Fighting depression can be a little tricky – we tend to be a little down, and a good part of life becomes more about finding ways to make us feel better. And while depression is not a short-term thing, it takes some corrective actions and changes in lifestyle to get over it. You might, for example, consider taking up exercising, or start a new & healthier diet, or even join a group or community to take your mind off. Whatever means you choose, finding relief can take some time & effort. It is because you need to fight off the negativity and start focussing on the good things in life. Hence, it is always good to learn what kind of habits can make your depression worse.
Yes! There are a few things that people commonly do without realizing that such habits may be contributing negatively towards their depression, while they may think otherwise. Many such habits do not seem like a big deal, but are known to indirectly increase the stress levels, impact you negatively, and can even make recovery more difficult.
1. Going Asocial
One of the most common things depressed people do is to skip on plans and ignore calls & texts from friends. The more you restrict your social interaction, the worse your feelings can get, and the worse your depression can become. Man is a social animal and it is the connections & interactions with others that regulate our morale & overall mood. So try and restore your social life, go out and meet those friends you may have been trying to avoid, treat yourself with group lunches at work, and do everything that you may have intentionally stopped doing lately.
2. All Work & No Play
It’s never a good idea to work so hard that you end up completely forgetting about yourself. We all need to understand that pleasure and self-care are the basic necessities of life and we should never ignore them. If you over engage yourself with too much work, you may end up sabotaging your own efforts to deal with depression. Distracting yourself with work is one thing, it helps you take your mind off the negative things, but you also need to give yourself enough time to rest & self-care. People who take care of themselves are content and have a higher level of inner positivity. This inner positivity helps us deal with adverse situations and face tougher times.
3. Going Hard on Coffee/ Energy Drinks
Whether it is tea, soda, coffee or any energy drink, most of the individuals dealing with depression tend to go hard on such things without really noticing the increase in their intake levels. This is because of caffeine and it is not really good for the body. Caffeine is known to increase the anxiety levels, which affect your depression too. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and although it may give you a feeling of perceived relaxation, it is also responsible for causing uncomfortable physical and emotional effects. You should try and moderate your intake of such beverages or perhaps quit caffeine altogether.
4. Thinking over and over again!
Stressful times can drain us emotionally, and we often end up ruminating about what went wrong, or what did we really do to make things the way they are, or perhaps think over and over and over again about what could have happened or not happened and so on – this is a natural tendency. It is often the go-to exercise for people dealing with depression. However, this behavior, not only increases your anxiety levels, it also starts affecting your mind – filling it with negativity and weakness. It is important to realize that such obsessive thinking cannot stop on its own unless a manual effort is made to recognize it, and then challenge it, and then slowly get out of it. Think of what you should do next – instead of thinking about what you could have done in the past.
5. Social Media doesn’t help, seriously!
It might feel a little strange to see why we say social media is not good for you. There is nothing wrong with checking your social media accounts, but for the times when you are feeling depressed, what is happening in other people’s lives can really affect yours. Yes, people often tend to start comparing their own lives with their friends or peers because they are emotionally vulnerable. People use social media to share their lives, their prime moments, and while it is good to learn about such things, it might not feel the same way at the moment. It can trigger the symptoms of depression and make you feel bad with where you are in your life as compared to how your friends are doing.
6. Intentional Procrastination
Procrastination is another common habit of depressed people. You tend to defer things, avoid them, and even try skipping them out. This is again a natural tendency, but it also adds to your depression. Procrastinating things not only leads to a feeling of overwhelm, it increases your anxiety levels. Try and make a point of doing things on time. Procrastination takes no time in getting to your head, and may also make you feel worse for not accomplishing your tasks. This adds nothing but negativity, which is never good for depression.
7. Drinking Your Problems Away!
It is fine to drink occasionally, but many depressed people resort to drinking drink in an attempt to make themselves feel better. Although the initial feeling might be of relaxation and calmness, but drinking adversely affects your mood and you may end up having an emotional spasm – which is not good at all. Excessive and frequent intake of alcohol can make you emotionally weak, bring about the feeling of helplessness, and all of this affects you negatively – making your depression worse. Needless to mention, alcohol has adverse ill-effects on the body and a poor health will only make your depression worse!
