- Life is a drag.
- What’s the point of anything?
- I’ll never be happy.
Do any of these gloomy thoughts sound familiar? It’s likely they do. The occasional case of the blues is perfectly normal, but that doesn’t make dealing with it any easier. If you allow them to, negative thoughts can fester and lead to serious depression. That’s why it’s important to take action early to bust yourself out of a slump.
While these suggestions won’t eliminate your problems, they can help you break a negative thought pattern and stop feeling depressed. If you think you might have a serious mental health problem, don’t hesitate to see a medical professional.
1. Understand the emotional cycle - Life is an emotional roller coaster. Some days you feel like nothing can stop you. Other days you feel utterly hopeless. Most of the time you’re somewhere in between. Understanding the pattern of positive and negative emotions will help you put your feelings in perspective. Next time you feel down, just remember that it’s a natural emotion that will inevitably pass. Knowing that a feeling of depression is only temporary makes it less dreadful.
2. Spend time with positive people - Nothing affects the way you think and feel more than the people you interact with. Thoughts (both positive and negative) are contagious. If you are surrounded by negative people, it’s only natural that you’ll start to think and feel the same way. To improve your outlook on life, spend time with positive people. Search them out and try to understand the way they see the world. Chances are their happiness will rub off.
3. Reflect on past success - In the wake of a colossal failure, it’s easy to forget everything you’ve ever done right. Take a few minutes to remember your past accomplishments and build yourself up. What made you successful before? What are your strengths? Frequently, this exercise will build self confidence, help you figure out what went wrong, and generate ideas for success in the future.
4. Focus on gratitude - It’s human nature to measure ourselves against those ahead of us on the social ladder. Studies have shown that people care more about being richer than their friends than actually making more money. When you consider everything good in your life and compare it to the problems of less fortunate people, the issue that’s making you depressed won’t seem as serious.
5. Change of scenery - One of the best ways to change the way you feel is to change your environment. When you get in a slump, you start to associate your problems with everything around you. It can get to the point where your environment is a constant reminder of your problems. This can be a dangerous cycle. The solution is to change things. Change doesn’t have to be radical. Cleaning up, adding more lights, or including pleasant decorations can completely change the mood of a room.
6. Break your routine - Going through the same routine, day after day, can be monotonous and depressing. It often leads to getting caught in a rut. To get out of it you need to temporarily change your routine. If you can, take a day off from work. Do something you don’t normally have time for or something you’ve never tried. In the long run, taking a day off every now and then to get out of slump will make you happier and more productive.
7. Interact with animals and nature - It’s funny when you consider how humans put so much importance on their own tiny problems. Animals don’t think this way. A little bird doesn’t mope around because it isn’t an eagle or because another bird beat it to a tasty seed. Animals live in the present moment and they show love unconditionally. Observing and interacting with them will help you get over your problems.
8. Get moving - As Johnny Cash famously suggested, “Get a rhythm, when you get the blues.” Moving to a beat makes everyone feel better. The same is true for movement in general. Hitting the gym or going for a walk will help you shed the lethargy that comes with feeling depressed. The more enthusiastic your moments, the better you will start to feel.
9. Think about the big picture - As Carl Sagan made evident with the Pale Blue Dot, we’re insignificant creatures living in a vast universe on a tiny planet. In the long run, everything we do will probably be forgotten. Some might find this depressing, but it shouldn’t be. It means that all our problems are illusory. In a million years no one will remember what you did or didn’t do. What matters is the present moment and enjoying every second of life that we’re blessed with.
10. Do something to help yourself - Above all, the best way to stop feeling depressed is to take action. What is your biggest problem? How can you alleviate it? Once you decide to stop moping and start moving forward you won’t have time to feel depressed. Action will occupy your mind and give you something to look forward to. Once you get some results, you’ll build momentum and positive thinking will keep getting easier.
Related Articles:
- 5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence
- Improve Your Personal Effectiveness by Finding Balance
- Ben Franklin's Real Way to Wealth - Part III Conclusion
(57 votes, average: 4.12 out of 5)
Loading ...
Nice John - I can relate to No.4.
I’ve been taking some advice from author and speaker James Arthur Ray, namely - to use the power of gratitude every morning when I’m going through my routine.
I’ve found it really powerful to get me through the emotional bumps and grooves that occur during the day.
All the best,
Stephen Martile
Personal Development Made Simple
www.stephenmartile.com
Thanks, Steven. I’m not surprised that James Ray is big on gratitude at all. It seems to be a big part of personal development.
What about doing something for someone else?
