Ending Stigma Together

If you would rather listen than read, you can click HERE to head on over to my YouTube channel where I talk more about how these 5 tips have helped me manage my seasonal depression and my regular depression. And, be sure you have grabbed my FREE 10 Day Journal for Depression which you can grab HERE.

The winter is here. That means for many of us, the time for seasonal depression is also here. Today I wanted to share 5 tips for combating seasonal affective depression, also called SAD. 

I lived in Philadelphia for the first 37 years of my life. It was all I knew. I used to dream of warm Christmases and palm trees even as a little girl. As soon as I learned not everyone lived with long, cold, snowy winters, I wanted to live where that occurred. However, I also wanted to be near my family because of their support. This is what took me so long to move south, but more on that later. While living there, I struggled each winter with severe depression from December through May/June. I dreaded the winter months every single year. It just kept getting worse and added to my regular depression.

So, I had to figure something out in order to help myself get through these months. I finally realized that I was wasting half the year pretty severely depressed. Even if I was on medication, I would still struggle with seasonal depression.  I started researching. The internet became a huge resource. One I didn’t have when I was younger. I think one reason I love social media and the internet so much is that is has help me figure out how to understand and manage my depression better. This has led to me having a better life. The information and ideas are endless.

I started to try some ideas. Some worked for me. Others didn’t do much. Today I want to share my best 5 tips for combating Seasonal Affective Depression.

Get lots of light. The sunlight is scarce in the winter months. The days are shorter and darker. Temperatures tend to be colder. We are staying inside more and for longer hours. When I first started learning about the increase benefits of more light in the brain, therapy lights weren’t a big thing. I’m not even sure if they were available for purchase yet and I certainly didn’t know where to get one. So, what I did was turn on all of my lights and open up all of my curtains to let in the natural light. I couldn’t get enough light in the winter months. To this day, I hate the color gray. Lol On days that weren’t so bitter, I would go outside and take a walk so I could get the sun on my face and absorb the vitamin D from the sun. Our brain needs light. Those of us who live with seasonal affective depression seem to need extra light. With just a few minor adjustments, you can easily add more light to your day to day life. It’s amazing how much it can help. 

Take vitamin D, vitamin C and magnesium. We get natural vitamin D from the sun. That is why I encouraged you above to get outside for even a few minutes a day to absorb some natural vitamin D from the sun. However, it is difficult to get enough during the dark winter months. Plus, many of us who live with depression, often run low with our vitamin D levels. Have your doctor check your levels if depression is an issue for you. Ask about adding a vitamin D supplement to your daily routine. There are proven links between low vitamin D level and depression. You can read more about them HERE. 

Exercise Daily. I know I say this all the time, but daily exercise may be one of the best natural medications for depression. There is nothing that can boost your endorphins faster and more effectively then some vigorous exercise. Any kind of movement will help better manage depression. In the winter, we can find it more difficult to get out of the house to take a walk or go to the gym. Sitting on the sofa, under a blanket and eating some good snacks often sounds such much more inviting. I never wanted to go outside in the cold to workout. I even struggled with going to the gym in the winter since the only time I could go was early in the morning. Do you know how difficult it is to get out of bed in the early hours while it’s dark and cold outside? If you are reading this, I’m sure you do! I began to workout at home so I didn’t have to leave. I got some free weights. I’d do lunges, ab work and back in the day, buy DVD workouts. Now, I love to find good workouts on YouTube on the days I can’t get to the gym or take a walk outside. There are just so many options online. You don’t need money or equipment to move or exercise. You just need to make it a priority. Exercise is something that made the biggest difference for my mental health and it was the first activity that I realized helped my depression. 

