Tiffanyyong.com

10 Tips to Avoid Becoming Depressed

10 Tips Against Depression | By tiffanyyong.com

Depression is something everyone could hardly imagine themselves getting. I never thought I will get depression. Until I compared the symptoms and found myself having 9 out of 10 of them.
I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I don’t have the mood to work or concentrate on doing anything. I tried blaming others, then I tried blaming myself. Trying to reason that this all happens because I did certain things. But I realise, everything happens because we allowed it to. A man can be super attractive, but if he does not allow other girls to come near, nothing will happen. Blaming the other girls doesn’t solve the problem, because with A, there will still be B, C, D. Because he allowed it.

If I hadn’t given him the chance, I wouldn’t have been hurt the second time. I gave him the chance to hurt me. I did not regret my choice. Because I know I would have regretted if I didn’t do so. So I am depressed, because I allowed myself to be so.

I tried pretending nothing happened, but everything happened. But I realise, going through this twice had made me bounce back faster. Not that I have exactly gotten over everything now, but I try to divert my attention by doing some of the points mentioned below.

I go on free online chats, I realise there are many people in the world, having the same, if not worse problems than me. I felt that I wasn’t alone. It ain’t easy. But I am not someone who give up easily.

To everyone who is suffering from depression, from loss of loved ones, from betrayal, I know this may not change your situation. But I certainly hope this can make you feel a teeny weeny bit better.

depression

Is it possible to avoid depression? What is the secret of cultivating happiness and avoiding periods of unhappiness? To a large extent, we determine our own frame of mind; we shouldn’t feel that we are a helpless victim to depression. Depression is something that we can avoid by cultivating the opposite – happiness.

Here are some tips for avoiding depression

1. Offer goodwill to Others.

If we seek to make others miserable how can we expect to be happy ourselves? If we offer goodwill to other people this creates a powerful positive energy. Focusing on other people’s good qualities can definitely help improve our own state of mind. There is a principle that what we give out, we get back. Therefore, by offering positive energy to, at some time, we will also be the recipient.

2. Learn to Detach from Thoughts

Thoughts play a very significant role in determining our state of mind. If we pursue negative thoughts then we give them greater power and influence over our state of being. However, it is possible to decide which thoughts to allow and which to reject. We have to learn to be vigilant and prevent negative thoughts from taking hold. As soon as we become aware of negative thoughts we should let go of them. We can imagine that we are throwing them out of our mind into a cosmic dustbin.

3. Keep Busy.

If we struggle to detach from negative thoughts we should just throw ourselves into other activities. When we get involved in other activities that we enjoy it takes us out of ourselves. Activity forces us to do something constructive, and does not allow us to dwell on our depressed state of mind.

4. Avoid Feelings of guilt.

If we have made a mistake, harbouring feelings of guilt will not help alleviate the situation. In particular, we are seeking to avoid feelings of guilty for minor events of no significance. Often we have done nothing wrong, but, others seek to make us feel guilty for their bad fortune. Instead of feeling guilty we should seek to concentrate on doing the right thing.

5. Live a Balanced Life.

In life we need to make room for different aspects. If we focus all our time and energy on work then we will have no time for relaxation and cultivating other aspects of our life. If we pursue an unbalanced life unhappiness is more likely to occur.

6. Don’t Base your Happiness solely on other people.

If we expect to gain happiness from another person, at some time, we are bound to be disappointed. If bad relationships end, we should see it as an opportunity to move on. It is no use dwelling on what might have been. It is also a mistake to feel that we can change somebody to match our preferences. If we seek to change a person fundamentally we will just feel frustrated when we fail.

7. Share Problems

Good friendships can offer tremendous help. Especially, if we can have 1 or 2 friends who are able and willing to listen to our problems. Our friends will not be able to solve our problems. However, simply having someone to talk to and share difficulties is a tremendous help in being able to work through our own problems.

8. Cultivate Happiness.

To avoid depression we have to focus on the alternative which is happiness. The problem is that when we are depressed, the idea of happiness seems a million miles away. But, sometimes if we can force a smile or try to be in-sincerely happy, we can trick the mind and force happiness to descend; and after a while we start to achieve real happiness.

Happiness
Will follow you
If your heart remains
Undisturbed by trifles.

– Sri Chinmoy

9. Have Low Expectations.

Depression often occurs because our desires remain unfulfilled. The more desires we have, the more likely we are to be disappointed. After disappointment comes a sense of frustration and depression. If we minimise our desires then we will not be prone to disappointment. This does not mean we cannot strive for excellence and achieve things. We definitely should strive to achieve various accomplishments. However, we should try to have an attitude of detachment to the outcome. Nor should we expect people to behave in a certain way.

10. Don’t Dwell On the Negative.

This is the key to avoiding depression. If we focus always on negative things this will eventually filter through into our state of mind. Negativity can be, miserable people, depressing situations and our own negative thoughts. If we want to cultivate happiness, we should seek to avoid depressing situations and depressing people.

P.S. Being happy is always a choice, if you have determination to overcome depression, then you will be able to find ways to do it. I did. So I believe you can too. 🙂

Fighting!

Tips credits to Sri Chinmoy

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.