5 Ways To Keep Moving On When You're Depressed About Everything

Depression affects your mental health in the worst way, imaginable, and you don't know how to move on from it.

Has your life gotten to that place where you’re feeling depressed and seeing signs of depression all the time?

Are you feeling hopeless and full of dread and worried about what the future will hold? If you are, I am so sorry.

Being depressed and hopeless is a horrible place to be! And, too often, the symptoms of depression can be too much to handle.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep moving on when you’re feeling depressed and like you always will be.

Here are 5 ways to move on, even when depression is negatively impacting your mental health.

1. Assess the situation

There are two kinds of depression: situational and chemical. They have similar symptoms but different causes. Knowing what kind of depression you have is the first step to dealing with it.

Situational depression is caused by something that happens in your life. When something big happens that makes you sad, like the death of a parent or a divorce or the loss of a job, you can become situationally depressed.

This kind of depression usually has a beginning, caused by a specific event, and an end, and is often treated differently from chemical depression.

Chemical depression is the result of your brain chemistry being off in such a way that leads to depression. You are most often born with chemical depression but it can also be caused by a traumatic life event.

Chemical depression can happen to you even if your life is going great.

So, ask yourself some questions about what your life looks like these days to help you figure out what kind of depression you might have.

2. Do things that make you feel good

When you don't know what to do when you're depressed, your natural inclination is to collapse into your life. You stay in bed, don’t shower or eat well, and cut off contact with those you love.

Let me tell you: if you are feeling depressed, collapsing is absolutely the worst thing that you can do. Instead, it is important to do things that make you feel good.

For me, I keep a list of things to do when I am feeling depressed. I take a long, hard walk (the endorphins are great for my depression). Also, do yoga. Watch "The Walking Dead". Take a bath. Go to the movies. Have sex. Eat Pad Thai.

When I am depressed, I do one or all of these things and my depression symptoms are often lifted.

So, what makes you happy? When you aren't depressed, write out a list of what makes you happy so that when depression comes knocking, you're ready.

3. Keep your mind active

Unfortunately, when you’re feeling depressed, your worst enemy is that brain of yours.

While you are lying on the couch feeling sorry for yourself, your brain is actively buying into it all.

"You are a loser," it says. "You have no friends. You aren’t good at anything. You will never find love. You suck at your job." And on and on.

And, chances are, that none of those things are true. That you are not a loser, you have plenty of friends, you are talented, love is out there and your boss thinks you are doing great. But your brain, when you are depressed, just doesn’t go there.

When you’re feeling depressed, it's important to keep your brain busy. Yoga is a really good way to do this — you are so busy trying to figure out how to do that one pose that you don’t have a chance to think about anything. It also has the side benefit of toning your body and making you feel strong, which can be helpful.

Other options for keeping your mind quiet include reading, going to a movie, hanging out with friends, and working. Meditation is also an option but I just get more depressed when I try and fail to meditate. But, if you can do it, go for it!

What do you like to do that will help you quiet that mind of yours, the mind that is feeding into those feelings that are bringing you down? Figure it out and do it!

4. Choose your friends carefully

One of the most important things to manage when you’re feeling depressed is your environment. Your bed and your PJs might feel like the right thing to do but you know that they are not.

The same attention needs to be paid to who you spend time with when you are feeling depressed and anxious. If there are people in your life who bring you down, then avoiding them when you aren’t doing well is very important.

My mother was very difficult to spend time with when I was depressed. She was always trying to talk me out of my depression by pretending that it didn’t exist or telling me to just snap out of it. Both of those things just made me feel worse. So, I avoided her when I wasn’t doing well. It was best for both of us.

Consider who you shouldn’t spend time with when you are depressed and avoid them. On the same note, think about who would be a good person to be with and make a date with them right now!

5. Talk to your doctor

If everything else fails and still you find yourself feeling depressed and anxious all of the time, then it’s time to call your primary care doctor.