Eat healthy and clean. When we eat processed foods, we don’t really know what we are putting in our body. We don’t really understand how some of the ingredients affect our body and mind. Since I have switched to clean eating, specifically a whole food/plant based diet, my depression has been much more manageable. I see a big difference when I go off that way of eating. Refined sugars are especially triggering as are many processed foods. The cleaner and healthier we eat for our body, the healthier our mind will be. By eating a whole food, clean diet, our brains will be getting the nutrients they need instead of unhealthy, empty calories that many “comfort” foods we are drawn to in the winter give us. Our bodies and minds need healthy nutrition and when we feed them what they need, they are going to respond better. This works for both our physical and mental health. As a society, we tend to underestimate the power of nutrition. Healthy eating was probably the second major life change I made to help manage my depression. Exercise and healthy, clean eating are probably the two biggest areas that I have seen make the biggest positive impact on my depression. 

Plan fun, indoor activities. I hated being stuck inside for months on end, but I also hated being out in the cold. It was quite a difficult scenario. So what I did was planned to have friends over, do fun things with my sons, get some new coloring books and colored pencils, read, jigsaw puzzles or some other fun, indoor activity. Getting together with friends and family always lifted my spirits during the long winter months. Coloring or doing a jigsaw puzzle was a fun way to keep my mind engaged and busy. Keeping my mind busy with activities I enjoy helps me to distract my mind from the negative thoughts that like to creep in during the winter months. By finding activities that you enjoy and having access to them during the winter, can be very beneficial to managing seasonal depression. 

Eventually, we had the opportunity to move south and we took it. I now live in Orlando, FL. My seasonal depression is almost non-existent now. I do still struggle when I go “home” to Philly over the holidays. About 10 days of the cold, gray December days and the depression begins to take over me.  Even in Orlando, on the rare occasion that we get a string of cloudy, cold days, I begin to feel the effects of it mentally. I know not everyone can pick up and move to a sunny, warm location, but I mention this because I want others to know how powerful it has been for me and that it could be powerful for you too. Sometimes we just have to think outside the box when it comes to making our mental health stronger. 

I hope these 5 tips give you some ideas on how to get through these winter months. Even if you don’t live where it is cold and dark, these are tips that help my regular old depression too. Managing depression and living as full of a life as possible takes a lot of work and experimenting, but the more you understand about your depression, the better you will be able to control it. The more we know, the more we will be in control and thrive each day despite our depression.

I also want to invite you to my Self-Care and Mindfulness group if you haven’t already joined. You can click HERE to request to join. I will be hosting a Vision Board challenge and a Self-Care Challenge this month and would love to have you join us.

Be sure to grab a copy of my book HERE.

Follow my YouTube channel HERE.

Don’t forget to grab your FREE 10 Day Journal For Depression HERE.

***The information shared on this website is not meant to replace professional help, but rather to be educational, sharing personal struggles and experiences and to let you know you are not alone.  If you, or someone you know, is having suicidal thoughts, seek medical attention at your local emergency room or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.***

When you hear the word “depression”, you don’t typically think about it being a blessing or even connected to a blessing. However, after living with depression for over 40 years, I can honestly reflect on my life and see how my depression has indeed blessed me in many ways. Today I wanted to share my 5 favorite blessings.

*Blessing 1: People I have met through my journey. I have always been very open about my depression since the day I was diagnosed. I think I was so relieved to have a name for how I was feeling for so much of my life, that I just needed to share it with the world! From day 1, I wasn’t embarrassed and never felt any shame. However, I quickly realized that this wasn’t the norm. As I continued to share my battle with depression and anorexia with others, I began to meet others who shared a similar journey. This would lead to a certain connection that we would instantly share. My depression has allowed me to cross paths and become friends with some of the strongest and most incredible people I may have not otherwise met. When we are open and honest, the world will bless us with those we need in our life. We will be surrounded by others who understand us and support our journey. Often, we will get to do the same for them. 

*Blessing 2: The strength I have gained. One thing depression will do is make you stronger. We don’t feel strong when we are going through it. Usually the feeling we get is that of weakness. Both physical and mental weakness are what we tend to believe and feel. However, the more we push through our depression, with each episode we experience and come out on the other side, and each time we find our way through the darkness and back to the light again and again, we get stronger and stronger. We build up our confidence. Our techniques and strategies we use to manage our depression become more refined and perfected. For me, I have realized that since I can get through my deepest and darkest moment and come back into the light and joy again, that I can push my way through any difficult situation. Sure, it may take me a lot longer than someone else. I may be a little more beaten up from my latest episode. But in the end, after each bought of depression, I come out a little stronger. That strength carries me through other difficult events in my life. 

