7 effective ways to cope with anxiety and depression

With World Mental Health Day recently observed on the 10th of October and T20 World Cup around the corner, the world also lately witnessed one of the numero unos of Indian Sport, Virat Kohli, opening up about his struggles with mental health. Here are 7 effective ways to cope with anxiety and depression.

Acknowledge the fact that you are not feeling okay

The earlier you acknowledge the fact to yourself that you are not feeling okay, the better it is for your recovery and rehabilitation. Not feeling okay should necessarily correspond to symptoms that are impairing you physically and impeding your ability to lead your daily life. For instance, loss of sleep leads to physical symptoms like body aches, headaches, heartaches, high pulse rate, and foul-smelling skin among many others. Sleep loss can mentally impact you by limiting your capacity to think clearly and inhibiting you socially because of visible signs of the physical symptoms on your face and body. One of the earliest signs is dark circles under your eyes. In case symptoms like the above are disabling you and impacting your professional and personal life, it is time to pause and reflect. On the other hand, if your general mood is getting impacted and you feel that you can cope by talking to a friend or loved one and there is nothing that is impacting your day-to-day life, then you can perhaps postpone seeking professional help. In that case, you can probably focus more on the last five ways to cope with the mental unrest that is bothering you. In any case, professional help is the most recommended option as it offers you a platform to talk to an unbiased medical practitioner without any inhibitions and saves the time and effort that you would spend with a friend or loved one who might be unable to help professionally and neutrally. You also might not be willing to share many things with a friend vis-à-vis a counsellor.

Seek professional help

Muster courage, rise above the social stigma attached to mental health, speak for your better future and get in touch with a psychiatrist. Remember, most of the battle is won once you decide to seek support. Although it can be daunting and overwhelming in the beginning, make sure to be absolutely honest with your counsellor. Start from scratch and dissect the triggers bothering you. The more you simplify things and get to the bottom of them, the easier it will be for you to heal. Speak up your mind and slowly you will realize the importance of talking therapy. Remember, it will be therapeutic only if you address these issues with the counsellor and avoid discussing them with anyone else. Addressing and discussing with a counsellor can be extremely soothing and nourishing for the mind. Make the most of the counselling sessions and once you trust your counsellor, trust the forms of treatment proposed by them. There is a general stigma around medication for mental health and it is difficult to take them if you don’t trust your counsellor. Talk at length about the medication as well with the counsellor in the sessions and clarify all your doubts. Remember it is most important to heal and lead a better life than to be bothered about people’s perceptions of the treatment. Don’t let yourself feel bogged down by the baggage of other people’s opinions about mental health. Trust yourself and your counsellor and work in tandem with them to get better.

Support yourself with alternative forms of treatment

Alternative forms of treatment can include treatments other than allopathic medicines. These may include counselling, Ayurveda not least Ayurvedic Panchkarma Massage, Yoga, Pranayama, and Meditation among others. Counselling is a powerful tool to let out your deepest thoughts and find solutions and ways to cope with repetitive thoughts. Counselling at a regular frequency can prove wonders for someone stuck with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression. It is at the same time a generic medium to express oneself at the right platform i.e. in front of a qualified mental health counsellor and seek answers from the same expert rather than relying on hearsay and half-knowledge. Ayurvedic Panchkarma Massage is another form of remedy that can help people cope with symptoms of mental ailments. It rejuvenates the mind and body and strengthens the patient. It improves blood circulation tremendously and regular sessions can be extremely therapeutic. Yoga is an ancient form of exercise that strengthens the body and the soul. It has innumerable asanas that are meant to treat different regions of the body and empower the individual practising it. It has a whole range of body postures specifically designed for people with mental ailments. One of the most common and comprehensive forms of yoga is the sun salutation which focuses on nearly everything. Pranayamas are breathing techniques that are performed to acquire peace of mind alongside miraculous benefits for the body. Various forms of inhalation and exhalation calm the mind and nourish the body. One of the most common is anulom vilom. Meditation is practised to tame the mind and visualise goodness and positivity. There are numerous meditation techniques to focus your thoughts for some time. One such is guided meditation which asks the meditator to visualise their body and the world around them getting enlightened in methodical steps.

