One Day At A Time

Madissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling

Battling depression can feel like a helpless, lonely, and never-ending journey to happiness. Between the frequent tears, fatigue, and lack of motivation, it can feel nearly impossible to live your life in a meaningful way. Those who struggle with depression find it easy to get stuck in a dark place where it “isn’t worth it” to do things, you are hard on yourself, and feel hopeless. Rather than focusing on how daunting it seems to turn things around, focus on what you can do today to make yourself feel better. Depression can be seen as an ongoing war, however, it is in overcoming the smaller battles that helps you win. Below are a few ways you can challenge your depression daily to help relieve the symptoms of depression on a regular basis. When you take it one day at a time, looking ahead feels less daunting and scary.

Set Small Goals

There are some days where you can’t get out of bed in the morning and other days where you just feel down. It can be helpful on any of these days to set small goals for yourself. These may change on a daily basis, therefore it is important to set theses goals based only on how you feel that day. One day your small goal may be brushing your teeth and another day it may be going to lunch with a friend. The important thing is that you do something that doesn’t feel overwhelming. Setting and achieving small goals help you feel better about yourself and your day.

Challenge Negative Self-Talk

Depression makes it easier to be hard on ourselves on a daily basis. You may say to yourself, “Why can’t you just get up?”, “You are worthless”, or “You are lazy”. This negative self-talk is detrimental to your mental health and only worsens your depression. Try keeping an affirmation journal where you list 3 things you are proud of yourself for or reasons for being grateful that day. Doing this will spotlight the positive in your life rather than the negative.

Reach Out For Support

When you are depressed the last thing you may want to do is reach out to someone for help. You may not want to talk about it, let others know your are suffering, or are afraid of judgment. It is important to have one person you feel you can go to o reach out to when things feel hard. This can be a close friend, family member, or therapist that you can rely on and trust. Having someone to support you through this time will make you feel less alone and more understood. Push through the discomfort and reach out as you will most likely feel relief when you do.

If you are struggling with the symptoms of depression and would like some support, it may be useful to connect with a therapist. Contact Symmetry Counseling at 312-578-9990 to set up an appointment with one of our very skilled therapists today!