Motivational Tips For Depression-6 Ways To Feel Better

Depression can strike anytime to anyone. It doesn't spare it's victims. Depression is serious and should never be taken lightly. Depression is sadness, hopelessness, a loss of interest in your daily living, crying, feelings of loss and thoughts of suicide. The causes of depression can be many.

• Life Changes
• Worry
• Chronic Pain
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Holidays
• A break-up
• A death

When you start to feel depressed, or when things are piling up, there a few things you can do to get yourself motivated and away from misery.

1. Get up and Move.Get out of bed no matter how demanding it is. Achieving physical activity when depressed is difficult. However once up, make yourself do minor things to elevate your energy. You can always go back to bed later for a nap. Make your bed. Brush your teeth. Do the dishes. Get the mail. Read the newspaper. Feed your cat. Sit on the porch. Call people you know. Go on the computer. There are so many minor things to choose from. Do them all or just one or two. Of course if you have to go to work or school then you are way ahead of the game
2. Get in the Shower.Taking a hot shower will wake you up and make you feel refreshed and clean. Get out of your pajamas or night attire and into something your not ashamed of wearing outside your home. When you look pleasantly you feel worthwhile and when you feel worthwhile, it is a self-esteem boost. Someone once told me when your depressed, take a shower, wash your troubles away. So I go with that. I have on many occasions hauled myself literally crying to the shower, trying to wash away depression. There is something about crying your sadness away in the shower that makes you feel some what revived.
3. Put On A Happy Face.Put on some make-up, fix your hair up, shave that stubble off. Sometimes, with depression we do not take beneficial care of ourselves as we normally would. When you feel clean, refreshed, and polished it’s harder to think less of yourself. . By doing my hair, I toss in the gel and blow dry it for a minute, and I am good to go. My hair is wild usually. Which is fine. If it's clean I feel better. So get going and put on that happy face.
4. Tidy Up.Clean up and organize you're living area. When our surroundings are dark, dirty, or messy, you begin to reflect that atmosphere, falling deeper into depression. Keeping your work and living space clean, well-lit, and maintained makes you feel good about accomplishing something. Keep the curtains open, let the sunshine through, it's a good way of getting your daily dose of vitamin D. I rarely shut my curtains. I have a glass slider and a bedroom window. So whatever sun I can get I am optimistic. So vacuum, dust, and start cleaning your house or apartment.
5. Listen to Music.Crank up the radio, or put on a DVD and dance. Strut around the house footloose and fancy free. There are all kinds of music that will get you moving if you just motivate yourself. Irish, Latin, Salsa, Reggae and more. Find something that you can move to, something up-beat and cheerful. Something that gets you moving and motivated. Let the music guide you into a better place.
6. No Procrastinating. Tackle something you’ve been putting off doing. Even small accomplishments start your day by giving your self confidence the increase it needs. If you are a writer, write. Take pictures, knit, clean out the attic you have been meaning to do. If I can get one article done a day I have accomplished something. I try to get a 400 page article finished at least four days week. TRY being the main word. Accomplishing one activity, one day at a time.

These things are not going to work without effort. The idea is to take an active role in your depression. Sleeping is one of the safest things to do when you are depressed. And at times, that is all you can do. But at one point you're going to have to come out from under the covers. So next time you feel like you're moving into the darkness try to motivate yourself to do at least one activity.