*Blessing 3: Becoming persistent and learning to never give up. Never. If I have learned anything from living with depression is that being persistent and never giving up is always worth it. When I was younger, I would give up easily. I wouldn’t stick with things very long. My attention span can be short, but I would also get discouraged easily and stop believing in my ability to do whatever it is I was trying to do. Over the years, my confidence in my ability to conquer difficult and new situations became stronger and stronger. I have also become more persistent. Giving up on a goal or dream simply doesn’t enter my mind now. Sure, I reassess what I’m working towards and tweak or pivot where needed, but I don’t quit simply because I don’t feel in like it. My journey with depression has blessed me with the skills of persistence and never giving up and remember that tomorrow is a new day and with every sunrise there is a new beginning.

*Blessing 4: Appreciate the good days and happy times. When you wake up every day and you aren’t sure if you are going to have a happy day or a depressed day, you start to really appreciate you good days and happy times. When I have a string of upbeat, happy days, I take full advantage of them. I do the things I don’t feel like doing on my depressed days. I take advantage of my extra energy and joy and take in the world around me. I even try to make plans with friends. In my 20s, I was still under the misconception that my depression would eventually just disappear and never come back. That turned out not to be the case. I began to realize that I was going to have to learn how to manage my depression and navigate my life when my depression came back. This has taught me to appreciate all the good days and happy times. I never take them for granted. 

*Blessing 5: Learning not to take most things too seriously. This may be one of the greatest blessings. I used to get upset and stressed out about every little thing. If events didn’t go as planned, if something unexpected came up, if something mildly upsetting occurred, I would become very upset and cry. This would usually trigger my depression. What depression has blessed me with is the ability to not take things too seriously.  Now I ask myself a few questions whenever something upsetting comes up. I ask myself, “is this a life or death situation”, “can this be fixed with minimal effort”, and “how will this affect my life”? Putting events into perspective is something I am now able to do easily. It allows me to put life events into perspective. The majority of the time, whatever just happened is not serious. Laughing my way through life is easier for me now. And laughter helps to boost our endorphins. By not taking things too seriously, I have learned to be able to let the little items slip away. 

 Depression has allowed me to learn SO much about myself. It has changed my perspective on life and the unexpected events that can get thrown in our path. 

If you or someone you love lives with depression, I encourage you to reflect over your journey. What have you gained from your depression? What have you learned and what blessings can you see that your depression has given you? I know the initial reaction is usually “none”, but reflect on what habits, strengths or behaviors your depression has maybe given you. I’m willing to bet you can find at least one. 

If you haven’t joined my Self-Care and Mindfulness Group yet, I’d love for you to come join this community. We encourage and support each other on our journey to live a more joyful life through self-care and mindfulness. You can join the group by clicking HERE.

Be sure to also grab my FREE 10 Day Journal For Depression HERE.

The holiday season is fast approaching. This year has been anything but typical, so my guess is our holidays will be no different! The year 2020 has brought to us a pandemic which led to a complete shutdown, then slowly reopening and the wearing of masks and limited social interaction. Many of us have lost loved ones, jobs, homes and much more. We had a wild presidential campaign and election that was stressful for many. The stress has been high. The regular outlets many of us typically use may not be available so we have had to shift.  This year, we need to be sure we give ourselves the gift of making self-care a priority.

Despite all of what we have all faced this year, we must continue to make our self-care a priority. We can’t handle all that the world and life throws at us if we don’t take care of ourselves. The holidays are quickly approaching. Thanksgiving is in less than 3 weeks! Now is the time to get your self-care habits solidified so as we go into the busy holiday season, we are prepared. If you read my articles, you know that I am a big fan of planning ahead. Planning helps us keep our mental and physical health balanced. We all know how busy we can get during the holiday season. Many of us stop going to the gym. We eat foods we don’t typically consume. There may be more adult beverages being consumed too. What happens to our self-care during this time? If we don’t plan and make it a priority, it will slip to the wayside and quickly be forgotten. This is why gyms are packed in January, people are buying healthier food and there is a surge of people making resolutions to live a healthier life. There is no need to stop during the holidays. It just takes a little time and planning ahead in order to keep it a priority. 

