10 Self-care Tips for Depression from a Sacramento Therapist
As a Sacramento therapist who specializes in working with folks with depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, I want to instill hope and practical help for getting through it. Depression can be an overwhelming experience that often leaves people feeling helpless, stuck, or alone. During depressive episodes, it's essential to engage in a holistic self-care approach to navigate through the storm. In this article, we'll explore realistic strategies for self-care when you find yourself in the midst of a depressive episode.
Recognize the signs & label the depressive episode
Understanding the nature of what you're going through is the first step towards effective self-care. Depression isn't merely a transient bout of sadness; it's a complex mental health condition. By recognizing the symptoms of a depressive episode and labeling it as such, you separate the experience of depression from your self-identity. For example, therapy for depression may include helping you identify the specific cues that a depressive episode is present - such as difficulty concentrating, lethargy, disinterest, or social isolation - and “externalize” those symptoms to reduce the impact on your self-worth.
One of the most common depression experiences is equating the symptoms of the illness with self-denigrating perceptions of self such as lazy, unlovable, or a failure. We are not an illness, we are persons who are experiencing symptoms of an illness. You are not the problem. I’ll talk about how to deal with negative thinking more later in the article.
Depression also impacts your executive functioning skills, which can make usually simple tasks seem daunting. Executive functioning skills include organization, prioritizing and planning, working memory, and emotion regulation. When you acknowledge that a depressive episode may impact your executive function skills, such as completing multi-step tasks, reasoning, or initiating actions, it helps to ease self-imposed pressure and self-criticism. It’s time to reduce stress and adjust your expectations of yourself by giving yourself more time, connecting with an accountability buddy, or chunking down tasks into one step at a time.
Another helpful byproduct of recognizing and labeling the depressive episode is to remind yourself that this experience won’t last forever, and you will feel better at some point. Recalling previous periods of better health and stability can help to see it as a temporary state that will eventually change. Once a depressive episode has waned, journaling or letter writing about getting through the episode to the other side can be a helpful reminder to put the episode into perspective and provide much needed hope.
2. Reduce the pressure when depression is present
Your usual standards of productivity and achievement may need to be adjusted temporarily to reduce stress while you are healing. Instead of expecting whatever is a typical level of efficiency for you, understand that it's acceptable to take a step back and recalibrate your expectations. It’s a mindset shift to acknowledge that the depressive episode is temporarily affecting your usual skills and abilities in the present, and by decreasing stress you’re actually helping the healing process. Embracing a self-compassionate approach helps to provide yourself with as much understanding as you would provide to your partner, best friend, or other loved one.
3. Start small on self-care tasks and build from there
By decreasing the pressure for productivity, you enable increased time and energy for self-care strategies. The key to a doable self-care routine is to start small, it need not be an extravagant gesture. Begin self-care by focusing on basics such as sleep routine, nutrition, hydration, movement, relational connection, and medication and/or supplements. Examples of reducing pressure to support self-care include washing your face or using baby wipes instead of showering, having a nutrition drink or protein bar instead of preparing an entire meal, put on a clean pillow case as an alternative to washing and changing all the bedding, or sit outside when you don’t have the energy for a walk or substitute stretching movements for exercising. Maybe it's sitting in the living room instead of laying in your bed, or sending memes to a friend instead of talking in person. Incremental actions can serve as building blocks for your recovery.
4. Ask for help: family, friends, and professionals
Don't walk this path alone. Reach out to your support network, which may include trusted family members, reliable friends, an online support group, or a dedicated treatment team. Share your thoughts and feelings and let them know what you need. Their presence can provide invaluable comfort and support. Companionship can be helpful to combat the common tendency to withdraw from others, and lead to worsening depression symptoms.
Many self-care tasks feel easier when you have someone to help guide you through the steps, especially when executive functioning skills are challenged. For example, going grocery shopping may feel overwhelming by yourself, alternatively you may ask someone drive you to the store and accompany you while picking out easy to prepare nutritious foods and/or cooking a meal together. Another helpful technique is having an accountability buddy to set small goals to encourage you and celebrate your progress. When meeting up in person feels daunting but you know you need to fight off the social isolation, texting gifs or memes to your support network that expresses how you feel or asking for funny memes or links to videos that make you laugh can be enough to connect with others.
But, of course, you don’t always have others who really understand what you are going through or don’t have the time and energy to support you fully. This is where having professionals in your corner can be so incredibly helpful. A doctor who ensures that your depressive episode isn’t related to an underlying medical issue. A therapist who can help you identify not only how to come out of the episode, but to learn what triggered and develop a life that leaves you less susceptible to those triggers in the future. That is a huge part of good depression treatment in Sacramento or anywhere else.
