What To Do When You Feel Stressed And Depressed

If You Can Adopt A Pet

Scientifically, it is proven that owning a pet can lead to better mental health. It can be hard work at first but, as you move on with it, you will be able to distract yourself from the things that were making you feel stressed and depressed before.

Pets provide unconditional love and attention that is great for your mental health at the moment + you get some actual activities to do , so it can help you if youve also been inactive. Also, having a new pet allows you to feel like you are making a change in your life . It can work as an invisible marker, separating you from the sadness and helping you to focus on the future.

Effects Of Stress On Depression

While stress can generally have negative effects on your physical and mental health, it can be especially harmful if you have depression.

Stress can make you feel less able to maintain positive habits or coping strategies, which are important to managing depression. This can make symptoms of depression feel more intense. Interrupting a healthy routine can result in negative coping strategies, such as drinking or withdrawing from social relationships. These actions can result in further stress, which can then make depression symptoms worse.

Stress can also affect your mood, as anxiety and irritability are both common responses to stress. When a stressor causes you to feel anxious, the anxiety may result in more negative feelings or frustration, even if the stressor is only temporary.

Stress management techniques are useful in coping with depression. Stress relief can also help prevent depressive symptoms from developing. Some helpful stress management techniques include:

• getting enough sleep
• consuming less caffeine or alcohol
• doing breathing exercises to lower your heart rate

If lifestyle choices are causing you stress, you may consider changing the way you approach your personal or professional life. Some ways you can help decrease this kind of stress include:

Things To Do When Depressed Include:

• Engage in an enjoyable activity like going to a baseball game or attending a social gathering, even if you don’t initially feel like it.
• Avoid spending long periods of time alone.
• Maintain a healthy, balanced diet.
• Take care of yourself. Pamper yourself.
• Break tasks up into small chunks spread out over time to make them more achievable.
• Spend time with friends or family. Talk to a trusted person about what you’re going through.
• Postpone important decisions until you’re feeling better. If you have to make an important decision, discuss it with others because feeling depressed can cloud your judgment.
• Get professional help when needed.

Remember, no matter what you do when you’re depressed, feeling better takes time. You may have to get weeks of depression treatment before starting to feel better, but trust the depression will lift over time.

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What If I Feel Depressed

Some sad feelings go on for too long, hurt too deeply, and make it hard to enjoy things. This deep sadness is called depression. People of any age can feel depressed even kids.

Kids might feel depressed if they have been sad or lonely for a long time, or if they have had too much stress or hardship. Kids might feel depressed if they are apart from people they love. Or if their family is going through hard times. Or if a loved one has died.

Kids who feel depressed may need extra help to feel better. If you feel depressed, or if you have sad feelings that will not go away, talk about it with an adult you trust. You could tell a parent, relative, doctor, teacher, counselor, or coach. They can make sure you get the help you need to feel better. Some kids talk to a therapist when they have sad feelings that are hard to cope with. This helps a lot.

There is always somebody to talk to when you are sad or depressed. You feel better when someone knows what you’re going through. The other person can do things to make the situation better, too.

It helps to talk about what’s wrong, but be sure to talk together about good things, too. Paying attention to the good stuff can make you feel more hopeful. That really matters when youre feeling sad or depressed.

Is This Depression Or Anxiety

Everybody goes through times of fear, worry and sadness . But when those negative emotions are so intense that it feels youre no longer in control of them, we could call it distress.

Distress can include a huge range of negative feelings. Everyones experience is unique and personal to them.

If the main problem is feeling down and miserable, or that there is no interest or pleasure in things, we call it depression. If the main problem is having times of panic, or always being on edge and worrying, we call it anxiety. Its quite common to experience a bit of both.

Whether you call it distress, depression, or anxiety, it doesnt matter. What matters is that you understand whats happening, and know what you can do to feel better.

How common is it?*

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Mixed Anxiety & Depression Explained

Depression and anxiety have similar causes and some people can experience symptoms of both conditions at the same time. If youve been experiencing both low mood and persistent worry, tension, and unease, click below to learn more about the relationship between anxiety and depression.

How To Deal With Depression

There are a range of ways to deal with depression, and often they are best used in conjunction with each other. The primary medical options are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy , antidepressant medication, and in some severe cases, Electroconvulsive Therapy .

Education and coping strategies are also important when learning to manage your depression.

ECT is an effective form of treatment for depression, especially if:

• There are medical contraindications to medication.
• There is a need for rapid improvement because of suicidal intent or refusal to eat.
• The person has experienced treatment failure following CBT, several medications, or combined medication and CBT treatment trials.
• The person has had a previous positive response to ECT.
• Somatic symptoms are prominent.
• Psychotic symptoms are present.

