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10. Start meditating
Meditating is a great way to engage in some crucial self-reflection. It allows you to become more in tune with yourself and to reflect and sort through your thoughts. Start small, with perhaps just a few minutes a day of meditation, and don’t beat yourself up if you fall asleep. Meditation is a great way to relax and can help you work through any challenging thoughts or situations that you might be dealing with throughout the course of your day.
11. Start taking vitamins
If you aren’t already taking a multivitamin, start, and if you are, consider the dosage and specific vitamins included in the dose. Certain vitamins, such as B-12, play a major role in your mood and happiness. If you are low in B-12, you will feel more sluggish and even have a harder time with your digestion and other bodily functions.
B-12 is high in certain foods, like cheese, shellfish, spinach, and fish, but if you are a vegetarian or otherwise restricted in your diet, it can be tough to consume enough B-12 from food alone. A multivitamin high in B-12 or a B-12-only vitamin may help boost your mood.
Magnesium, too, helps support a wide range of biomechanical functions. It helps keep the chemicals in your brain stable, and unfortunately, magnesium is often removed from our modern diets.
You can’t produce it naturally on your own, so you may need to deliberately add magnesium-rich foods (like almonds, black beans, or bananas) to your diet or take a magnesium supplement. Another great source of magnesium is pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds contain healthy fats as well as magnesium. They also contain L-tryptophan, which can help you produce more serotonin.
Low levels of folic acid are also associated with depression. Folic acid deficiency causes serotonin levels to fall and is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in women. You only need about 200 mcg per day, which can be more effective by adding a cup of spinach to your diet every day or taking a dietary supplement.
12. Get some sleep
Depression can make it hard to get some rest, particularly when it seems like your brain just won’t turn off. Too little sleep can make your depression worse. Consider making some changes to your lifestyle to help make sleep easier.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, and try not to nap. Remove any distractions from your bedrooms, such as the television or your cell phone. A little bit of sleep will go a long way in improving the symptoms of your depression.
13. Curb your alcohol intake
Many people drink alcohol as a way of coping with their depression. It has a sedative effect and can distract from the unending sadness. While it may temporarily relieve the symptoms of depression, it brings a whole host of other problems into your life, particularly, if an alcohol use disorder arises and begins to impact your family, career, and personal life.
Consider taking a break from drinking if you find that you are having a hard time coping with your depression.
14. Drop the junk food
A sugar high from a cupcake or candy bar might feel good at first, but you’ll come crashing down quickly. Try to eliminate most – if not all – junk food from your diet. This will leave room for more nutritious, energizing food, and will also help to boost your mood.
15. Take time to do the things you love
Set aside time to explore your hobbies, spend time with family and friends, and learn more about yourself in the process. Doing the things that you most enjoy doing will help you see the value in life, and also help to build your self-confidence.
Even if you find that your schedule is jam-packed with work, personal, or familial obligations, blocking out even small chunks of time to dedicate to yourself will pay off in the long run. You will be more focused at work and less plagued by your depressive thoughts and situation than you were before.