5. Overcoming negative thoughts: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Negative thought patterns often accompany depressive episodes, creating distorted perspectives of ourselves and others. Think of depression as a filter through which your mind creates meaning out of what you are experiencing, dwelling on the negative possibilities and distressing emotions. One of the approaches I use in my Sacramento therapy office is Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a powerful tool that teaches you to observe your thoughts without judgment, fostering a greater awareness of your thinking patterns and helping you challenge and reframe negative beliefs.
Examples of negative thought patterns include catastrophizing (worst case scenario), black and white thinking (perceiving things in absolutes, rigidity), minimizing the positives and/or focusing on the negatives, and emotional reasoning (equating emotions with fact). The first step of MBCT is practicing mindful awareness of when those thought patterns are present, and then labeling them as depression-filtered thoughts. This helps to create some distance between your thoughts and yourself for more objectivity. Challenging the thoughts by examining the facts helps to open up to other possibilities of what could be accurate so you can rewrite the negative narratives.
6. Self-compassion to thwart depression
Self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness and understanding you would offer to a close friend. By acknowledging how hard it is to be in a depressive episode, you provide context of the situation instead of self-critical generalizations. This context invites more patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Understand that you're doing your best, even when it doesn't feel that way. Try writing out what you would say to someone you care about if they were experiencing the same thing you are now, and notice if/how you treat others differently than you treat yourself.
7. Do something novel or bring in laughter
Novel experiences can stimulate your mind and uplift your spirits simply by evoking change and/or interest. An example could be as simple as walking a different direction around your neighborhood, watching a new video, or doing something you used to like as a kid such as going on the swings at a local park. Laughter truly can be the best medicine. Seek out activities or experiences that usually bring you joy and amusement, and notice if there’s even some temporary relief from the depression. Watch a funny movie or standup comedy, access easy to read and lighthearted books, comics, or fan fiction. Playing with pets can usually evoke some feelgood moments, as can listening to music and singing or dancing around in a goofy manner. Ask your support network to join you in creating novel experiences or silliness, it’ll be more fun.
8. Get outside and into nature
If you don’t have easy access to the forest or the ocean, you can still experience the benefits of natural surroundings and the calming effect on the mind and body. Nature possesses a remarkable therapeutic quality, providing respite from the turmoil of depression. Try leveraging what nature you do have access to by mindfully noticing the varied sensory experiences of being outside. For example, focus on feeling the warmth of sunshine on your body, the breeze on your skin, the sounds of the birds or wind, the texture of leaves or bark on a tree, the sensations of your feet on the cool dirt, the smell of flowers, or the taste of something delicious.
9. Low-pressure journaling
Journaling can be really helpful to some people while others feel more stress and pressure to perform, which we’re trying to reduce. Low pressure journaling means there’s no editing, grammar, or even a requirement to make complete sentences. Whether you like writing with paper and pen or using an app on your phone, it can be helpful to express your thoughts and feelings, as well as a way to record your progress. Using journaling prompts can help to provide structure and reduce the overwhelm of a blank page. Some prompts to help you during a depressive episode can include listing what went well or better than the day before, acknowledging progress toward a task or goal (especially the ones you wouldn’t normally include such as hygiene or eating), identifying a completed task and how you felt after you did it, and establishing one thing you would like to do tomorrow.
10. Get support from a depression therapist in Sacramento
Seeking professional help is a pivotal step toward help and healing. A Sacramento therapist with expertise in depression can provide tailored guidance and evidence-based therapies to help you manage and eventually overcome the depressive episode.
If you are struggling to find the right depression therapist in Sacramento, I’d love to help. I’ll work collaboratively with you to create a holistic wellness plan that identifies your cues to depression, lists the coping skills that effectively work for you to mitigate symptoms, and focuses on the daily self-care you’ve identified that decreases your stress and increases self-efficacy. The self-care wellness plan also may include support networks, community resources and groups, crisis services and clinics, and helpful phone apps or websites to chart your mood and record your progress.
Self-care during depressive episodes is a necessity, not a frivolous endeavor or a luxury. By recognizing and understanding your condition, practicing self-compassion, challenging negative thinking, and seeking support, you can navigate the storm of depression with resilience and hope. Remember, healing takes time, and each small step you take is a triumph on your path to recovery.
Hi, I’m Colleen King Your Sacramento Therapist. I’ve been helping people with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder in Sacramento for over 10 years.
My specialties include anxiety therapy, depression treatment, treatment for bipolar disorder, LGBTQIA Affirmative therapy, and self-esteem. I work with mind-body modalities that allow us to find what works especially for you, including Brainpspotting, Somatic Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Sacramento.
Schedule your free 15-minute consultation with me to get started on your healing.
Colleen King, Sacramento Therapist