LW — That’s a good suggestion. I think it fits in with #4 and #2, especially if you help someone with a good attitude.
[…] | veiw article | Share This . . […]
[…] More Ways To Boost Your Mood Jump to Comments John Wesley at Pick the Brain has 10 all-natural ways for you to deal with your depression. While not so much relevant for those with serious cases, […]
[…] events have left me feeling a bit lower in the dumps than usual, so this evening when I ran across 10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed by John Wesley, it captured my attention instantly. Good heavens, I thought to myself. Here’s […]
Hey, great article! I especially agree with number 7 and 8 - interacting with animals to make you feel better, and ‘Get a rhythm when you get the blues’! In fact, ‘Get a rythm’ is set as my mobile ringtone currently!
Great post!
i am realy depressed. just browsing the net i dont know what to do. i felt like sharing with some one.
[…] At one point or another we are all hit by the waves of depression and we want to know how to cope with it. We instinctively want to survive and even though depression pulls us downwards, try to reach out to people, change the surrounding, visit other places, read motivational stuff, and basically, do everything that can break the strings of depressing thoughts. Some depressions are clinical and they need immediate medical attention, but most of it is circumstantial and is triggered by a particular frame of mind, for instance, not getting that phone call, not getting the project we’d been trying to get, or a breakup, or even not being able to shit, for that matter. Coping with such depression is just a matter of doing some basic things as mentioned in 10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depression. […]
Best solutions for breaking up negative thoughts and building up confidence! All the 10 suggestions given by John Wesley helps to develop positive attitude within the human mind. Putting a ‘Reflect on the Past Success’, the 3rd suggestion, really will help to build self-confidence. The 8 and 9 article will help to start of the present day with enthusiasm.
Excellent tips..
The best one that i ever liked is the one on Number 6. You see many of us always want a routine life cycle thinking that it will solve all our problems and that everything will be fine and dandy. But it is not so. In fact when you do not get any change with your life on a daily basis… then you obviously go into depression automatically.Keep up the good work..!
“Depression” is an oft-misused word. This article would more accurately be entitled “Stop Feeling Down” or “Stop Feeling Blue”.
Depression is a serious medical condition and while these suggestions would be help to a person with actual depression, it’s important to make the distinction.
Craig is correct. Serious major depression will respond to none of these things exclusively. Medication and psychotherapy is an absolute necessity. I must say though that these suggestions would be effective as a supplement to normal treatments.
Craig,
You have a good point. I think that depression has more than one definition–it can be used to refer to a serious medical condition or a general feeling of unhappiness. In this article I intended to use in the more general sense so I hope that didn’t confuse anyone.
[…] out of my daily routine plan. What do you do to break your rut? Let’s hear in the comments. Stop Feeling Depressed [Pick the […]
[…] out of my daily routine plan. What do you do to break your rut? Let’s hear in the comments. Stop Feeling Depressed [Pick the […]
[…] Stop Feeling Depressed [Pick the Brain] […]
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I have found that “physiology trumps psychology” in cases with an underlying biochemical cause. Something worth checking out of the problem is impacting your life…
[…] is important, especially when you are down in your emotional cycle. Depression is dangerous, negative thoughts are contagious, and souce of positivity is precious. Most recently, due to unknown reasons, I feel […]
[…] 10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed […]
[…] Pick the Brain, National Institutes of Mental Health: […]
I am feeling very depressed becuase I have a lot of problems at home.I stay with very old parents and they don’t understand me at all.I am trying hard to stay with them but it is not working at all.Please advise.
Amarjeet, I read the following everyday at least twice. I am so relieved.
As I let go and let God, I become a part of a divine solution.
When I have what seems to be an unsolvable problem, I give it to God for a solution.
As I do, I imagine laying it on God’s altar, giving thanks for the positive outcome that
will happen, and then walking away. I know not to take the problem back by starting to
worry about it again. I have let it go! I give thanks that, through God’s guidance,
all will be handled in the best possible way.
I can and do let go of concerns, large and small, because I trust God. One day at a time,
I let God’s plan unfold, and I feel at peace about what is happening. Certainly, I honor
the commitments I have made, but I am open to a divine change of plans.
As I become more comfortable with letting go of trying to control my life, I discover
how fulfilling it is to let God lead me. By letting go and letting God, I am part of
a divine solution that is taking place.
