Develop An Action Plan For Anxiety And Depression
Your action plan for anxiety and depression will cover a wide range of options. The plan can include exercise, stress management and how to improve your sleep. You may be referred to a psychologist who can help you address things like negative thinking and how to manage difficulties in your relationships.
Some people think it’s weak to admit they’re going through a tough time, but if you have anxiety or depression, you can’t just ‘snap out of it’ or ‘pull yourself together’. There’s more to it than that.
If you think you may have anxiety or depression, and want to take action, start by talking to someone you trust – keeping it to yourself can make things worse. Discuss your situation with a friend, partner, family member a colleague or your .
Beyond Blue has put together information about how men can create an action plan.
Take A Test To See How You Feel
If you’re unsure about the way you feel, take our anonymous online test to check whether your levels of stress, anxiety, or depression are within a healthy range, and see if one of our online courses could help.
What Causes Depression?
No one knows exactly what causes depression. It is clear that genetic factors are important in many cases of depression. Depression seems to run in families , and about 30% of the predisposition for depression is due to genetic influences.
Stressful life events play a part in the onset or relapse of depression. Ongoing conflicts with others can take their toll on our well-being, as can other social and environmental stressors such as financial difficulties, retirement, unemployment, childbirth, loneliness, or loss of someone or something important. In vulnerable people, these unpleasant life events may be enough to cause or worsen a depressive illness.
A person’s personality characteristics are an important factor. When people are depressed, they usually have a very negative view of themselves and the world. They do not appreciate good things, and bad things seem overwhelming. Some people have a tendency to view things this way even when they are not depressed. In other words, they may have a depressive personality style.
Did you know…
Cbt Techniques Recommended By Psychologists
While practicing CBT with a therapist is best, it’s a route many can’t take or benefit from to the same degree because of financial constraints and other barriers.
But don’t worry — CBT is a therapy you can practice on your own. Below, find psychologist-recommended skills that help with anxiety- and depression-based cognitive distortions.
1. Cognitive restructuring with exposure therapy
Find The Right Therapist For You
Do a search to find all therapists in your area
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Tip 5: Get A Daily Dose Of Sunlight
Sunlight can help boost serotonin levels and improve your mood. Whenever possible, get outside during daylight hours and expose yourself to the sun for at least 15 minutes a day. Remove sunglasses and use sunscreen as needed.
- Take a walk on your lunch break, have your coffee outside, enjoy an al fresco meal, or spend time gardening.
- Double up on the benefits of sunlight by exercising outside. Try hiking, walking in a local park, or playing golf or tennis with a friend.
- Increase the amount of natural light in your home and workplace by opening blinds and drapes and sitting near windows.
- If you live somewhere with little winter sunshine, try using a light therapy box.
Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
Sleep and mood are intimately related. A 2014 study found that 80% of people with major depressive disorder experience sleep disturbances.??
But, you might feel like you just can’t fall asleep. Or perhaps you struggle to get out of bed because you feel exhausted all the time.
Good sleep hygiene could be key to improving the quality and quantity of your sleep.
Turn off electronics at least an hour before you go to bed. Use dim light to read a book or engage in another relaxing activity.
Only use your bed for sleep and sexual activity. Doing work in bed, or even in your bedroom, can cause you to associate your bed with stress, rather than relaxation.
It Completely Sucks But There Is Hope
“Anxiety and depression have a way of shrinking your world. The first steps to expanding your life again are accepting that it is OK to not feel OK. It will take work, but you will heal and, one day, you will reconnect with how much you matter.” ?Matthew Emerzian, CEO and founder of Every Monday Matters, a not-for-profit organization that helps people with self-worth
Some interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Small Steps Big Impact
Depression can drain your energy, leaving you feeling empty and fatigued. This can make it difficult to muster the strength or desire to seek treatment.
However, there are small steps you can take to help you feel more in control and improve your overall sense of well-being.
Read on to learn how to incorporate these strategies in a way that makes sense for you.
Do I Need Health Insurance To Receive This Service
The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.
Who Gets Depression
In general‚ about 1 out of every 6 adults will have depression at some time in their life. Depression affects about 16 million American adults every year. Anyone can get depressed, and depression can happen at any age and in any type of person.
Many people who experience depression also have other mental health conditions., Anxiety disorders often go hand in hand with depression. People who have anxiety disorders struggle with intense and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, and/or panic. These feelings can interfere with daily activities and may last for a long time.
