do not know how this is working. I can just tell you that it is working. I am benefiting from drawing.
Breathing
Breathing practice is something I struggle with, but I wanted to include here because I am trying it. I know it benefits many people. I am confident that if I keep it simple, I will improve at using breathing practices.
Breathing practice helps us relax when we are agitated or anxious. This happens when the breathing practice slows our heart rate down. Breathing practices can help us bring our focus to something when we are struggling with depression. It does this by shifting our focus within in our brain by decreasing activity in certain areas of the brain and increasing it in others.
There are many ways to focus on our breathing. I think the simplest way might be inhaling for a count of four and then exhaling for a count of eight.
Let’s take a quick look at a few breathing practices:
· Box Breathing (also known as the 4-4-4-4 Technique)
o Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds
This can help calm acute panic, lower immediate stress, and sharpen focus.
· Diaphragmatic Breathing
o Focus on deeply breathing into the stomach instead of the chest.
This type of breathing can reduce physical tension and stabilize our baseline mood.
· 4-7-8 Breathing
o Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale forcefully for 8 seconds
This can help manage anxiety, stop racing thoughts, and can help us fall asleep faster.
· Physiological Sigh
o Two quick inhales through the nose followed by one long exhale through the mouth
This can stop stress. It also lowers heart rate.
· Alternate Nostril Breathing (also known as Nadi Shodhana)
o When breathing alternate blocking one nostril at a time during inhalations and exhalations.
This can help balance the nervous system. It also reduces mental clutter and eases mild depression.
Final Thoughts
Living with depression, anxiety, or other mental illness is not easy. In addition to the work we do with our mental health care professional, medication, therapy, and treatment, we need to find ways that we can manage our mental health. We need to engage in practices that help us live with our illness. We cannot leave all our healing up to our mental health care professionals. They are important in treating us and supporting us, but we share in the work to bring healing. In this post I have shared some ways we can improve our mental health. The practices are meant to bring some relief. They are meant provide support. They are not meant to cure us or replace our treatment. These practices help us become active in our own healing. I caution that there will be ups and downs. Still, I encourage you to try whatever strikes you as something you would be able to do or would like to do.
When we live with mental illness, we need to be willing to work on our mental health. We need to be willing to give things a try. We need to be active in trying to heal.
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