[…] 10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed “The Blues” would be a better term than “Depressed” but there are still some helpful lifestyle ideas. Emotional cycle, being with positive people, reflecting on past successes, gratitude, change of scenery, break in routine, animals and nature, get up and at it, find perspective, take action to help yourself. […]
[…] 原文：10 All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed - PickTheBrain […]
There are so many thing we can do to change our state of mind. Pick up a book, a newspaper, or a magazine that doesn’t have yet another celebrity’s drinking problem on the cover. Go to a museum, a gallery, an exhibit, a film festival, a theatrical production, a classical concert, or a jazz concert. Take a dance class, a cooking class, or even an investment class. Do a crossword puzzle. Do a jigsaw puzzle. Learn a language, learn an instrument, or plan an exotic holiday just for fun. Phew! I’m sure you get the idea.
but sometimes people can not make actions to solve their problems an sometimes they just feel depressed and that nothiing worth not even living worth…sometimes u be depressed just for no reason u feeel so much down and that u cant hear or say or do anything and neeed to sit with urself….and i think that it’s a goood way because u will get bored from sittting alone and u loook from ur wndw and seee how life is runing fast while u r sittting alone so u start thinking abot what u r doing in that rooom why u r doing alll that?does anything worth in front of fun …. loook at people ..happy people..why they r happy and u r not?arent u jealous?come on!move ur ass and go out enjoy ur time and forget everything around u !when u die of depression no one will..only u and u’ll be the one who will looose the opportunity of being alive and to have fun!sooooo moooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee smileeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee think about ur self!say i wannna feeel happpy!and when any of u read my post and he/she depresssed and u felt better pray for me and let me know:P:) :):):):) smilllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee be happpppyyyyyy……. remember always that u deserve to be happpy and if u dont than no one does!
[…] Ten All Natural Ways to Stop Feeling Depressed. If you allow them to, negative thoughts can fester and lead to serious depression. That’s why […]
[…] as human beings consider ourselves the most intelligent species on the planet and attribute this to the evolutionary development of the human brain. Given the advanced state of our technology we would without a doubt concede this as the […]
This “article” is a load! The suggestions are so over used that I was surprised to see this crap parroted here again. This is the same stuff they were telling people over 20 years ago! It didn’t work then….it won’t work now! And #9 sure is an “Uplifter”! That one will convince some people to go ahead and stick the gun in their mouth! With no more TRUE help that is out there (Like this article), for those who are depressed. Is it any wonder we lose so many to this problem?
your a fool…
okay so maybe for you it didnt work?
but why don’t YOU tell everyone how to make themselves feel better!?
if this is such a crap blog then make your own!
and i’d like to see it along with all the other thousands of people that read this one.
[…] be overwhelmed at the simple thought of picking up a phone. If you are close to this person, simply stop over and begin to help. People need this but don’t think to […]
[…] Stop Feeling Depressed If you allow them to, negative thoughts can fester and lead to serious depression. That’s why it’s important to take action early to bust yourself out of a slump. (tags: self-improvement motivation inspiration happiness depression personal-development lifehacks mlf) […]
[…] Pruning your roses does not need to be a dreaded task. Follow these tips and make rose pruning an easy gardening job […]
What should i do im feeling really depressed and i feel like dieing and that i am always feeling queezyy and i dont know what to do.
Yah…i can definitely relate to alot of these things. I needed this! thanks for posting it…
For next 6-8 months, I am going to do a job that I hate as there are major movements that are happening in that time frame.
I am getting depressed as I do not like to wait around. Any ideas on what I can do to get over my depressed mood that can get me through next 6-8 months?
Hi Ajay,
My suggetion for changing your depression about your upcoming job is to change the messages you are saying to yourself about it. If you are constantly telling yourself negative messages about your situation, you will make yourself more and more depressed. On the other hand, if you immediately reframe your internal messages as soon as you feel that familiar feeling of negativity or depression coming on and replace it with a positive message you will find that over time you have re-set your internal thoughts to more positive ones. I belienve we can adjust our own reality with our thoughts. I personally have re-set my seasonal depression (which I had suffered from for over 25 years) partly with this method.
I’d also recommend reading the book, the Power of your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy as it is ideal for this topic.
One other thing you could look at is changing your job to something that is more in tune with your passions.
Hope that helps!
Susan
Perhaps you could concentrate on the end of the job and look forward to better times. You are fortunate to have a limited time frame. At least you know it will be over in 6-8 months.
In number 4 of the 10 way to stop feeling depressed you say:
When you consider everything good in your life and compare it to the problems of less fortunate people, the issue that’s making you depressed won’t seem as serious.
What if you are one of the less fortunate people that others compare themselve to feel better?
I agree with jonesy, you can’t say there are people who are worse off(less fortunate) as you don’t know the situation of the person reading it.
