By Sarah Siddiqui 

Depression is a hole from hell. It’s very easy to slip in there and not know what has just happened until you are far deep down there. Don’t get me wrong depression surely has stages just as any other disease in the world has got stages. But the real problem is the silence with which this killer takes hold of you. Oh, how many lives have been lost as its bait and with no other reasons besides this horrific curse? This is certainly the modern-day man’s worst enemy. It kills as cancer kills but it is worse than cancer because a person with cancer can choose to live his last day happily but a seriously depressed has no such options. But as every disease has a cure so is this rocker no exception.  If you are depressive, and you feel you have any signs of depression, then, this write-up is for you. Here we are going to share 10 powerful ways to help overcome depression.

10 Powerful Ways To Overcome Depression

1- Belief

The best strategy to cure a disease is to find the root cause and start to treat it inside out. In my opinion, the major cause of depression is a basic lack of belief in God. In a supreme omnipresent being who cares for his creation. And is the most compassionate and nurturing for his creation. Knows all and understands all whether hidden or open. Having a concept of judgment or karma and a firm belief in it. Religion and its beliefs are a strong fort against hopelessness and depression. To believe in a higher power supporting you is a sure sign that you won’t die cutting your wrist.

2- Connecting With A Holy Book

The second most important antidepressant for just anyone in my sight is to keep a solid connection with a holy book based on your beliefs. Quran for Muslims, the bible for Christians for that matter, and so on and so forth. Here I want to emphasize the word connection instead of superficial attachment or superficial association. And mind you this connection takes time of its own to develop. After a time of understanding the book and spending time with it just as in any other physical human relationship where a bond of love and attachment is made after an investment of time and attention towards each other. This connection to a holy text provides companionship and empathy to a depressed isolated soul who starts to regain the feeling that at least this book understands me. Why I chose from all other books a holy book is because the word of God is certainly the most influential, the wisest, and the most empathic as compared to the word of wisest of human beings.

3- Meditation

Meditation is a way for a person to dive into his soul, disconnected from his surroundings, eradicate all external hum and noise, and listen to his own feelings at the present moment. See his true raw self and what he is inside. For a depressed person, this connection to himself is numbed. Out of the intensity of his internal pain, he gets blocked from his own feelings. He feels empty inside and lifeless as if the reality he has already died and his body is a walking corpse of his soul. But let me give a disclaimer before this method. It is better for a severely depressed individual to not start meditating on his own without the guidance of a trained expert mentor. The mentor realizes his condition will slowly connect him to his soul and it depends on the severity of damage inside as to how long it will take to rehabilitate the depressed. meditation is not just one kind, it is of various kinds. There is Sufi meditation of Muslims yoga in Hindus and various others which a person can find and research on what’s best for him.

4- Being Creative

Have you ever felt how wonderful it feels when we bake a cake or do some painting or write some poetry? This is because being creative gives us a sense of accomplishment a feeling of achievement, as transitory as it may be but it’s there and real for a moment or so then it quickly fades away. My advice is to catch those moments again and again and on a daily basis. Slowly and gradually the negative feelings of being an absolute failure will be replaced by the feeling of self-awe as to how wonderfully I baked or how wonderfully I just painted so on and so forth. The key here is to actively ask oneself what one feels like doing. And if a transitory spark of desire arises from any creative endeavor the trick is to grab it there and then and not let it slip away.

5- Do Journaling 

Whenever a thought comes to mind it stays there and is repeated over and over until we take some action about it. For a depressed individual, these are confusing thoughts, obsessions, and endless negative mind chatter as he keeps these ideas inside his mind and sulks on them he starts to believe in them as a reality. This process is so unconscious that without knowing he slips into believing in his negative thoughts. the advice here is to continuously be mindful of one’s internal temperature and if depression hits, to start writing whatever comes to mind in a personal diary. Then consciously ask oneself if it’s a reality and clearly judge oneself based on true facts.

6- Learn New Skills

When a person is learning a new skill his brain becomes actively engaged in that skill and its details. So instead of thinking about vain topics, his mind becomes more preoccupied with productive thoughts about what he wants to learn. For a person who is depressed, a preoccupation with learning something new is absolutely a blessing but here is an important point to remember and that is, a depressed person is crippled psychologically and needs the help of a personal tutor to keep his focus on learning and reaching his goals.

7- Understand Your Flow In Work

Even depressed people have to work and it is a hard reality of life. A physically ill person is granted a day off of work but a depressed person has no excuse to stay in bed. Only God knows how, with his depression, he completes his daily chores but no need to be overwhelmed. There is a way out of this situation and that comes with a unique method of understanding your flow. What is the flow? It is a unique method of doing things. There are natural rhythms and cycles that happen in every aspect of our life. So whether it’s sleep or hunger or any other modality of life, we are inclined to have specific habits that are unique to us. This is a very broad concept and is a sort of self-mastery. If we can understand our natural rhythms in daily life we can be ultra-productive and mundane work feels almost effortless. The topic can be searched for as the term “flow psychology’’.

8- Organise And Declutter Your Space

This is an obvious method to deal with depression. Of course, when our life is more chaotic on the outside, our minds will certainly have an additional mess in them. Things will be chaotic inside as they are outside. But this point needs to be emphasized that this organization should not be forced upon oneself when one is feeling really down. A person should try this method when there is some energy in oneself. Practicing this habit on a daily basis will produce magnificent results in the long run.

9- Plan Your Day Ahead

If we plan our day ahead of time, make a to-do list, and prioritize the most important tasks ahead. Write them down on a piece of paper our days will become much more organized productive and predictable and there will be a lesser strain on our minds about daily chores and mundane activities.

10- Wait For Miracles And Be Positive

Life is a continuum of events that many times are unexpected for us human beings. For a person who is depressed and sees life in the negatives only, it’s very difficult to expect anything good in life. He is constantly thinking that life has only struck hard blows towards me and it will continue to do this until I perish. This is a very negative mentality and a sure recipe for failure in life. This is because if he thinks this way he will never make an effort to better his life even where he has any sort of control. Here we will return to the most basic point of our discussion which is belief. If he starts to develop an unshakable belief in the goodness of the universe, in the fairness and the justice that prevails in the universe, and the transitory nature of afflictions, he will start to create a positive mindset and hopefulness in the future and he will surely attract miracles in his desperate life.

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