Rebecca M., age 57, struggled with depression and had a few wake-up calls as a smoker. She felt depressed and smoked cigarettes to help her cope with her feelings. The more Rebecca smoked, the harder it seemed to quit. Rebecca finally quit smoking after getting care for her depression and realizing that she had to take care of her own health. She now leads a new, smokefree life.
“I quit smoking and I got care for my depression.”
How You Can Help
It might seem small, but just doing things together, being there and staying connected can be a big help.
Depression and anxiety are so common that it’s highly likely that at some point you’ll know someone who might be experiencing it. It might be someone in your wh?nau, a team-mate or someone from your community. People with depression and anxiety are more likely to get through with help and support than on their own.Being depressed and anxious can be a really lonely experience. Sometimes the most important thing is having supportive people around or checking in. Having a coffee, watching television, phoning or texting to say ’Hi’ can help a lot. When you’re feeling down, knowing that people are thinking of you can really lift your spirits.Often when people are feeling bad they don’t want to go out and do anything. Everything feels just too hard. So encouraging them to do something with you is a great support. It could be something small like watching funny video clips, listening to music, going for a walk or window-shopping. Think about something you both like to do. There are different things you can do, depending on who you’re trying to help:
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Depression In Men
Different men have different symptoms, but some common depression symptoms include:
- Anger, irritability, or aggressiveness
- Feeling anxious, restless, or “on the edge”
- Loss of interest in work, family, or once-pleasurable activities
- Problems with sexual desire and performance
- Feeling sad, “empty,” flat, or hopeless
- Not being able to concentrate or remember details
- Feeling very tired, not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
- Overeating or not wanting to eat at all
- Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts
- Physical aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems
- Inability to meet the responsibilities of work, caring for family, or other important activities
- Engaging in high-risk activities
- A need for alcohol or drugs
- Withdrawing from family and friends or becoming isolated
Not every man who is depressed experiences every symptom. Some men experience only a few symptoms while others may experience many.
Build A Support Network
One of the most important things you can do to help yourself with depression—other than medication and therapy—is to develop strong social support.
For some, this may mean forging stronger ties with friends or family. Knowing you can count on supportive loved ones to help can go a long way toward improving your depression.
For others, a depression support group can be key.?? It may involve a community group that meets in your area or you might find an online support group who meets your needs.
Getting Diagnosed: What To Expect
Getting a diagnosis isn’t one size fits all, but your primary care doc will probably want to talk about your symptoms, do an exam, and ask questions to get a clearer picture.
Sometimes there’s a physical cause of the problem. For instance, if you’re low in B vitamins, vitamin D, or iron or you have an underactive thyroid, you could have symptoms that look a lot like depression.
Your doctor might order blood or urine tests to check these numbers first. If the tests don’t suggest any other causes, they may refer you to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health professional who can offer a specific diagnosis with the help of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 .
Luckily, treatments for anxiety and depression run pretty similar courses, and addressing one condition often improves the other too. Your healthcare provider may recommend one or a combination of these strategies:
Other Ways To Help Include:
- Offering him support, understanding, patience, and encouragement
- Listening carefully and talking with him
- Never ignoring comments about suicide, and alerting his therapist or doctor
- Helping him increase his level of physical and social activity by inviting him out for hikes, games, and other events. If he says, “no,” keep trying, but don’t push him to take on too much too soon.
- Encouraging him to report any concerns about medications to his health care provider
- Ensuring that he gets to his doctor’s appointments
- Reminding him that with time and treatment, the depression will lift
Practice These Coping Skills Every Day
I recommend doing many — if not all —of the following coping skills and techniques once a day when experiencing depression. It’s important to know you probably won’t be motivated to do any of them at first because depression frequently saps motivation. In other words, know that it’s normal to feel unmotivated until you’re halfway done.
The patients I work with who frequently practice these coping skills get better.The seven techniques can be memorized with the acronym MY PEERS.
1. Meaning: Find small ways to be of service to others.
Find personal meaning by serving something larger than yourself. Remember service doesn’t have to be big to count. Consider this, “Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.”– Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
2. Your goals: Find workable goals that give you a sense of accomplishment.
Most people feel guilty when talking about goals because they set unreasonable or unworkable goals. A goal is workable if it’s:
If something goes wrong with your goal, adopt a “what can I learn from this?” attitude . Also, be careful when comparing your progress with others. We usually compare our biggest weakness with another person’s biggest strength. This is unfair .
