In my case, is the term 'crisis' my euphemism for the word depression or am I couching my crisis underneath the term depression?
Whichever it is, I find that I deal with both the same way so I guess it does not matter.
What To Do:
1. Keep on living. Yes, pretty self explanatory.
2. Drink lots of water.
3. Fix up. Meaning get out of my pjs. Do the three S's of grooming.
Very important: put on eye make-up.
4. Walk the dog and/or exercise.
5. Organize and/or clean at least one immediate area around me. It could be anything:
-wipe the bathroom sink.
-pick up my fallen hair in the shower.
-flush an unflushed toilet.
Anything helps.
6. Reach out to at least one person you've put off connecting with. A text, a call, a grunt, a smile.
Anything helps.
7. Eat something healthy. Almonds. Tomatoes. An apple. Raw vegetables. Fish.
Oddly enough, during my recent episode with the big D, I suddenly could not stand the smell of fish!
I scrubbed and deodorized my house (I had cooked salmon) and I THREW OUT my salmon leftovers immediately. I am hoping this is a temporary situation because I love fish. Well, used to anyway.
8. Immerse yourself in something. Work, a chore, a book, a hobby.
In my case, I took up a new hobby. I have been crocheting. More on this later.
9. Give yourself permission to take a break. Whether it's by declining social invitations or simply sleeping for a few days.
I used to think that sleeping was bad for depression but I am beginning to rethink that.
I think that if you regulate or plan how to use sleep to help get over some bad days, it is actually helpful. In my case, I gave myself permission to sleep while the kids were at school--just for two days. I know that I am lucky that Steve's hard work allows me to be able to do this.
10. Replace unhelpful or unproductive thoughts with a prayer or a positive thought.
It is truly mental calisthenics. Sets and Reps for the brain. If you keep purging negative thoughts and replacing them with good ones, pretty soon you create muscle memory for the brain.
And last but not the least: Smile.
Smiling helps your innards.
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