305- Tools for depression & SAD

So, I discussed my struggles with depression in quite a few posts. I know a lot of us suffer from depression, either alone, or as a co-morbidity/part of another mental illness (such as mood disorders, cptsd- which is my case, or any other possible cause for it).

Depression can be an episode, it can be chronic, it can be continuous or it can be limited to specific moments of the year (trauma anniversary, or most commonly, SAD).


What does SAD stand for ? Seasonal Affective Disorder, aka Winter Blues, Winter depression, as it tends to affect most people in this season, but it can be any other one - say, summer if you suffer from the heat. Hence, SAD is a better term.

So, since depression can have so many forms and it expresses itself different for each person, tools can also be quite varied. I'll discuss my own, and try to offer links to other blogs with their tools too, in a separate entry- though I'll compose my own first, so if you see anything similar, it's purely coincidental, and we just found similar ways of coping with depression - I'll sort the list alphabetically just for the sake of an order, but there is no real order to have in my opinion. 

• Anchors
• Creating new traditions
• Expanding horizons and knowledge 
• Gratitude 
• Patience
• Self-worth ; Self-care ; Self-love
• Support (on the receiving end) 
• Visits
• Volunteering / Being active, giving one's time, energy and support to others 
• Waiting it out

For cptsd : re-assigning meaning, and other tools. 
For SAD : same, changing meaning of the troubling season 

I now develop these points, more or less in the same order, by grouping tools and subjects: 

In anchors, I mean that I find the people or reasons I want to get better, and in the case of suicidal ideation, reasons to stay alive. For me, it's been my wife, my friends ; remembering that depression doesn't last forever and that I can get better, as I have experienced some days of my life, and that my conditions did improve. 

In Creating new traditions, I mean that if a day or period of the year is tough - say in cptsd anniversary, or, a sad event in our life, for instance a loved one passed away, that creating a new tradition can help to change the meaning of that day, and to remember that the person who loved us wouldn't want us to remain sad forever. It's ok to honor their memory, but not to sacrifice our lives because of their absence. I owe it to them to get better, in a way. 

As for cptsd, changing the meaning, making a new tradition here helps to shift away. It's no longer the day I had this trauma, it's the day I had something nice going on. I make this year the new start, and next year, I'll celebrate this happier day instead of constantly being at the mercy of my past. 
In creating new traditions about cultural holidays/celebrations that are tough for me, for you, we can change how we view them, what we do, and if it means in counter-current, that's okay. If it means changing the way we participate, that's okay too. If all of it is still too much, turn them into regular days where we have our routines take over. 

In expanding new horizons and knowledge, I mean that by learning new things, I keep my gray cells active. I keep interests towards other people, and other things to know. It keeps focus on other subjects that my sadness and my traumas, and my difficulties. 

In the same vain, practicing gratitude towards the ones who love and care about me, and about the good, positive aspects of my life, be it the roof over my head, the health coverage and all the improvements I had over the course of the past 2 decades are reasons enough to continue fighting and getting better - to improve these conditions even more. 

Patience and waiting depressive episodes to go away are great tools. I may feel sad and hopeless in a given moment, but if I reflect and remember that this moment shall pass, as others did before, then I can be patience to wait for it, if I cannot do anything about it to bring this change to fruition earlier. 

The triple self's are also great ways to deal and pass the time, and to help change in a depressive episode, to shift it through self-love and self-kindness, we can practice self-care because of our self-worth, and patience. We do things to get better, to improve the current condition. I'm not 100% good at this, but have made enough progress to get closer to it, and to shift away from depression.

In support, on the receiving end, I mean that getting support from others can be a huge benefit. Part of depression is lying to us that no one cares, and if we reach out or someone does it on their own, and we get support (be it advice, or just a shoulder to cry on, or eyes to read our messages, our ears to listen to it, all those are fine) then we get a proof that we are cared for and loved, and not alone. 

Visiting others or accepting their visits can lift our spirits, through such support or spending quality time - be it talking, hugging, watching movies or shows, listening to music, or eating a meal, or playing games, or going out together, all of it is great to alleviate depression, boredom, sadness, loneliness, and gets us socialized - and in some cases, entertains us, or activates our bodies. 

Volunteering / Being active, giving one's time, energy and support to others are all about selfless acts, we give of ourselves to others, we make a change, we offer time, energy, support, we visit others, we support them, we socialize with them, and we are active. All these and all variants of these actions can be good - from actual volunteering for humanitarian or social reasons, or animal rights activism, or going to animal shelters, or soup kitchens, or visiting the elderly, or our family, friends, or anyone else who needs it - if one can, maybe hospitals and clinics, especially in time of cultural celebrations where some people are left alone, all these can give some meaning and help others. But, it's okay if you cannot - I know I cannot do these parts, yet, at least. But offering my support and friendship to others have always been ways to show my volunteering actions, by helping those that I can, within my own limits and boundaries. 

I hope any of these tools help you and you can adapt to your own needs.