What is CBT?

Getting Support For You

Make sure you get support for yourself when you are supporting someone else, as it can take a lot out of you.

Visit the Help someone page on depression.org.nz for more information.

“One of the most helpful things has been our determination to get through my daughters depression as a family. We spend a lot of time talking to each other and supporting each other. This has meant that we have never given up hope. The family has stayed together as a family unit and we are strong because of it.John

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Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression

According to the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States, anxiety and depression can share several common symptoms, including, but not limited to:

• Being easily fatigued
• Sleep disturbance

Other signs that a person may suffer from both anxiety disorder and depression include:

• Constant, irrational fear and worry
• Physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat, headaches, hot flashes, sweating, abdominal pain, and/or difficulty breathing
• Changes in eating, either too much or too little
• Persistent feelings of sadness or worthlessness
• Loss of interest in hobbies and activities
• Inability to relax
• Panic attacks

When To Seek Professional Help

Any level of depression should be taken seriously and the faster you address the symptoms, the less likely you are to develop a more severe type of depression. Seeking professional help is a sign of bravery and self-respect because it shows that you are dedicated to caring for your mind and body. A therapist can offer more clinical advice and guide you through treatment with approaches that are more tailored to your specific situation and needs. However, if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, tell someone you trust and seek assistance immediately.

Everyone experiences low points in their life and their mental health, but depression is a treatable mental illness and you can recover. Whether you or a loved one is feeling depressed, every persons experience with mental illness is different but help is available. Visit our Key Services page to learn more about the treatment methods we offer and to explore our list of additional health and wellness classes to support your overall mental health.

If you are in a crisis, please call us at 303-425-0300 or by calling the crisis line at 844-493-8255. The 24/7 crisis walk-in center and withdrawal management program is open at 4643 Wadsworth Blvd, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033.

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Recognising Your Stress Triggers

If you’re not sure what’s causing your stress, keep a diary and make a note of stressful episodes for two-to-four weeks. Then review it to spot the triggers.

Things you might want to write down include:

• the date, time and place of a stressful episode
• what you were doing
• a stress rating

You can use the diary to:

• work out what triggers your stress
• work out how you operate under pressure
• develop better coping mechanisms

Doctors sometimes recommend keeping a stress diary to help them diagnose stress.

How Can I Support My Mental Health

Having depression or anxiety isnt a sign of weakness and theres no need to feel embarrassed. Keep active in your community, consider joining a support group and do things that boost your mental wellbeing.

Self-help groups

Meeting other people who understand what youre going through can be helpful, especially if youre feeling isolated or lonely. You can find a local support group by asking your GP, or by contacting Mind, Anxiety UK, SANE or Rethink Mental Illness.

Keep a regular social routine

There are a range of services in the local community where you can meet new people and learn new skills. This will give you something to look forward to, and prevent you feeling isolated or alone. Your local Age UK can help you find an activity or group that will suit your interests.

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What To Do When Depression And Anxiety Mix

Kara Mayer Robinson Jabeen Begum

You’ve noticed some changes lately. Maybe you feel sad, hopeless, or donât get any joy out of activities that used to be fun. Sounds like depression, right?

Maybe that’s not all. Sometimes you’re worried, afraid, and just plain uneasy. Isn’t that a sign of anxiety?

Not so fast. Itâs normal to have ups and downs or to have things youâre concerned about. You might be going through a difficult time. Your doctor can help you figure out if itâs actually a condition and what would help.

Depression and anxiety are like flip sides of the same coin, says therapist Nancy B. Irwin, PsyD. “Being depressed often makes us anxious, and anxiety often makes us depressed.”

If you have both conditions, there are lots of ways to get help.

What Are The Treatments For Depression

Many helpful treatments for depression are available. Treatment for depression can help reduce symptoms and shorten how long the depression lasts. Treatment can include getting therapy and/or taking medications. Your doctor or a qualified mental health professional can help you determine what treatment is best for you.

• Therapy. Many people benefit from psychotherapyalso called therapy or counseling.7,8 Most therapy lasts for a short time and focuses on thoughts feelings and issues that are happening in your life now. In some cases understanding your past can help but finding ways to address what is happening in your life now can help you cope and prepare you for challenges in the future.With therapy, youll work with your therapist to learn skills to help you cope with life, change behaviors that are causing problems and find solutions. Do not feel shy or embarrassed about talking openly and honestly about your feelings and concerns. This is an important part of getting better.Some common goals of therapy include:
• Getting healthier
• Making sense of past painful events
• Identifying things that worsen your depression
• Having better relationships with family and friends
• Understanding why something bothers you and creating a plan to deal with it

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Physiology Of Crying A Self

Why do we cry?

