Put some actual effort into overcoming depression

in a big way. In a very consistent overall daily way. Reviewing Zooey’s list of anti-depressing activites I remembered that I was also supposed to track my own anti-depressing activities.

• Fish oil, meddies and vitamins daily (I put them all next to the coffee maker and have been making coffee daily since school started).
• Shower, dress and go outside for sunshine (3 days a week I have class so I’m forced to go outside, and all my dates lately have had the great added benefit of forcing me to get out of bed, dress and put on make up, and go outside and be social)
• Upbeat music – the drives too and from school and to and from dates are my solid blocks of pumped up music time.

NOT SO GOOD:

• Exercise. I still need to increase my physical activity. 30 minutes a day is the objective and right now I don’t get that. So that’s something I am really going to try to work on now that I’ve gotten out of the real sloughs of despond and am feeling a little more able and capable.

ALL in all, I am less depressed than I have been in years probably. Robert is virtually out of my life. I haven’t even spoken to him or texted him or emailed him in over a month. No contact. And School is providing much much much needed structure. I can’t afford ever to live in an unstructed stay home for weeks on end way again. I have to force myself never to do that again. I have to get a job working at a real company and not in my apartment. (Unless I can stay in school forever which would be perfect – school for structure and work from home. I think this is actually the ideal lifestyle right now.)

Being non-depressed is great. It really makes me look at my depressed self and think, wow, that was a really disabling thing. And while I was in it I just felt like I was so responsible for my own failure to get anything done, but from the outside of it now, I can see that the depression itself was pretty crippling.

so. so far so good. It doesn’t hurt that I have a nice guy who likes me, either. That’s a pretty nice upper.

spiraled out of control in the most ridiculous, comical yet depressing way.

_{I’m sorry to be vague. I know this isn’t a ‘one sentence’ journal but I just felt like putting it here so I can remember how and why and work to stop it happening again. If I don’t, I feel like I might wake up all lethargic tomorrow and undo all of today’s work.}

Things that have helped today:

• finally forcing myself to do some things I’d been putting off for months and months (and dramatic increase in my activity level overall)
• boxing
• actually going out tonight (at least, until the end)
• my new found hospitality crush

Um, that’s all I can manage to write tonight.

- keep up some form of regular exercise, no matter what
- engage my intellect
- distract myself when I find myself thinking in circles (anything to get myself outside my own head)
- feed my body, not my emotions
- sort out my sleeping pattern
- go outside every day
- change things, do something different every day, never let one day become indistinguishable from the next

and the electrician came and fixed the bathroom light (heh, er.. it was actually just a tripped circuit that needed to be flipped – but the electrician was young and super cute, so I say WORTH IT). Now I can do some nice long soul-soothing bathtime reading.

1) SHOWER. Take a bath. Wash your hair. Get cleaned up. EVERY DAY whether I feel like it or not.
2) SUNSHINE. It doesn’t matter if you WANT to go outside, or if it’s cold or cloudy, or if you have anyplace to go. GET OUT OF THE APARTMENT and be in nature or around people.
3) EXERCISE. Go to the gym, OR take a walk around the neighborhood, OR walk to the park up to the bench, sit and come back. Or if it’s just too cold, then at least do 10 sun salutations in the living room. EVERY DAY.
4) MEDDIES. Every day.
5) FISH OIL. Every day. (and sardines).
6) UPBEAT MUSIC. Go for a drive, listen to upbeat music. Get some errands done.

A socialy transmitted ease! An infectious laugh will infect everyone within 3 degrees of separation. It’s an epidemic! So, all you carriers out there, you know what you have to do – get out there and start mingling willy-nilly.

http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/culture-society/articles/having-happy-friends-can-make-you-happy

FASCINATING!

Went to the gym!
Ate sardines.
Sat in the sunshine by the window. (Inside, but still, it was sunny and it helped.)

Someone pointed out to me a couple days ago that you actually have to TRY to get out of a slump, and all the things that will help you get out of it are things you won’t be inclined to do, because you’re in a slump, but you have to TRY.

So, here’s my to-do list:

1) Need more sunshine. It’s been gray and I haven’t been out of the house more than once this week. Went to mom’s on Sunday. Need to spend some time outdoors every day, even if I don’t feel like going out.

2) Get some exercise. I haven’t been to the gym in 6 weeks. Worse than that, I haven’t done more than walk between the bed, the desk, and the kitchen in all this time, either. Again, I need to leave the house and move around a little.

3) Take meddies regularly.

4) Take fish oil supplements daily.

5) Go for a drive and listen to some upbeat music.

I can’t think of anything else. I know there are other things that are good for depression but I think this is enough, if I can just do these 5 things every day that will be a big step in the right direction.