Tips To Stay Positive When Depression Starts To Get You Down

Living with any chronic disease that requires lifelong treatment adds a layer of stress that invariably impacts mental health. As diabetes has far reaching consequences that significantly affect every aspect of life and lower quality of life, diabetes patients are vulnerable to stress, anxiety disorders, and depression. This is completely normal and not a sign of weakness. It takes immense strength to cope with diabetes, but with some simple tips for getting over depression you can find the mental fortitude to stay positive and continue to live a healthy and fulfilling life despite diabetes. 

Recognize The Reality Of Diabetes Depression

Before you look for any quick fixes or tips for depression relief, understand and accept that this is a medical illness that causes feelings of intense sadness and a loss of interest in activities that you enjoyed before. It is not just a mood swing or state of mind that you can snap out of. The risk of clinical depression is 2 to 3 times higher in people with diabetes and less than half of them get diagnosed and treated. This is unfortunate as treatment with medication, therapy, or a combination can be extremely effective.

Without treatment, depression only gets worse and begins to affect your diabetes management, as well as your relationships and ability to perform at work and at home. It’s understandable that you may prefer to avoid medication as far as possible and, in such cases, you can first try working with behavioural therapists as cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT has proven efficacy in dealing with depressive disorders. In addition to seeking professional help, you can also take some steps yourself to manage depression.

Tips For Staying Positive & Overcoming Depression

You can help yourself to overcome depression symptoms by making lifestyle changes and engaging in activities that lower stress and anxiety levels. Here are some simple tips to stay positive and overcome depression.

Get Active 

Exercise is known to work as a mood booster, raising levels of endorphins that make you feel good. Regular activity also triggers the release of proteins called neurotrophic or growth factors that promote nerve cell growth, improving brain function and ultimately relieving depression. Even mild to moderate intensity activities like walking, cycling, or swimming will help.

Use Stress Reduction Techniques 

You don’t need therapy to learn stress reduction and relaxation exercises that will help treat depression. You can simply take up practices like yoga, meditation, tai chi, and deep breathing exercises to help calm your nerves and relax. Many of these techniques are even recommended in clinical practice by behavioural therapists. 

Don’t Skip Break Time 

Always make it a point to take a break from work and other activities to give yourself some ‘personal’ time. This is meant to relax and rejuvenate, doing things you enjoy doing, whether reading, dancing, or playing a game.

Get Adequate Sleep 

Avoid keeping late nights or irregular sleep hours as this has a significant impact on mood and increases the risk of depression. Getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis will help you feel more positive and energized.  

Strengthen Social Bonds 

Connect with loved ones, whether family or friends and open up about your feelings of life with diabetes. Such social connections can be a huge source of comfort and support. Don’t hesitate to also point out how they might be adding to your stress and can help change that. Most importantly, allow them to help you not just with boosting your mood, but also with managing your diabetes. 

Join A Support Group 

Connecting with other people who have shared experiences helps tremendously. Diabetes patients best understand what you’re going through and can be a source of inspiration and motivation, giving you advice and helpful tips on what worked for them and helped them through. This will also help you feel more connected and less isolated because of your condition. 

In addition to following these tips to stay positive and overcome depression, it’s also important that you follow other healthy lifestyle practices that are important for diabetes management as they will also affect your mood and sense of wellbeing. Most importantly, if you don’t find relief from your diabetes symptoms, seek help from a professional counsellor, behavioural therapist, or psychiatrist.

Reference Links:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23062861/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7399630/
3. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/mental-health.html
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6110331/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5954593/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3908488/