Scientists are not entirely sure why we cry. In an area near your eye is the lacrimal system. One part of the system creates tears. The other part lets the tears free by draining the liquid near the eye.

These tears keep your eyes hydrated when you blink. They also cover your eyes during allergies. But we are most interested in why strong emotions release tears surprisingly, scientists are still not entirely sure.

Some signs indicate that tears are meant to play a role in stress relief. For example, when you cry, your tears release leucine enkephalin, a natural painkiller. Other researchers have looked at whether crying is a self-soothing behavior capable of cooling the body and triggering coping mechanisms.

If you are interested in a long, complex read about the self-soothing nature of crying, this research paper is quite interesting.

So the truth is that we do not entirely know why we cry, but we know that there are many potential signs that crying is simply a great way to cope with significant emotion. And when a person has anxiety, crying may be a much-needed coping response.

Key Signs To Look Out For

Depression and anxiety can show up in all parts of your life.

These experiences can be overwhelming and frightening. However, there are ways through them.

TINANA

• Feeling tired and lacking energy.
• Sleeping too much or too little.
• Eating too much or too little.
• Moving or speaking more slowly or more quickly than usual.
• Trouble relaxing.
• Racing heart, chest pains, sweating and breathlessness.

HINENGARO

• Losing interest in things you used to enjoy.
• Worrying that awful things will happen.
• Feeling sad and hopeless.
• Feeling whakam, shame or a failure.
• Feeling nervous or anxious a lot.
• Feeling like ending your life or harming yourself.

WHNAU

• Losing interest in whnau and friends and avoiding contact with them.
• Feeling like other people dont understand.
• Feeling empty and lonely.
• Wanting to be left alone.
• Getting irritated or hh with others.

WAIRUA

• Feeling there is no purpose to life.
• Feeling numb and disconnected.
• Feeling cut off from your tpuna or spiritual sources of meaning.
• Having bad dreams.

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Do What Makes You Feel Good

When we are feeling depressed, isolated and lost, our inclination is to collapse into our life. We stay in bed, we dont shower or eat well and cut off contact with those we love.

Let me tell you: if you are feeling depressed, collapsing is absolutely the worst thing that you can do. Instead, it is important to do things that make you feel good.

For me, I keep a list of things to do when I am feeling depressed. 1. Take a long, hard walk . 2. Do yoga. 3. Watch The Walking Dead. 4. Take a bath. 5. Go to the movies. 6. Have sex. 7. Eat Pad Thai. When I am depressed I do one, or all, of those things and my depression is often lifted.

So, what makes you happy? Write out a list, when you arent depressed, of what makes you happy so that when you are depressed you are ready.

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Simple Ways To Relieve Stress And Anxiety

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Stress and anxiety are common experiences for most people. In fact, 70% of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily.

Here are 16 simple ways to relieve stress and anxiety.

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.

It might seem contradictory, but putting physical stress on your body through exercise can relieve mental stress.

The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who dont exercise .

There are a few reasons behind this:

• Stress hormones: Exercise lowers your bodys stress hormones such as cortisol in the long run. It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
• Sleep: Exercise can also improve your sleep quality, which can be negatively affected by stress and anxiety.
• Confidence: When you exercise regularly, you may feel more competent and confident in your body, which in turn promotes mental wellbeing.
• Try to find an exercise routine or activity you enjoy, such as walking, dancing, rock climbing or yoga.

Activities such as walking or jogging that involve repetitive movements of large muscle groups can be particularly stress relieving.

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Triggers For Depression In Men

Theres no single cause of depression in men. Biological, psychological, and social factors all play a part, as do lifestyle choices, relationships, and coping skills.

While any man can suffer from depression, there are some risk factors that make a man more vulnerable, such as:

• Loneliness and lack of social support
• Inability to effectively deal with stress
• A history of alcohol or drug abuse
• Early childhood trauma or abuse
• Aging in isolation, with few social outlets

Depression and erectile dysfunction

Impotence or erectile dysfunction is not only a trigger of depression in men, it can also be a side effect of many antidepressant medications.

• Men with sexual function problems are almost twice as likely to be depressed as those without.
• Depression increases the risk of erectile dysfunction.
• Many men are reluctant to acknowledge sexual problems, thinking its a reflection on their manhood rather than a treatable problem caused by depression.