How To Overcome Depression?

Depression is already common in this modern era. I experienced it. But, I did not yet know how to overcome depression and the tips that could help me.

People in the depression stage can’t recognize what’s normal because depressed people think that the world they live in is ordinary. It was December 2, 2015, when my depression started. That day I was hospitalized. It started when I woke up having minor seizures. I could feel the veins in my face and my head moving. It feels like my blood is rushing going through my veins.

But the night before, I had already felt those movements. I did not pay attention because I thought it was just because of fatigue. We went home from our store in a sports complex and then slept with those inside movements.

The following day, I told my husband what I felt was not ordinary and demanded to go to the hospital. When we arrived at the emergency room, the attending nurse and physician examined me and found I had 160/110 high blood pressure. At first, I was calm because I only felt those signals in my face and head and nothing more. A moment later, I was sleepy, and the attending physician strictly demanded that I should not close my eyes. I lay on the bed with only the bra I wore because they put so many wires on my chest, arms and legs. Seeing those wires on my body triggered me to panic. My heartbeat was beating fast. My blood pressure did not stabilize despite the emergency medicine they injected into me.

While they treated me, they interviewed me about my health history.

On October 30, 2015, I delivered my second child in a breech position. The breech position is where the baby’s buttocks or feet are in place first to come out during birth. She was a baby girl, and I delivered her normally with a 160/100 blood pressure. I didn’t know anything about my high blood pressure.

Later after childbirth, I realized that throughout my pregnancy, I had high blood pressure without knowing it. The blood pressure data in my prenatal book showed elevated blood pressure. Yet, I was not informed during prenatal visits.

My baby lasted only for two days. On November 1, 2015, she left us on his father’s birthday.

After three days of being hospitalized, I was discharged on December 5, 2015. My blood pressure dropped to normal levels, and I was given medication to control it. After that, it was hard for me to sleep. I was traumatized. I was scared to sleep, thinking I would not wake up the next day. In my mind, I need to be alive for my eldest.

Depression hits me. I had anxiety attacks and was often rushed to the hospital, suspecting I had minor strokes. My whole body trembled, and I could not control it. The attacks did not spare me for two years. It may be morning, afternoon, dinner, or in the middle of work. While I had those attacks, I also struggled with how to lower my blood pressure permanently to keep my life going without thinking I would pass out anytime.

I remember when I always checked my eyes, ears, legs, and arms to see if they were normal. I even bought a tape measure to check if my legs and arms were proportionate. It was funny to think, but I felt it was normal at that time, and I was normal. If I noticed something unusual, I immediately googled it, unaware that what I read on the internet increases my anxiety.

It was hard. It was really hard. However, I didn’t have a choice. Because of my depression, I suddenly got insurance for my daughter to cover my fear that I would leave this world when the time came.

I was eventually scared of closed spaces. I was afraid of having no one by my side. Every time I felt it, my anxiety attacks hit me. I would immediately go outside the house or office to see green plants or people walking or running before my whole body trembled.

Having depression for five years is not a joke. It was not a simple day-to-day experience where you struggled with how to end your day without having anxiety attacks.

During those years, I had no one to talk to. My life was just an office-home relationship. I was young then and had a kid to raise despite my struggles.

I didn’t know what to do then and had no idea on how to overcome depression. Before, when a person experienced depression, and people called it overacting and had no effort to understand the person what they had to go through.

Unlike today, there is a lot of counseling online and digital friends who offer their time to know your struggles. Still, this cannot guarantee that depressed people to be better. The support of the family will still be the best aid for them.

I overcome the depression stage by doing the following depression tips. I hope these tips will help you, too, since these have helped me a lot in my five years of battle.

• Shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you want to.

• Moisturize everything. Use whatever lotion you like.

• Put on clean, comfortable clothes. Comfortable clothes help you to become confident.

• Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.

• Clean something. It doesn’t have to be anything significant. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink. These will divert your attention from the feeling of being alone.

• Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and dancy and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.

• Make food. Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s ramen, add something special to it, like a soft-boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.

• Make something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create.

• Go outside. Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.

• Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, or a family member; call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text, email, or whatever, have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps.

• Exercise. Your body releases endorphins when it feels pain or stress. Lack of endorphins increases your health issue like depression. So, take time to exercise.

• Pray. Prayer is one of the most powerful depression tips you should do.

Some may seem minor or silly, but these depression tips keep people alive.

You must be better at your absolute best for the wrong people. But you’ll still be worth it to the right ones at your worst. Remember that. Keep holding on.

If nobody has told you today, I love you, and you are worth your weight and some in gold, be kind to yourself and keep pushing on.

People don’t fake depression..they fake being okay.

Find something to be grateful for!

Good luck.

Love,
Hazel

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