The most helpful advice I've ever been given was given by my Dad. He suffered from depression for years. Now he's the most positive, energetic person I know. The advice is this: Check Your Thinking.
It may not mean or sound like much, but it has been my crutch.
The idea is this: Bouts of depression often sneak up on you. You need to try and get them before they get you. You can do this by consciously assessing your thoughts every now and then. It's quite simple really:
- What am I doing/thinking?
- Do I really want to be doing/thinking this?
- If the answer is no? Let's do/think something else.
The reason? You are the sum of your thoughts. If you are thinking about sad things, you will inevitably become sad. If you expose yourself to sad things you will inevitably absorb that sadness. Your 'spirit' is the product of what you feed and do with your mind.
There's a great quote from the movie High Fidelity(2000):
What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
The effect your environment can have is well document for extreme cases. Look at PTSD for example. What about the moderate cases, like music preferences, or a lack of friends? If you're mind was a tea cup. Entering a war zone would be like dropping that cup and watching it shatter. And although a sad song is not a violent fall from height, it is a tiny hammer. One swing might not do much, but one hundred will and one thousand will do more. There are many ways a tea cup can break.
All I try and do is avoid the tiny hammers : )
Or as my Dad says it, "check your thinking."
Good sleep, regular exercise and a healthy diet is just mandatory.
