How to be Happy when Depressed: 9 Ways to Boost Your Mood - Rachel Devine
When you're struggling with depression, happiness can feel elusive and unattainable. The emotional gloom of depression make it extremely challenging to find any joy. The question is, how to be happy when depressed? There are ways to incrementally improve your mood, even if overwhelmed by the darkness of depression. Implementing small positive changes and accessing support can help lift the fog of despondency bit by bit. Finding your own happiness, finding true happiness, can be achieved, even if you are feeling the blues.
Let’s look at 9 ways to feel happy again.
Start Small
When depressed, even basic tasks can seem monumental. Just to get out of the house can seem like climbing a mountain. When thinking about getting something accomplished, introduce it in your mind as small incremental steps. Try to break down goals into tiny steps and celebrate small successes. Simply getting out of bed, showering, or eating a snack are accomplishments during depressive episodes. Keep focused on positive thoughts, forgoing the thoughts of ruminating with the depression itself. Appreciate any positive step forward. Feed your mind positive happiness quotes, that can help ease some of the darkness.
Track Your Progress
Journaling about your moods, diet, sleep patterns, and activities can reveal insights on factors impacting your happiness. Keep a journal to track what is happening in your day-to-day life. When you notice improvements, even minuscule ones, review your journal to determine what is helping. Awareness of what brightens your darkness points will steer you in the right direction.
Get a Support System
Speaking honestly about your struggles with a compassionate friend, family member, or mental health professional provides emotional relief. Feeling heard and understood is uplifting. Getting feedback can also motivate you to keep implementing changes. Ask loved ones to regularly check in on you. Additionally, there are groups out there that act as a community to help those with depression, like Emotions Anonymous, which is a 12-step program. You can meet new friends who have similar depression issues and have a support system of people to talk to.
Try Natural Mood Boosters
Some natural boosters are, being out in sunshine, exercise, music, comedy, uplifting books, pets, nature walks, prayer, yoga, healthy eating, and other relaxing hobbies enhance well-being. While not cure-alls, implementing mood-boosting activities repeatedly inspires consistent small boosts of endorphins, the hormone that helps improve your mood.
Social Connection
Loneliness and isolation feed depression. While being social feels difficult when depressed, finding ways to regularly connect and laugh with others provides mood relief, even if via a short phone call or texting with a friend. Shared joy is doubled joy. And sometimes we need to push ourselves a little bit to socialize when feeling down. It is said that a day out with a friend can be extremely beneficial.
Diet & Emotional well-being
According to this Harvard Medical School article, entitled diet & depression, diet plays a role on our mental state. Fruit, vegetables, whole grain, fish, olive oil, low-fat dairy and antioxidants help lower the risk of depression. From my own experience, sugar and carbohydrates cause inflammation, which in turn can bring on depression and pain in the body. The ideal diet of choice is the Mediterranean diet, which is also a heart healthy diet.
Get Professional Help
It is always suggested to contact a mental health expert regarding counseling, medication options, holistic remedies and lifestyle changes tailored to your symptoms. While not an instant fix, getting the right professional support empowers your ability to progress through the darkness in the healthiest way.
Practice Gratitude
When depressed, we primarily fixate on negatives which reinforces despair. Making an effort to notice and reflect upon any blessings, comforts, or simple pleasures cultivates gratitude. Countering negative tunnel vision with thankfulness, however small, generates light. Additionally, finding some purpose in your life, something you love doing like art, writing or a slew of other things, can help get out of the doldrums. You can transform your life with purpose.
Take it One Day at a Time with Prayer
View your situation as temporary and take one day at a time. This brings the situation down to size. Viewing every challenge through the lens of depression distorts obstacles to seem insurmountable. Tackle one step at a time, and one day at a time. Additionally, prayer is such a soulful way to bring hope into your world. Prayer is like shinning light on the darkness. You might want to also meditate on being in your happy place. Just sit and imagine yourself in the most perfect setting that brings a smile to your face. And celebrate any success, no matter how small. Remember depression often skews perception - with support and patience, the path ahead will open up. As they say, “This too shall pass.”
In conclusion, while depression cannot be instantly cured, implementing small changes with regularity can ease the sadness, and even bring some happy moments to your life. Social support, tracking progress, finding relief in simple joys, professional help, gratitude, prayer, and focusing on what’s going right, all let light gradually infuse the darkness. Have hope in the fact that at a certain point - you will feel better.
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Rachel Devine is the author of, The Third Road & Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack.
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