4 Habits to Help Push Through Your Mental Lows (Amanda)
Whether your mental lows are from depression, depressive episodes, related mental illnesses, or situational sorrows, your feelings are valid and it is 100% understandable that you can’t perform at your best. Take it easy on yourself, and know that there are going to be more ups and downs as life goes on. It’s okay not to be okay.
That being said, sometimes we need to remain productive through our mental lows. We might have kids to take care of, a demanding job that needs doing, friendships we want to uphold, a house that needs cleaning, or anything, really, that is important to you and your life. Even though you can’t perform at 100% right now and that is completely okay, there are some tactics you can implement to help you push through and get some stuff done during your mental lows.
Get Things Done in Small Segments — Just 5 Minutes
When we’re depressed or in a mood recession, we tend to stay in one place, inactive. It’s comfortable, or at the very least, it’s all we know we can do at that point when every task we know we need to complete is so large in comparison. Know that it’s okay to do nothing sometimes.
That being said, you have more willpower in you than you think. Five minutes is 300 seconds. You can count to 300 pretty easily, it doesn’t take too long. If you know you have something you’ve been needing to get around to, just give yourself those 300 seconds to get started. Promise yourself that, if you want to, you can go sit back down after those seconds have passed. You could do less, even. 240 seconds of starting the dishes. 180 seconds of folding clothes. Even just 60 seconds to send that text you’ve been needing to send.
From there, you can allow yourself to continue if you’d like. If you want to keep going, that’s great! If you don’t, that is also completely fine. You promised yourself it only had to be 5 minutes. You can go sit back down, and you should truly be proud of those 300 seconds. It sounds silly, but you did something you wouldn’t have otherwise done. Try to give yourself those time segments here and there throughout the day. You can do it.
Maintain Your Relationships Despite Depression
Maintaining your relationships during depression can be very difficult. The nagging voice in your head might say, “What’s the point?” or you might worry that you’re biting off more than you can chew at the moment when it comes to socializing.
It doesn’t have to be much. Send your loved one a text just saying that you hope they’re doing well, and add a smiley face or a heart to the end of the message. They’ll either reply with a “Yeah doing great! Hope you are too :)” or they’ll reply with something going on in their life. The conversation doesn’t have to go on for long, but just try to be present in the conversation and wrap it up when you’ve had enough. Such a simple conversation can help you feel so much better. You did it! You’re keeping up with your social relationships.
Exercise Doesn’t Cure Depression, but It Can Help Your Lows
Exercise may sound like the last thing you want to do when you’re in a mental low, but even the simplest of exercises can boost your mood. This is known to be true even scientifically.
Exercise doesn’t mean you have to go for a multi-mile run or hit the gym, by any means. When we picture exercise, we tend to picture fit people conquering their high-level goals. There is so much more to exercise than big goals, and there are many, many ways to work out. There’s a way for everyone to exercise that will work for them.
It can be so difficult to get off the couch and move whenever you’re depressed. Luckily, there are even ways you can exercise while laying down, such as by doing leg lifts. Some other simple exercises you can do may include:
Going for a walk, even around your house
Doing some jumping jacks/star jumps
Doing some other calisthenics, such as squats, pushups, or lunges
Trying some yoga (there are some really simple tutorials out there!)
Doing some basic stretching
If you can do more intense exercise, go for it, but you should feel really proud of yourself for simply getting up and moving. Exercise can have positive chemical effects on the brain, can improve self esteem, and can reduce anxiety.
Lastly, exercise can help with mindfulness.
Practice Mindfulness During Your Mental Lows
Mindfulness is a very broad topic, but there are some simple strategies you can implement to soothe your brain and deal with your mental low in a more productive way. While feeling depressed, our minds can run amok with dread and sometimes worry. We might build out scenarios in our mind and conclude that none of it will go right. We respond to this with either apathy or anxiety; we know that neither of these conclusions are good for us.
There is so much scientific support that mindfulness can help treat depression symptoms. You might be asking, what exactly is mindfulness? Put simply, mindfulness is being fully present in the current moment. This sounds really obvious, but it’s so easy to get caught up dreading the future or dwelling on the past. Allowing yourself to pay attention to the current moment, use your senses to take it in, and feel what you’re feeling right now can be very calming and meditative. Mindfulness allows us to step away from judgment and just accept who we are and what we’re currently feeling for a moment.
It’s hard to grasp before you try it, so here are a few mindfulness exercises that can help.
Grounding Techniques
If you have a hard time focusing on the present moment, try this. Look around the room and count the number of objects you see. Identify colors you see. Think about the feelings of your hands, feet, eyes, ears, etc. As you’re doing this, you’re allowing yourself to be in the present moment. There are so many grounding techniques out there, so pick your favorites.
Breathing Techniques
You can also do some very specific breathing techniques to focus on the present moment. Try boxed breathing, for example. Imagine yourself working your way around a square. Breathe in for 6 seconds to go up the left side of the square. Hold your breath for 6 seconds to move across the top of the square. Breathe out for 6 seconds to go down the right side of the square. Hold your breath to go across the bottom of the square. Repeat!
Exercise
We just talked about exercise, but you can use it to practice mindfulness too. While you’re exercising, focus on the feeling of your muscles. Focus on your breathing. If your mind starts to stray to other thoughts, bring it back to what you’re doing and what is around you. You can implement other mindfulness techniques while you’re exercising. You might find it much easier to focus on the present moment while you’re exercising.
This is all a very brief look at mindfulness. I really recommend you go read more about mindfulness here. That being said, these strategies are about all you need to get started. Try to keep your mind from wandering and pull it back to the present if it does. Your mind will wander, and that is okay, as long as you keep pulling it back to the present. Practicing mindfulness can really help when you feel like you’re spiraling.
Conclusion: Take It Easy on Yourself, and Be Proud of What You Can Do
Getting stuff done during your mental lows can be motivating in itself. It can make you feel better about yourself, and you can start taking baby steps towards doing more with your days again. You might have off days where you don’t feel up to much, of course, but doing your best is all anyone can ask of you.
Just try to break everything down into small pieces and take those baby steps to get back on track with your normal and preferred lifestyle. Be proud of anything you accomplish, big or small. This might include doing a few dishes, texting a friend, using mindfulness to get out of a mental spiral, or even simply standing up. I can’t stress enough that you should be proud of anything you can do. Depression and mental lows are incredibly hard, and you’re persevering.
If you haven’t already, I recommend reaching out to us here at Letters Against Depression. Know that letters from us are entirely free. You can sign up to receive personal letters from us to help encourage you through your worse days, or you can even volunteer to write letters if that’s what makes you happy! Know that you’re never alone and that you have hope and support from us here.