 If you want a little encouragement and accountability, join my Self-Care and Mindfulness Group on Facebook. You can join by clicking HERE. We started a 7 Day Self-Care Challenge last night. You can still join. You will receive a FREE 7 Day Self-Care Journal for the challenge. I go LIVE in the group each night for discussion and group coaching. We also have a Gratitude Check-in most days(sometimes I forget!). I would love for you to join us in the group if you want. Just click HERE to request to join. 

Today I wanted to share 3 easy strategies I use in order to keep my self-care a priority throughout the holiday season. This year, more than ever, we need to plan and prepare so we stay ahead of the chaos! These are simple and easy to implement so don’t wait. Start today. 

• Plan your self-care time each day. If we go through each day without any type of plan or schedule, chances are, a lot of what we need to do or want to do simply won’t get done. What will get done is everything the day throws at you. Instead of preventing fires, you will spend the day putting them out. With a little planning ahead, you can have more control over your day and manage your life and emotions better. This includes planning when you will practice your self-care. One thing I do each weekend is I plan my week ahead. I use a printable calendar sheet for the week that has the bourse broken down. I then write in all the activities I must do. For example, appointments, meetings, work, etc. Then I fill in when I will practice my mindfulness and self-care exercises. This is the first thing I plan after the events that I can’t really control the time or place such as work and appointments that are scheduled. We need to make self-care a priority. If we don’t, no one else will do it for us. We need to show others how we want them to treat us but treating ourselves like we are important. If we don’t treat ourselves as important then no one else around us will either. So, sit down and plan your self-care each week. Write it down like you would any other important appointment because making self-care a priority is just as important as any other appointment. 

• Plan your self-care exercises. Now the fun part!! Seriously, I love planning what self-care exercises I want to do each week. If time allows, I love to plan a spa day on the weekend. During these spa days, I give myself a pedicure, masks and other pampering activities. Some of my other quick self-care exercises are taking a walk, listening to calming music, taking an extra long shower, yoga, and eating a big, healthy salad. If you have trouble thinking of self-care ideas to do each week, here’s an idea for you. I saw this idea on Pintrest or Instagram awhile ago. A high school student created a self-care jar. What she did was put a bunch of different self-care ideas on index cards. She then put the index cards in a jar. Then, when she needed an idea, she just went to the jar and pulled one out to do! I thought it was brilliant. Take a few minutes and write down a list of ideas. Create a self-care jar if you think it will help you with making self-care a priority. It is all about creating the tools you need to be successful in your life and in your health. 

• KISS: Keep it simple sweetie(or stupid). Whatever word you use for the last “s”, the point is to keep it simple. Wouldn’t it be great if we all had the time and money to go to a spa every day for a massage, facial and other pampering activities? Unfortunately, that’s just not reality. Luckily, self-care doesn’t have to be difficult or complex. In fact, it is best to keep it simple. By having many simple self-care ideas available for you, it will be easier to maintain daily self-care. It would be great if we had 1-2 hours a day to dedicate to our self-care, but most of us don’t. I am able to walk for an hour a day on most days at the moment, but that isn’t always the case. If I can’t fit in an hour, I’ll opt for 15-20 minutes of exercise. For me, any exercise is better than none. That is my main self-care exercise. Self-care doesn’t need to be complicated. Life is complicated enough as it is, so don’t make this add to that! Eat healthy. Exercise. Drink lots of water. Get enough sleep. Stay off social media for a day. The list of simple self-care ideas goes on. Take a few moments to write down a list of at least 10 quick and easy self-care ideas. You can grab a few ideas from the list I created below.

