Tag actions

I love what Mahatma Gandhi said,

Harmony

(I may be a Christian but I don’t have a problem with learning from those who profess their faith differently.)

This cycle of

thinking,

speaking,

and doing

is the same cycle that if out of sync must be restored to harmony in a depressive episode. If even one of them is damaged by depression, all the others are affected as well.

I found in my own recovery that stepping into the cycle anywhere helped but my greatest success came from changing my actions first- —the “doing” part. I found that if I got up and moved and did something constructive, that led to other actions and pretty soon I was in better spirits.

Overcoming depression is hard work.

hard work

I’m not suggesting for a minute that this alone will heal a serious case of depression. But if it lighten one’s mood and makes taking other steps easier, isn’t it worth a try?  It requires a herculean effort to do this when all you want to do is stay in bed and not face the world.  But if getting better is the goal, physical movement is a practical place to start.

Try it just for today and see if it doesn’t make even the tiniest difference. I think we forget sometimes that depression didn’t just smother us in one cataclysmic moment. It was a lot of little things that incrementally pushed us over the edge and it will be little increments, small steps, that walk us out. It’s not a process that can be rushed which, of course, is what makes it that much harder.

baby steps to recovery

When people ask me “When are the pills going to kick in?”, I remind them they didn’t get depressed overnight and they won’t get better overnight. I can remember asking the same thing. Pills are often an integral part of the recovery for some people but they are not the only therapy that should be considered.

It’s a whole lifestyle, this battle to overcome depression, and must be fought on many fronts.

God bless and I hope you have a good day.