I’d like to stress also that “feeling depressed” and “beeing depressed/ having depression” are two different things and that people who actually suffer from depression need professional help and should work through (immediate) problem-solving strategies with a psychologist/ psychiatrist (not read some article off the internet, no offense) - although depression is a chronic health problem that needs to be tackled with a long-term strategy.
You can find general information on clinical depression on Wiki… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_depression
Of course, for the ones among us who are just feeling a little “depressed” from time to time, some of the above tips will work just fine. Anything that gives us (the impression that we have) some power over our lives will work fine
@ Jonesy: Of course, there are always people who are worse off than you, one might say. “Fortune” is such a relative word which is dependent on your current mood, outlook, worldview… (and if you feel depressed, you might even view your objectively “good status” as the most terrible misfortune in the whole universe —)
However, what’s really important imho (and what maybe should have been written there) is the way we cope with the misfortune in our lives and to learn to be grateful for the “little luck” that’s evident in EVERY life and EVERY moment… not compare it to some kind of other (or other’s) luck, fortune, success, happiness…
All the best
[…] is also capable of being diagnosed with depression over multiple times. Many people go through their entire lives normally until one misfortunate event […]
Very good tips. Especially number 10. Thank you.
Крутотень!
A person should not get depressed in life through failures. Failure are in life to give us motivation to do something new every time.
All good points! As someone who has chosen to suffer with seasonal depression for over 25 years and over-come it, I’d like to share a few things that I did to “beat” it.
- eat healthy (fewer processed foods)
- realize that you are in charge of your life and that you have the power to change your situation. that may require overcoming fears or taking risks but be bold and change what ever it is that you are allowing to rob you of your hope. This may include relationship, jobs, or yoru financial situation. What ever it is, accept that you are responsible for where you are and that you also have the power to change your situation.
- get into personal development and begin changing yourself from the inside out and most of all, change those internal recordings and messages to positive thoughts
In gratitude, Susan
I have been seriously depressed nearly every day since I was about 11 years old (I am 34 now). I have learned how to deal with it over the years using these ideas and many others (no drugs). I somehow survived until now mostly due to the realization that no one really cares. That, like #9, is strangely strengthening. However, the problem I face now is that I am extremely fatigued and physically in a lot of pain every day and there doesn’t seem to be any hope of feeling better. I already exercise and eat healthy, so I am not sure how to deal with that.
Having dealt with people suffering with it and given considerable thought to the subject, in my opinion the root cause of any form of depression is excessive focus on the self. In the age of consumerism where we are encouraged to be “selfish” and enjoy as much as we can in the limited time and resorces, we forget about the universe that exists outside of us. Sacrifice is no longer considered an intelligent option in popular discourse.
Globalization, with its benefits, has also tried to achieve a convergence of ambitions, desire, intellectual discourse, which i feel in the long run builds up pressure on individuals to act in certain ways, achieve socially desirable goals. When people can’t match up to these, or fulfil their “socially acquired” desires, the feeling of worthlessness sets in.
If you are feeling down and out, just go out…help someone out there who would be better off with your help.
Believe me it works.
In my experience, focus on self is much more of a symptom of depression than a cause. When I started “malfunctioning” with depression, I took notice of my suddenly negative outlook and empty feeling. I began to turn inward to investigate the “problem” since it didn’t seem to be going away with the usual methods (like the above 10) and persisting, and worsening, despite my environment being generally normal. In some sense, there have been many points in my life when I have been OVER focused on helping others, yet I still became afflicted with depression.
Ironically, when I checked in for the first time to a mental health clinic after struggling to get out of real depression using the usual techniques that you can find in Reader’s Digest, ect, for months, I was given a survey as part of the intake process. On this survey there was one question in particular asking me to rate how I felt about “self-identity” on a 1-5 scale. In my severely depressed state, I managed to answer the other 30 or so questions but I just put a question mark next to this one because I just didn’t get what they were asking. In the evaluation, the psychologist ultimately concluded that I hadn’t been focusing nearly enough on myself, to the point that I didn’t really have much of a self-identity and I was confused by the question.
I’ve since been diagnosed bipolar affective disorder, which is a genetic disorder (see identical twin incidence rates vs fraternal twins) that factual makes depression a qualitatively different experience then what most people might label as depression in their own lives.
So in some sense I’m a direct counterargument to your “considerable thinking” on this topic. Self-focus is not the cause of true/clinical depression nor does it cause the persistence of depression. And I think this common misconception, and those like it, about depression really do a disservice to those who are afflicted with clinical depression, rather than those who just feel down from time to time, ect.
