5 Things that I Stopped Doing To Manage my Depression and Anxiety

Suffering from depression and anxiety means me having to experience a lot of dark days. Days where depression drains every bit of life left in me and when anxiety overruns every thought. So, I locked the doors, curled up in bed and I just stayed there – hoping that tomorrow’s going to be better. But sometimes it doesn’t. It’s still the same cycle.

That’s the thing about living with depression and anxiety – no matter how much you hope for a great day, they always find a way of snatching it. And every time this happens, I can’t remember how many times other people would tell me, ”do this, try this, add this to your routine”.

But one thing I’ve learned from living with it is that managing depression and anxiety is not always about the things that you add to your life or to your routine, it is more on the things that you take away.

I’ve learned that to be able to cope and manage it effectively, I needed to stop and avoid doing these things. And I wanted to share those things with you.

That’s why today, I have decided to share with you 5 things that I stopped doing to manage my depression and anxiety. Check them out!

Obsessively using Social Media

A week after I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, I made the decision to completely deactivating all my social media accounts. I didn’t want to at first but seeing other people’s lives of how they are so perfect, like how they always have their shi* together (I know it’s not always like that) – seeing it just makes me feel worst. It just made me hate myself more and I knew I didn’t need that.

I’m not telling you to do the same but if scrolling through your Social Media Account is making you feel the same way, then you need to stop. You don’t need to feel that way.

Give yourself a time to breathe from everything. If you can’t deactivate it then why not try to limit your exposure to it or maybe replace that habit. So, instead of scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, read something inspirational, listen to an inspirational podcast – those things have helped me so much.

Playing the Comparison Game

Playing the comparison game is exhausting and draining. This was one of the factors that led me into feeling this way. Since childhood, I was constantly being compared and I took that habit with me and doing that destroyed me.

If you are constantly comparing yourself to other people, you need to stop. Trust that you are enough and you are worth it.

Everyone has their own unique journey. Life is not a race. We have to walk our own paths. You just have to trust that as long as you’ll keep moving forward, your time will also come.

Stop taking your mental health for granted and start working towards a happier and healthier you with the help of this Mental Health Printable Planner

Beating yourself up 

I hated myself for not having the energy to do the things that I loved to do, I blamed myself for having to quit my job and for being unemployed. I took a whole lot of hatred and guilt with me.

Then one day someone made me realized that my depression is not me. Being depressed will never be my fault.

So, stop beating yourself up for not being able to get out of bed or for not having the energy to clean your house.

Being in this situation is not something that you chose, so stop blaming yourself for feeling this way, give yourself some love for choosing to stay alive every day – that takes a great deal of courage.

Worrying

This one has and still is my greatest challenge. My anxiety makes me overthink and worry about even the smallest and insignificant things. But I didn’t want to spend my days feeling that way anymore, so I made the decision to learn how to stop it.

Worrying just gives me so much stress and it’s just so exhausting. Stop spending your days thinking about the things that you can’t control.

Stop letting worry rob your chance of truly enjoying your day. Keep in mind that worrying will not change the situation; it will only make you feel worst.

Complaining

Depressed or not, complaining is something that you need to stop. It’s just a bad habit — it’s not going to make things easier.

For what it’s worth, it’s only going to make things worse. Replace all those complaints with the feeling of gratitude.

Recognize even the smallest things that make you happy.

I could never emphasize how changing this one habit has helped me tremendously. Sure there are still times that I want to vent out, but instead of taking all those anger on other people, I write it down on my journal and once I’m done I tear the page and throw it out.

Try going a whole day without complaining and you’ll be surprised at how your attitude changes.

Avoiding these things helped lessen my dark days and slowly, I feel more like myself again.

I understand that avoiding all of these is not something that happens overnight, and you don’t have to do that. I haven’t even mastered all of these yet, I’m a work in progress.

So, don’t pressure yourself, do it slowly, baby steps and don’t give up. Trust that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You got this!

Your Turn…

What about you? Do you do any of these things already? Let me know in the comment section below or send me an email, I would love to hear from you!