# Tips to reduce Depression



## alexbrunon (Sep 26, 2009)

Hello everyone,

I am going to discuss some tips to reduse depression.

1. Do not read newspapers.

Newspapers publish negative stories most of the time. Even in peaceful periods, newspapers will find the worst in humanity and place negative stories on display in order to promote sales and subscribers. Stories focused on War, rebellion, death, destruction, doom and despair abound in the newspapers.

You will not miss any news. Friends, family, and your local air raid siren will keep you informed if your attention is needed. Only pay attention to the things you can control in your life.

Stop reading the newspaper and reduce the negative input to your brain.

2. Turn off your television.

Watching and listening about the horrible economy and the losses associated with War will add to depression. In fact, you guarantee the feeling of helplessness. Helplessness allows depression to nurture. If you really need to watch or listen to these kinds of news stories, promise yourself you will bury yourself in the documentaries that are sure to follow in the next 5 or 10 years. A way you can eliminate most of the negative input to your brain is by setting it aside for a date somewhere in the future. I guarantee in the future, you will not find it very interesting.

When visitors come to your home, make sure you turn off your television and keep it off. News television broadcasters are fighting for your guests' attention as they promote despair, war, death, and destruction with many headline news interruptions. Those little banners that run across the bottom of the screen achieve your attention and they take hold of your consciousness. Television will diminish your positive spirit.

3. Say good things about others

My Mother always says, "if you can't say anything nice about others, don't say anything at all." However, when you find yourself in a conversation and a relative says, "Remember Uncle Phil?" " He was an alcoholic" Respond with " yes, Uncle Phil was an alcoholic and he was the most charitable person, I have ever met."

Connect your friend's negative statement about Phil with a positive one. Set yourself up to find the positive in anyone's statement and you will keep negative thoughts and depression from overtaking your life.

Og Mandino, a great motivator once said, "treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight." "Your life will never be the same again."

4. Get physical exercise

Adults forget about exercise when suffering from depression. Make sure you are exercising daily and sending more oxygen to your brain cells. The result of exercise will improve your health as well as your attitude.

5. Breathe deep and relax.

Practice the following breathing exercise to relax your body and mind.

Breathe deeply and relax. For 2 or 3 minutes each hour, take a short mental vacation.

You can engage in this exercise while you are standing in the checkout line at the supermarket or when listening to others while talking on a telephone. You can complete the exercise at home or at work.

Take three deep breathes and relax. As you inhale, concentrate on calm and peaceful thoughts. You may think about relaxing by a mountain, by the ocean or comfortably in your favorite room at home.


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## dagmar88 (Sep 26, 2009)

Go out in the sun, interact with other people, adopt a pet from the local shelter and most importantly, smile  
Just out of curiousity, why would you post all this?


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## ChrissyB (Sep 26, 2009)

I was going to ask the same question.


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## IanT (Sep 26, 2009)

and get a MASSAGE!


(and ditto)


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2009)

Ditto 

Kitn


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## artisan soaps (Sep 26, 2009)

..


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## Tabitha (Sep 26, 2009)

> and get a MASSAGE!



Spoken like a true massage therapist :wink: .


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## dandelion (Sep 27, 2009)

Sing, it works instantly.


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## vivcarm (Sep 27, 2009)

Can't recommend exercise enough, it worked and still works for me, if I can't manage for a while my mood dips. It is always hard to get back into it, even if I have been away from it for just two weeks, but I always feel SO much better once I have been!


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## jarvan (Sep 27, 2009)

Chocolate. Lots of dark chocolate.


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## donniej (Sep 27, 2009)

artisan soaps said:
			
		

> .. I also used to go to the river and write things that were bothering me on rocks then throw them into the water ..



I never heard that one before.  That's a great idea!


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## kittywings (Sep 28, 2009)

IanT said:
			
		

> and get a MASSAGE!
> 
> 
> (and ditto)



Believe me... if you were in Phoenix or if I was in Florida (?), I'd DEFINITELY be hitting you up for a massage!

I am at this very moment (unsuccessfully) in the process of trying to procure a decent foot rub from the DH.


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## Rosey (Sep 28, 2009)

Also speaking from experience, there is a big difference between being blue and actually having depression. The brain can get sick as well just like any other organ in the body.  Just like hormones can go wacky in your body, so can serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine levels in your brain causing depression, anxiety, etc

Medication can work for a lot of people. I was on one for a few years and then I was weaned off and I was fine and I've been fine ever since.

My husband and my sister suffer from depression as well but have a more trying time with medicine. It's trial and error but if you have depression and seeing a doctor, stick with it so they can find you the right meds. It's worth getting your life back.


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## artisan soaps (Sep 28, 2009)

..


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## TessC (Sep 28, 2009)

Rosey said:
			
		

> Also speaking from experience, there is a big difference between being blue and actually having depression.



^This. One of my best friends has severe cyclical depression, and the only way she's able to function is medication plus a good support system. A lot of the things mentioned do help her when she's just a little "off" (she's found bicycling to be very therapeutic, for example), but when her illness is at its worst her medication is a lifeline. 

One of the sad things to me is that she caught a lot of flak from various people for going on the medication, they thought she must just be weak or lack the will to help herself, and that's just not the case. She's a very intelligent, strong, and capable woman, you just can't will your body's chemistry into submission.   

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking anyone's ideas, I just know that sometimes there's a stigma attached to mental illnesses and the medications some people need to treat them.


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## cwayneu (Sep 28, 2009)

Ditto to Tess. 

Depression is often physiological (a real chemical imbalance in the brain). If this is the case you can't just will it away, anymore than you could a tooth ache. It's a real illness and you have to find what works for you, be it therapy, meds,  exercise, or all of the above.


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## vivcarm (Sep 29, 2009)

I had a "friend" who said to me "everyone has their bad days" I could have throttled her, I found out a lot of people who I thought were my friend weren't - life lesson learnt! :?


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## Rosey (Sep 29, 2009)

When I first went to the doctor to figure out what was wrong (he wasn't my dr) he told me to get over it, make myself get out of bed and go to work.  :shock:


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