To a lay person who is unscientifically evaluating the “cause” of depression as yourself, certainly I can see how self-focus or self-preoccupation would seem to be the “cause” of depression, because this is a predominant symptom seen with many who are clinically depressed. However, scientifically there is a huge difference between association and causality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation
Some good points that will surely help lighten the mood of people who are feeling down. However I needed to point out that I think it is incorrect to label this as ‘depression’. It’s normal for people to feel dispirated from time to time however the underlying cause of true depression is down to alterations of certain biological factors; a change in neuroanatomy and chemical imbalances are primarily responsible for clinical depression. These subsequently influence and cause changes in cognition.
Sorry about the small rant I didn’t mean to sound patronising however a few years ago when I was in my early teens a friend of mine was diagnosed with clinical depression. When people told him to “cheer up” or said something to him along those lines, it actually tended to make him feel much worse. The whole class was oblivious to the fact that his condition was out of his hands.
I also don’t see the relevance of no.7. Human beings are quite possibly the most complex organisms to have ever ealked the earth, I feel slightly degraded by the fact that you’re comparing us to such lesser species. I’m aware that evoloution is a process that helps to promote species diversification, rather than a scheme for hierarchial imporvement however it’s important to appreciate the vast complexity of the Human brain. The reason why animals do not worry about “tiny problems” is beacuse they have a miniscule menal capacity and low EQ. This means that they are concerned about two things - survival and reproduction. This is actually something that actually helps me feel better, people are always worried about their hectic lives that they dont seem to have the time to marvel at just how complex our world - our universe actually is. I strongly recommend looking up “pale blue dot” this tends to sum my perception on this matter entriely.
А чё, неплохо.
very useful, thanks allot:)
These solutions work well for mild cyclothymia. My depression requires medication. Without it, I’d be dead. Put away your anti-psychiatry agenda. It endagers lives.
Another great post. A person should not get depressed in life through failures. Failure are in life to give us motivation to do something new every time.
I’m always depressed at the end of the weekend-pets do help!
why should i feel happy, when everything i acomplish doesent matter. Nothing matters, in a decade we will all be gone and no one will remember us!
John,
I just wanted to thank you for your article. I was having a bad moment and it has really helped me.
I think when you are feeling depressed it is so easy to forget that there is something that you can do to help yourself - I could actually feel my mood lifting as I read your piece.
When I scrolled down and saw the comments it reminded me that lots of people feel like I do sometimes and I’m not alone.
I think my favourite point has to be point 2 - spend time with positive people. That really works, I just forget sometimes!!
PS - I have bookmarked this page for the next time I’ll need it.
I think there is a slight moment 22 problem with #2. Although I endorse spending time with positive people, depressed individuals are rarely positive. Ultimately, the advice tells you to stay away from depressed people, making it hard for the depressed to follow it!
Good article! Felt good after reading it. It is true, sometimes we put too much pressure on our selfs….I know I have. My stressor is school. I can’t get to get things rights. I do good in exams, but when it comes to hands-on activities I am not good (RN student). lol..as I am writing this, I am laughing to myself because, no one cares about ur problems except urself. IDK about u guys, but sometimes I feel lonely. I don’t have many friends, I’m a very boring person. The only time, I am outgoing is when i drink. I think I have a problem.
Life is great for some, sucks for others. Im feeling depressed, because it sucks for me. This society we are living in has shifted from a society which merits someone for who they are as a person, to what they have. I havve pretty much nothing but good looks and a shirt on my back. Since i don’t have much, society sees me as low, although i would gladly give my shirt to someone in need.
DAMN LIFE! DAMN THIS LIFE DAMN THE MAN WHO MADE THIS WEBSITE U CANT TAKE MY PAIN AWAY
For someone that is suffering from severe depression, none of these proposed solutions will work, perhaps temporarily but not indefinitely. In my case I found medication to be although unwholesome, somewhat helpful at best. As people suffering from severe depression, we are the unlucky ones, the ones born with a genetic disorder, the ones born into social poverty, financial poverty, the ones suffering from some sort of abuse, the ones with low self esteem and confidence, the ugly, unappreciated, unwanted ones, we are the ones that see the world in a different light than normal people do, we see things the way they really are. The world is nothing but a bunch of people that are selfish, greedy, I can go on and on…
Totally agree with all of these. You’ve got to focus on the positives.
Well all 10 are great except number 7 because that’’s why i am depressed : I just gave away my cat.
[…] 10 All Natural Ways To Stop Being Depressed […]