After going through treatment, I looked at my depression in a different way. I started to realize that I did have some control over it if I worked hard to make lifestyle changes that would be better for me and looked at my situation in a new light.
- Alcohol effects your depression in a major way. This is something I started to experience a lot at the beginning of my sophomore year of college. I was going out and drinking with my friends fairly often, but I would feel so down and depressed for a few days afterwards, and I didn’t understand why my friends weren’t. I eventually talked to my doctor about it and he explained it to me like this: someone without depression can go out one night and then afterwards need, at most, 24 hours to recover from a hangover and feel back to “normal” again, while someone with depression who goes out and drinks needs the 24 hours to recover physically, but needs 72 hours for their antidepressants to start kicking in again and get back on track.
- Don’t isolate. As hard as it is, push yourself to get out of your bed/your room/your house and busy your mind. When we isolate, we are hiding from our problems and further removing ourselves from the reality of our situation, as well as any sort of recovery.
- Quotes
“I have been told sometimes the most healing thing we can do is remind ourselves over and over and over other people feel this too.” Andrea Gibson
“Things didn’t work out because, well, greater things were in the works. It’s so difficult while we’re blind and hurting and don’t know which way is up. But, if you have faith in anything, have faith in the fact that the universe has a beautiful way of straightening things out far better than we ever could. You may not see it today or tomorrow, but you will look back in a few years and be absolutely perplexed and awed by how every little thing added up and brought you somewhere wonderful– or where you always wanted to be. You will be grateful that things didn’t work out the way you once wanted them to.” Brianna Wiest
“If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.” Stephen Fry
By: Erica Mahoney
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