As per the National Institute of Mental Health or NIMH, estimated 16.1 million people in the US, aged 18 or above suffered from at least one significant depressive episode in 2014. This staggering number represents almost 7 percent of the adults in the country. Another statistic shows that about 70 percent of these people, even after taking their depression medication, are likely to relapse.
These numbers show how difficult it can be for a person currently suffering or who have suffered from depression in the past to get back to a healthy mental state and a normal life. You can recover from your depression but still feel sad. This makes this mental disorder a lifelong tragedy which many fail to escape.
If you or someone close to you has suffered from depression, then you can understand what it really means to have dark clouds of sadness hover above you on a constant basis. Therefore, it is important to break the cycle of sadness and stop depriving yourself of the happiness, joy, and laughter that you once felt. You need to break free from the chains of misery and lead a meaningful and happy life.
Finding happiness after depression is not an activity that you carry out just once but a process that you have to follow on a consistent basis. The feelings of sadness will try to take over the control of you, but through continuous efforts, you have to make sure that you do not fall back into the same pit of despair that you have worked so hard to get out off. Without wasting any more of your time, let us get right to how you can be happy after depression.
#1. Identify Your Priorities In Life
Everyone has their priorities in life, but depression has the power to make us take our eyes off the ball and waste our time on things that do not make any sense at all. After you have successfully beaten depression and made up your mind to lead a meaningful life , the first thing you should do is get your priorities straight. You have already wasted a lot of your time in depression, and now it is time you got your attention on things that matter the most.
#2. Set Goals
Setting goals in life are important if you want to reduce the likeliness of getting depressed again. When we know our purpose in life, we focus our energy on attaining our goals. Also, when or after recovering from depression, the hardest thing to do is break the habit of inactivity and get the things back into the swing. Goals can motivate us to work hard, keeping our attention away from things that try to pull us back into depression. You can make a list of short-term goals that you want to achieve in a period of up to one year as well as another list of long-term goals that you seek to achieve in the coming years.
#3. Avoid Negative Thinking
Negative thoughts and negative thinking are one of the biggest problems in our lives as it not only makes things appear a lot worse than they are in reality but also seeds within us the notion or idea that we are not good enough for something. This irrational kind of thinking is what you have to deal with first if you want to stay away from depression. Make it a point to steer clear of things that make you sad and people that spark negative thoughts in your brain.
Here are some tips that will help you overcome your negative thoughts.
#4. Avoid Things That Triggered Depression In The First Place
In most cases, depression is triggered by some event like a breakup, loss of job and death of a loved one. The key to healthily dealing with depression is to accept your circumstances and move on. Realize that you have wasted away enough of your precious time being depressed. If there is something that brings back the same feelings of depression and worthlessness, then avoid them as much as you can.
#5. Pamper Yourself
Being depressed, you have let things go and developed the attitude of letting the chips fall where they might. You became indifferent towards things that once brought you great joy. But it is time to put an end to all that. Now that you have finally escaped your depression somehow, it is now time to become the old self so begin by making yourself feel loved. Pamper yourself like you haven’t done in a while. Go shopping if you like, take yourself out to dinner or prepare your favorite meal at home. Remember that this is not something that you do just once, but follow on a regular basis. Love yourself, and you will never be sad again.
Read why you should start loving yourself!
#6. Try Positive Self-Talk
When you are recovering from depression, the most difficult thing can be to maintain a positive mindset. No matter how much we try, the thoughts of being worthless make their way back to us. In those times, you can explore positive self-talk to persuade yourself that you are worthy of every happiness in the world. Simple things like using more affirmative words and sentences or focusing on all the positive stuff in your life can be a huge motivational factor.
#7. Indulge In Things You Love
Your depression made you give up on life and indifferent towards all the things that you once loved. Now that your depression has passed, it is finally time to get back to all those indulgences. And what better way than this can you think of to be happy after depression? Whether it is partaking in adventure sports that you love or spending time with family, do whatever makes you feel good and relish life itself.
#8. Reconnect With Friends
Friends are important in life as they are the family that we have chosen in life. When you were depressed, you spent most of your time alone, and even when you were with friends, you wished you were somewhere else. In short, your depression gave a huge blow to your friendships and other relations. Perhaps if you had focused on maintaining these, you wouldn’t have slipped into depression that deep. But it isn’t too late either. Now that you are recovering from your depression, it is time to reconnect with friends who we once let slip away.
#9. Plan A Getaway
Escape; as simple as that. Everyone needs a break from life, especially when you are depressed or recovering from it. Mundane life and lack of excitement is often the root cause of depression. The easiest way to deal with sad thoughts when you are trying to be happy after depression is escaping the world and spending time in a new place. It will take your mind off of the negative things and keep you busy.
#10. Get Professional Help
When you have tried everything, from reconnecting with friends and holidaying in someplace new to focusing on your goals and positive self-talk, then maybe the only thing for you is to get in touch with a profession. Also, it is important not to waste time and wait till it is too late. If you can’t help being depressed even when you have tried your best, then the next thing to do is consult a therapist.
Liked what you just read? Tell us through your comments below. Also, share with us tips regarding how to be happy again after depression. We are waiting for your comments.
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Depression can suck your happiness dry. It is an evil that most of us take too lightly and only understand the depth of it when it is too late. If you have somebody in your life who is going through depression then I would urge you not to take this lightly and be their helping hand without wasting any more time. You never know when tragedy might struck and you do not want to be too late to realize this. Now getting to the topic which is how to start being happy after depression; it is not easy. It is not that difficult to be happy in life but when you have been through a period of depression, it is too easy to slip back into it. Therefore, you have to work even harder than anybody else to be happy. The thing that is in your favor is that you have already been there and now you understand more than anybody else what it is like. So you can work better to not fall into depression again. I believe that the first thing you should do to be happy after depression is keep yourself busy. It is like they say, an idle mind is devil’s workshop and I could not agree with this more. If you have ever noticed, then you would know that all negative thoughts come to us when we have nothing else or perhaps nothing good to put our mind to. Therefore, if you want to stay happy, then keep yourself occupied with things. You can do whatever you want to. You can be alone and partake in activities that make you happy and spend quality time with people who support you to grow in life. Just never sit idle because if you do, it will not take too long for the same thoughts of depression to come back again. Another thing that I would suggest you is that you make goals for yourself. I do not mean career goals like what you want to achieve in your life, but goals of happiness. There are things in life that bring us great happiness and there are things in life which though are less joyful, are yet important. Make a list of yourself to indulge in such things. And these things should have a deadline. While you are working on your career, simultaneously, also take care of things that bring you joy and keep your spirits up. Well, if nothing is working out for you and you believe that you have exploited your every option, then do not wait to get depressed again. Join a support group. You do not seek help when you are in trouble. It can also a great assistance when you are trying to avoid one. So, if you have done everything that you self-help books, online articles and your friends and family have told you, then enroll yourself to a support group. I joined a support group when I could not deal with a problem in my life some time back. I did not believe that it would work but it did. I had tried everything from medication to positive self-talk but did not find relief. Finally, it was a support group that came to my rescue. This was what I think. But these are just my views and you should not consider them a professional’s word. If you feel like your condition is slipping through your fingers, then contact a professional therapist as soon as possible. I hope you will find this comment useful.