3. Pleasant Events: Schedule pleasant activities or events.
4. Engagement: Stay in the present.
What Is The Link Between Smoking And Mental Health Conditions
Smoking is much more common among adults with mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, than in the general population. About 3 out of every 10 cigarettes smoked by adults in the United States are smoked by persons with mental health conditions. Why smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to experience depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions is uncertain. More research is needed to determine this. No matter the cause‚ smoking is not a treatment for depression or anxiety. Getting help for your depression and anxiety and quitting smoking is the best way to feel better.
Living With Anxiety And Depression Is A Constant Fight With Yourself
“I usually don’t experience one without the other. One moment I’m facing a cycle of racing, urgent thoughts and emotions and the next, I’m facing a vast void of nothingness. My anxious mind tells me that something is wrong with me and that I have to fix myself to save myself. My depressed mind tells me not to bother because nothing matters anyway. It’s like there are two parts of me fighting with one another ? but nobody wins.” ?Olivia LaBarre, 28, a practitioner withReiki Healing Works in Brooklyn
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Depression
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT is considered to be one of the leading psychological treatments for depression. All of our online courses use CBT strategies to help ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. Click below to see if CBT can help you tackle your symptoms to improve the way you feel.
Strategies for Dealing with Depression
Cognitive Strategies
People who are depressed generally have a negative thinking style.
They often think of themselves as worthless and of the world as being a bad or unfair place, and they find it hard to hope that their lives will improve in the future.
When something bad happens, they blame themselves, but when good things happen, they tell themselves they are just lucky.
Furthermore, people with depression are less likely to recognize and appreciate positive events when they happen; rather, they tend to be more tuned into the bad things in their lives and brood over those events.
The aim of a cognitive approach is to help people identify and correct their distorted and negatively biased thoughts.
This approach identifies and challenges underlying assumptions and beliefs.
With encouragement to reframe the way they think about life, people are able to recover from failures more effectively and to recognise and take credit for the good things in their lives.
People learn that they have some control over what happens to them. As with behavioural strategies, having these skills reduces relapse and recurrence of depression.
Emerging Trends In Substance Misuse:
- Methamphetamine—In 2019, NSDUH data show that approximately 2 million people used methamphetamine in the past year. Approximately 1 million people had a methamphetamine use disorder, which was higher than the percentage in 2016, but similar to the percentages in 2015 and 2018. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that overdose death rates involving methamphetamine have quadrupled from 2011 to 2017. Frequent meth use is associated with mood disturbances, hallucinations, and paranoia.
- Cocaine—In 2019, NSDUH data show an estimated 5.5 million people aged 12 or older were past users of cocaine, including about 778,000 users of crack. The CDC reports that overdose deaths involving have increased by one-third from 2016 to 2017. In the short term, cocaine use can result in increased blood pressure, restlessness, and irritability. In the long term, severe medical complications of cocaine use include heart attacks, seizures, and abdominal pain.
- Kratom—In 2019, NSDUH data show that about 825,000 people had used Kratom in the past month. Kratom is a tropical plant that grows naturally in Southeast Asia with leaves that can have psychotropic effects by affecting opioid brain receptors. It is currently unregulated and has risk of abuse and dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that health effects of Kratom can include nausea, itching, seizures, and hallucinations.
Resources:
Do The Opposite Of What The Depression Voice Suggests
The negative, irrational voice in your head may talk you out of . However, if you can learn to recognize it, you can learn to replace it. Use logic as a weapon. Address each thought individually as it occurs.
If you believe an event won’t be fun or worth your time, say to yourself, “You might be right, but it’ll be better than just sitting here another night.” You may soon see the negative isn’t always realistic.
A lengthy to-do list may be so weighty that you’d rather do nothing. Instead of compiling a long list of tasks, consider setting one or two smaller goals.
For example:
When you’ve done a small thing, set your eyes on another small thing, and then another. This way, you have a list of tangible achievements and not an untouched to-do list.
All goals are worthy of recognition, and all successes are worthy of celebration. When you achieve a goal, do your best to recognize it.
You may not feel like celebrating with a cake and confetti, but recognizing your own successes can be a very powerful weapon against depression’s negative weight.
The memory of a job well-done may be especially powerful against negative talk and overgeneralization.
If depressive symptoms disrupt your daily routine, setting a gentle schedule may help you feel in control. But these plans don’t have to map out an entire day.
Focus on times when you feel the most disorganized or scattered.
How To Cope With Anxiety And Depression
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. Here’s what you need to know if they strike simultaneously.