The holidays can be hard for many of us emotionally. They can bring up a lot of tough feelings and unresolved issues. It is why making self-care a priority during this time is so important. Also, if you struggle with SAD: Seasonal Affective Depression, then getting your self-care as a priority before the dark, cold days of winter approach can truly be critical to your well being and mental health. Get a head start but creating this priority before the holidays begin.

We tend to make so many things more difficult than they need to be in life. Our self-care is often one of these things many of us make too complicated. As the holidays quickly approach, it is time to make sure your self-care plan is in place. Plan when you can fit in your self-care each week. Decide on the self-care exercises you enjoy most and have a wide range of exercises that take different amounts of time.  Be flexible. Be patient with yourself.

 Then, remember to keep it simple. Don’t make it complicated. Remember, come join my Self-Care and Mindfulness Group on FB and join the 7 Day Self-Care Challenge going on right now! Next month I will be hosting a 7 Day Mindfulness Challenge for the holidays that you won’t want to miss either! You can join the group HERE. I can’t wait to see you there! Be sure to grab the 7 Day Self-Care Journal for the challenge. You can get that by clicking HERE as well as in the group.

Also, stay tuned for some new resources I’ll be offering in the new year!! I’ll be releasing more details soon!

Have you ever heard of creating a “depression tool kit” or “survival kit”? Today I wanted to share a little about what one is and what exactly I keep in mine for those times that I need it.  Now, if you don’t live with depression, you can transfer these ideas to anxiety, ADHD or almost any other mental illness.  You can even create a mindfulness tool kit.  The possibilities are endless.  However, for today, I am going to focus on sharing why having a tool kit as part of your depression management is important and what are the items I make sure to have in mine. If you don’t feel like reading on, you can go check out my new YouTube Channel, Debbie Brady-Ending Stigma Together TV, where I show you my own Depression Tool Kit. Click HERE to watch and subscribe!

Let me start by explaining what exactly I mean when I say “depression took kit”.  If you read my book, Depression Survival Guide, I briefly spoke about this in Chapter 16 where I refer to it as a mental health tool kit. (You can grab a copy of my book HERE)  I’m a firm believer in being prepared to battle our depression when it come and hits us.  We need to gather the tools we need in order to build ourselves up when depression is knocking us down.  We need to understand what helps us fight our depression when it hits and what we can do daily to help keep our depression away or help it to be less severe when it hits.  All of this is part of what I call, plan, prepare and persist.  All of these are what you can put into your depression tool kit.  Basically, a depression tool kit is gathering all the items, tools and techniques that you know help to support you when you are stressed, feel like depression is setting in or when depression has hit full on and you are struggling.  By having a depression tool kit, you can have everything you need all in one place.

Of course, the first step would be to figure out what helps you during your difficult times and what doesn’t.  You need to take a few minutes, or a few hours, and write down the items and techniques you know help you to fight your depression.  For example, do essential oils help lift your mood, or are there certain foods?  Do you have certain people you reach out to when you are fighting depression or ones you need to avoid?  How about stress balls or other fidget tools?  Take time to create a list and you can add to it as more ideas come your way.  Figure out what helps to support you during your dark moments or what helps support you when you know your depression might be triggered by a life event or you start to feel it coming on.  It is all about being prepared.  If you live with depression, or with any other chronic disease, you have the advantage of creating the resources you need and preparing for the next battle.  This has led to my depression not only descending upon me less often, but also less severe and for shorter durations. Go grab a copy of my Depression Survival Guide Workbook HERE.

So let me share some of the items that I keep in my depression tool kit. You can either keep them all together in one place or just make sure you always have them in your home and know where they all are so you can get them when needed.  I have a photo box I got at Michaels for $3.  I keep some of the items in this box and the others just around my house.  At any rate, you just need to know what they are and where they are.  Here are a few of my “go to” resources for my tool kit.

*Essential oils.  My favorite 2 scents to diffuse or smell are Bergamot and Peppermint.  Bergamot is known to help lift your mood and to help with feeling of depression.  Peppermint helps clear my mind and helps me focus.  Plus, it is a scent I just love.  Sometimes I also use Lemon essential oil just because it is one of my favorite scents. 

