I`m No Longer Depressed.
Written By A Pre-Licensed Therapist For Real People.
I don’t recall when it happened or what precipitated it, but the other day when preparing for my licensing exam a question concerning depression popped up, and that’s when I noticed, “hmmm, I haven’t suffered from depression in a while.” In fact, I can’t recall the last time I felt deeply depressed.
This is not to say that I haven’t had moments of being anxious, sad, or discouraged; I have. The difference is that the level of intensity has changed. I feel more in control of my emotions now than I did in the past. I’ve also realized that everything that comes to mind isn’t always true.
Here is what I discovered:
1. WORDS MATTER!
The words and labels I speak over my life have tremendous power. Those words become a living manifestation in my day-to-day behaviors. The mood I would carry, the interactions I would hold. The energy I would have or lack thereof were all impacted by the words I spoke out loud or thought in my mind.
Let’s take a commercial break now so I can tell you a story. I remember being quite worried and depressed during my undergraduate studies. At the time, I was grieving my parents’ divorce, the nuance of changing majors, and the weight of living with severe insecurities. I, Garmis, and no one else identified myself as neurotic because of my emotional state, and I would live as such. I would casually throw it into discussions as if it were a description of who I was, and for many years I believed it was. Until I began to change my narrative, I began to speak positive words and label myself with adjectives I desired for myself.
It was very difficult, I thought it was pointless until changes began to take place. Words are powerful and if we are going to label ourselves with them lets at least choose better ones.
2. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
I cut down my social media time drastically and made an intentional commitment to be more present in real-time. This allowed me to sleep better at night. Use my time in more productive ways and make more real-life connections. In the month of June and July, I have been able to double my network in size, which has afforded me the ability to develop the tools to further my career.
3. CREATIVE WRITING AND READING
There are many reasons why I value reading now more than ever. Reading has taught me the value of slowing down and committing to something for an extended period of time. Social media is so quick-paced that our attention span has drastically shortened and the practice of reading challenges that new norm by fully engaging you in the story at hand.
In addition, writing is an outlet that I highly value. The ability to put feelings into paper and learning to leave them there has helped me to close many chapters and not look back, literally. Sometimes I write and go back to review what I’ve written, but more often than not I write and leave it behind with each page I turn.
Don’t know where to start in your writing journey? Start by writing your last felt feeling and last two thoughts and expand on that.
4. SELF-CARE
Over the last few years, I’ve started to eat better and be more active. I don’t always eat greens, I don’t always drink the amount of water I need to and I don’t work out every week. But the small action of scheduling self-care has taught me how to value myself, how to love myself and it has boosted my self-esteem greatly.
5.PRAYER AS MY MORNING ROUTINE
Finally, I make an effort to begin each day with prayer or meditation. My phone goes into airplane mode the night before so that I don’t see any new notifications in the morning, and I spend 10–15 minutes reading my devotion. This is the final thing on the list, yet it is the most important practice of the day for me. This has completely changed my life. It has strengthened me in ways I could never have imagined.
Depression is very real, but it does not have to be a permanent part of our life. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure when it last ended, but I do know that all of the minor moves outlined above have had a significant impact on my life. I desire for you or anyone dealing with depression to have the thought that I had, “hmmm, I haven’t suffered from depression in a while.”
Cheers to a life free of depression!