Journaling

Journaling is a powerful technique to let go of whatever bothers you throughout the day. Preferably it should be done before sleeping in a diary where you should pen down thoughts/ triggers bothering you. When you write things out, your mind becomes relaxed and your quality of sleep improves. There is no particular limit to journaling per night but should be realistic and should not overwhelm you. If you feel you have written enough, things can always be postponed for the next night. Regularity is the key here. Try to be as regular as you can. Although you can skip sometimes depending on your circumstances. But consistent journaling and reading through the pages on a night you decide to not journal can be extremely healing and can give direction to your thoughts. Alongside writing about the thoughts that bother you, you should also write about positive stuff. Things that made you feel better. This way slowly and gradually your journaling will move from negative to positive. As far as writing about your triggers is concerned, do make it a point to offer solutions to them and reiterate the solutions more than the problems. Constant reiteration of solutions will make you feel empowered and calm. You might not have solutions to many of your thoughts that might be left for the counselling sessions but gradually you will have solutions to most of your thoughts. Eventually, your mind will become powerful enough to offer solutions to most triggers and your power of discretion will develop with the right knowledge imparted in the sessions and your journal will become a powerful tool that can boost your confidence.

Be conscious of content consumption

In these times where there is a spurt of content every second and access is right in our hands, it becomes hard to be conscious of content consumption. Most users consume content unchecked which becomes the root cause of most mental illnesses. Content can be segregated into content that you can read, watch, see, hear and listen to. You should be mindful of the content that you are reading, watching and listening to at all times. Only reliable content should be consumed and trusted. As munching food all day leads to physical health complications, scrolling through unrestricted content all day can lead to mental complications. Staying away from phone whenever possible is something that helps a lot to control unchecked content consumption. Leave your phone at home when you go for a run. Keep your phone upside down when you are doing important stuff. Put your phone of DND mode as much as you can. Acknowledge the fact that phone does lead to spending valuable time mindlessly and cut its consumption. Slowly and gradually, the build-up of past trash will deplete and wisdom will emerge. It is equally important to check the company of the people you are in. That is another way you consume a lot unchecked. Reading a book, although tedious can be much more beneficial in the long run than consuming social media and being in the company of wrong people. It might not give you satisfaction instantly but it will help eventually. So start living mindfully now.

Adopt good habits

If not phones, then what? Exercise, read, cook, clean, wash and listen to music. Exercising is a great way to stay active and benefits the mind and the body both. With people experiencing anxiety and depression, exercising needs to be constantly tailored to suit their day-today state of mind and body. But always remember, something is better than nothing. If you cannot do 50 push-ups in a day, then not going for even a simple walk is even worse. Make your own exercise routine and let the routine be flexible enough to suit your needs. Reading something useful daily is a great way to feel accomplished. It is a great way to enhance your knowledge and is a much better learning tool than watching visual stuff. Reading a book is even better. Cooking, doing the dishes, washing clothes and cleaning your surroundings are great ways to stay engaged. They are not only therapeutic but are important life skills that are inevitable. Other than satisfying your mind in unfathomable ways, these household chores keep your body functioning and fit in the long run. With people coping with anxiety and depression, doing household duties can be immensely rewarding as it can break the cycle of guilt of wriggling in bed all the time. Seeing dishes cleaned in front of your eyes can offer instant relief just like scrolling through those aesthetic social media pages. Listening to good music can be a great source of entertainment while allowing you to do other important stuff like taking a shower or brushing your teeth. Music helps break the cycle of pessimistic thoughts and revitalises your soul.

Stay in touch with loved ones

Last but not least is staying in touch with loved ones. Your loved ones can act as people who can keep a constant check on you throughout your treatment and beyond and keep reminding you to stay on track. They can be a source of motivation that people going through anxiety and depression can often feel short of. Texting, calling or interacting in person can be great ways to halt your noisy mind and get a dose of delectable conversations. Be wary and keep the conversations that you have with the counsellor separate as they can derail your treatment and flood your mind with too many perspectives. You should also dutifully check on your loved ones for signs and symptoms of mental ailments and offer help. Staying in touch with loved ones will strengthen your relationships and you will not feel alone. Their stories might inadvertently help you in your treatment and offer answers to many questions that bug your mind. They can also help you with being consistent with the medication and at the same time rescue you from being overly dependent on medication at times when you are not in a state to take decisions for yourself. In the end, you might often find yourself not being able to follow through with many things stated in this article but it is okay to break the rules sometimes as long as you are able to convince yourself to be back on track again and again. Happy healing!

By Paras Sharma, Assistant Editor, India News