Depression is a lying beast that will make you think you’re worth less than you really are. Many who come to our online divorce review site cope with it day-in and day-out. Here are some of the best “methods” that people from Reddit are using. Try these (with your own twist, of course), and see if they help.
1. “Honestly, the best way that I cope is to detach a little bit and de-stigmatize my ‘down days’, as I call them. Last week I spent Wednesday and Thursday nights after work in bed. I ate kettle corn for dinner and watched 12 episodes of The Vampire Diaries. 😛 I’ve been allowing myself to have those days because every other day I work really hard to be in the good place that I’m in, and if the chemicals in my brain are going to give me a ‘down day’ there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.”
2. “Try not to isolate yourself. Get out when you can. Take up offers to do things.”
3. “I started cooking my own meals every day. The sense of accomplishment from finding a recipe and going to the grocery store and then cooking a meal I enjoyed was fantastic.”
4. “I started reading. Everything. Reading about philosophy. Reading novels. Reading self-help books. Reading about psychology. Reading about others that have overcome depression. I inhaled knowledge, I overdosed on poems, I gorged on affirmations. I can’t attribute the change in my thinking to any one sentence but I know that somewhere within all those words, I found some hope.”
5. “Drinking water. I actually live in CO., which is a arid state, but either way, we dose ourselves in this society everyday with sugars and soda’s, and coffee, alcohol, etc. Honestly, just the simple fact of drinking water will REALLY help just physically. Keeping hydrated will help. ALOT.”
6. “Exercise. I don’t really like gyms, or at least can never find someone to go with or the cost, so I try to ride 1.5 miles on my bike everyday if I can. Just some sun and physical activity will help.”
7. “It may sound dumb but having a cat helped me. Having it around and taking care of it takes my mind off things. It’s not too hard to make a cat happy, and when it’s happy it makes me feel better.”
8. “Change your environment to remove negative/bad influences as much as possible. Spend less time with negative friends or family.”
9. “Get to know you and be true to you. Get comfortable saying ‘no’ to things that will drain you. Spend as much time with others as you need, not what they say you need.”
How do you cope with depression from your divorce or relationship troubles? Sound off in our comments section!