*Stress Balls.  You can get stress balls on Amazon, at most party stores and Oriental Trading sells them in bulk. I just need to be a ball that you can squeeze and squish in order to help release your emotions and frustrations. Anything you like can work.  

*Massage tool.  Sometimes when I get depressed, the muscles in my neck and upper back can become all knotted up.  Sometimes the muscles in my legs can start to twitched since I’m often not as active when I’m feeling bad.  I know I need to walk, do yoga or at lease stretch, but sometimes I just need to rest.  I’m sure you can relate. 

*Candles. Candles at very soothing to me. I love to have them lit and have the lights off, playing some calming music or the sounds of the ocean crashing on a YouTube video.  Creating a calming environment can help calm your mind and your soul. 

*Playlist. Keep a list of songs that make lift your mood, fill you with joy and give you peace. You might not be able to think of the songs that help you find peace so I have found it to be a good idea to write a few of these songs down.  You can either have upbeat songs or calming songs and sounds.  I love to listen to the sound of the ocean and often pull that up on YouTube.  I also love listening to artists like P!nk, Kenny Cheney and anything from the 80s.  Find the songs you enjoy and lift up your mood and keep the list in your tool kit so you don’t have to think about it. 

*Mints and dark chocolate.  Mints can help you refocus and center yourself. The smell energizes the brain.  As far as dark chocolate, well, do I really need a reason? However, if you do need one, dark chocolate has many health benefits including containing antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory and is thought to improve brain function. So, just in case, throw some in there! Haha!

*Names of my tribe.  Know who you can reach out to at anytime.  Sure, people always say, “let me know if you need anything” or “let me know how I can help”, but you need to know WHO you can really reach out to at 2am or who will drop everything and come hang out if you need some support.  My list of these people is small, as it is for most of us. Then, keep them in your phone so you can easily reach them. Also, ask them to check in on you if they haven’t heard from you in awhile.

*Copy of my Depression Survival Guide workbook. I created a Depression Survival Guide that went with my book. In this guide, you can create your own plan for your depression.  It will help you identify your triggers, organize your thoughts, keep track of what foods help your depression and which ones don’t and many other techniques.  This is just an easy place to keep many of these ideas written down and in one place.  You can grab your copy HERE.

*Journal and journal prompts. I have a separate journal in my depression tool kit than the journal I use daily.  This is a journal that I use just for when I reach into my tool kit on these difficult times. I can use the prompts to help me sort through thoughts and feelings at the moment. Journaling is a terrific tool to use when working through depression. Depression can cause our thoughts to race and stay in a dark place.  Journaling will help us sort through all of these thoughts and help us create a more positive mindset. If you haven’t grabbed the FREE copy of my 10 Day Journal for Depression, you can do so HERE. It has 10 journal prompts to help you better understand your depression.

*Shells from the beach. Well, it can be anything form a place that makes you happy.  For me, that place is always the beach.  By keeping shells in my box, it allows me to transport my mind to a different place. A place where I am always at peace and always happy.  My goal is to move to the beach in the next few years so I can always be there. I wish I had done it sooner, but life doesn’t always go as planned.  By looking at my shells, or whatever it is that makes you happy, it helps us feel better and remember that better times have happened and will happen again. 

These are just some of the things that I keep in my depression tool kit.  They are items that I know will help me lift my mood and help me feel stronger when depression is hitting.  A few other great ideas are inspirational books, positive affirmation cards, mindfulness cards, and anything else that can help you manage your depression. Keep your tool kit where you can get it easily.  If you want, ask your family and friends for ideas if you are stuck with what to include in yours. I hope that you will consider putting one together for yourself.  It is a helpful tool to have. Plus, it makes it easy to grab a few things to take with you when you go out or travel.  It is all about being prepared, knowing what helps you and feeling more in control of your depression and overall health.

Be sure to grab a copy of my book HERE.

And, I’d love for you to join my Self-Care and Mindfulness Group on FB.  You can join it by clicking HERE