Diana RodriguezAllison Young, MDAleksei Morozov/iStock
Do you sometimes worry so much that it interferes with your everyday activities? Or feel so blue that it completely clouds your outlook? Do you often experience these or similar feelings together? You’re not the only one.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America , anxiety disorders — which include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder — are the most common mental health problem among U.S. adults, affecting 18.1 percent of the population each year. And mood disorders — which include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder — are the leading cause of disability.
Moreover, the incidence of developing depression in addition to an anxiety disorder or vice versa is high. Many people with major depression also suffer from severe and persistent anxiety, notes Sally R. Connolly, LCSW, in Louisville, Kentucky. And some experts estimate that 60 percent of people with anxiety will also have symptoms of depression, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness .
RELATED: Black Mental Health: Fighting Stigma and Building Trust
Tips For Living With Depression
Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Everything feels more challenging when you’re dealing with . Going to work, socializing with friends, or even just getting out of bed can feel like a struggle.
But there are some things you can do to cope with your symptoms and improve your quality of life. Here are eight tips for living with depression.
What You Should Do
Just because you’re experiencing one of those symptoms doesn’t mean you’ll be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or depression. “But if you’re too caught up in one feeling or another, having less pleasure in life or having trouble doing what you need to do, then certainly get help,” says Dr. Miller.
Reaching out to family and friends may be a good way to start the process. “Talk to people who might be understanding, compassionate, and helpful,” Dr. Miller says. If you feel embarrassed to share your feelings or worries with those close to you, make an appointment with your doctor.
What Causes Depression In Men
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S. Current research suggests that depression is caused by a combination of risk factors including:
- Genetic factors—men with a family history of depression may be more likely to develop it than those whose family members do not have the illness.
- Environmental Stress—financial problems, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, major life changes, work problems, or any stressful situation may trigger depression in some men.
- Illness—depression can occur with other serious medical illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or Parkinson’s disease. Depression can make these conditions worse and vice versa. Sometimes, medications taken for these illnesses may cause side effects that trigger or worsen depression.
So Whats The Relationship Between Depression And Anxiety
Anxiety and depression are separate conditions, each with several varieties, or subtypes. For instance, people can feel anxiety broadly, as in generalized anxiety disorder, or more specifically, as in phobias or social anxiety.
Depression has many faces, too, the most common of which is called major depression — which might sound scary but is really just the catchall of depression diagnoses.
Anxiety and depression often work in tandem. Anxious thoughts can spiral toward depressing ones. If depression comes first, you might not feel up to completing daily tasks and then, as dishes and bills pile up on the kitchen counter, start to feel anxious.
If you’re feeling depressed and anxious — either at the same time or one after the other — you could have both depression and anxiety, or you could have one of them accompanied by symptoms of the other.
The risk factors for both include lifestyle, stress, environment, underlying medical conditions, history of trauma, and, of course, the genetic lottery — which means some of us are born more prone to anxiety and/or depression and some of us experience them after dealing with a trauma or loss.
Whatever the causes of depression and anxiety are for you, know that it’s not your fault and help is most definitely available.
Ok Im Feeling Depressed So Now What
Now that you know the symptoms of depression, some positive coping skills can be useful. All of the following techniques are supported by scientific research and medication prescribers — like psychiatrists — and these skills are frequently recommended as important parts of treatment even for patients who continue to take antidepressant medications.
WARNING: Do not suddenly go off your prescribed antidepressant medications without first talking to your medical provider. Discuss any questions or concerns about the side effects of your medications with your provider.
How To Reach Out For Depression Support
Look for support from people who make you feel safe and cared for. The person you talk to doesn’t have to be able to fix you; they just need to be a good listener—someone who’ll listen attentively and compassionately without being distracted or judging you.
Make face-time a priority. Phone calls, social media, and texting are great ways to stay in touch, but they don’t replace good old-fashioned in-person quality time. The simple act of talking to someone face to face about how you feel can play a big role in relieving depression and keeping it away.
Try to keep up with social activities even if you don’t feel like it. Often when you’re depressed, it feels more comfortable to retreat into your shell, but being around other people will make you feel less depressed.
Find ways to support others. It’s nice to receive support, but research shows you get an even bigger mood boost from providing support yourself. So find ways—both big and small—to help others: , be a listening ear for a friend, do something nice for somebody.
Care for a pet. While nothing can replace the human connection, pets can bring joy and companionship into your life and help you feel less isolated. Caring for a pet can also get you outside of yourself and give you a sense of being needed—both powerful antidotes to depression.
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