There are countless reasons why people feel depressed, whether it’s a short-term feeling of being low or long-term clinical depression. While it is extremely helpful to get to the source of this depression, we don’t have to wait for this to happen to be able to make a difference.
A healthy diet and good-quality sleep are important factors for our brain to function and process better, but another helpful factor is routine—having some sort of plan. As soon as you have a plan, you have something to look forward to, something to achieve, and hence an opportunity to experience a sense of success.
During the height of Covid, when many of us were cooped up in our homes because of the mandatory lockdowns and were unable to go out to work or socialise, the number of people with symptoms of depression skyrocketed.
Long days with nothing to do, nowhere to go, & having no purpose were eating away at our mental health.
It showed how a lack of routine, physical activity, socialising, and pleasant or rewarding activities affects our mental wellbeing almost immediately.
So many therapists were dealing with a very high caseload of clients with depression and suggested a very practical way of improving their clients’ mental health in a reasonably short timeframe. We luckily no longer have to put up with lockdowns, but the principle is still the same, and it all starts with having a plan and a minimum of routine.
When we feel depressed, we almost naturally don’t feel motivated to undertake any activity and very easily slip back into doing as little as possible and isolating ourselves. Hence, we don’t get to experience the positives that come with being more active.
One way to tackle this is to create a daily routine and a weekly plan. Actually writing it down and putting it on the fridge can be quite helpful. However simple your daily routine is, it gives your brain the notion that there is always something ahead, something to look forward to, something to accomplish. Having a shower, breakfast, and brushing your teeth can be enough for the morning. Once you achieve that, you can pat yourself on the back. In the same way, you can set up a very simple evening routine.
The next step is to plan your week.
Write down, day by day, what activities you can do in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It could be doing the laundry, going food shopping, cooking a healthy dinner, cutting the lawn, and all the other tasks you normally do anyway, but make sure to add the following:
- Physical exercise: Whether you just go for a walk, every physical activity increases the production of dopamine and endorphins, which make us feel good. Not everybody is physically capable of going for a run, doing an hour-long gym workout, or swimming 50 lengths, so going for a walk, going up and down the stairs a few times, fifteen minutes of stretching, or easy yoga poses can be the way forward too. Try to add in some movement every day, whatever your ability is.
- Social contact: People are social animals, and we are genetically designed to function in groups. Social isolation makes us feel depressed; social contact makes us feel better. These days, it is easier than ever to get in touch with family and friends through calls, video calls, and social media, and while this certainly helps, real face-to-face contact increases the level of dopamine production even more. Not everyone has a wide network to choose from, but even a quick chat with the neighbour or the postman can be helpful. When we are depressed, we often feel that we would be burdening others, but by talking to others, we offer them the opportunity to be there for us (and that gives them purpose and makes them feel better about themselves), and we also generate the support we need and deserve.
- Satisfying activities: One of the patterns we often see when someone is depressed is that they no longer engage in activities they used to enjoy—hobbies, going to the movies, tending to the garden, going for a coffee… Try to put satisfying activities back in your weekly plan. Not only will you benefit from the pleasure it gives you straight away, but you can also tick that box of another action that you have undertaken. Get those paints out again, plug in the piano, pick up that book you started ages ago, or rearrange your spice rack. Any activity that feels satisfying is helpful.
Ticking the boxes is important. You get a tick for everything in your daily routine or weekly plan that you complete. Every tick is a pat on the back (you can literally pat yourself on the back!) and is an achievement that allows you to experience success and hence helps you produce more dopamine.
You can reward yourself at the end of every day when you’ve ticked all your boxes, or at the end of the week. A reward means another dopamine hit! This, in turn, motivates you to stay on track and to keep on moving forward. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you missed a box here or there—you can always start again tomorrow.
And then there is that feeling that there is always something ahead, of course. Having that routine and plan for the week gives you something to look forward to and a sense of purpose.
This is by no means the only or best way to manage depression, but it certainly plays a role within a more holistic approach, including diet, sleep, and possibly therapy. If you feel too overwhelmed to draw up your routine or weekly plan, then maybe you can ask a loved one or friend to give you a hand. That in itself is engaging in social contact—one box ticked already before you even started.
Main – Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash
