What would you recommend to someone who is depressed?

[jahrein]

Play sports and socialize

[Losalt]

Oh boy...
This is a big one...
A first step is to work on removing potential causes.

While a lot of people think that we, the thing that's thinking, feeling etc is some kind of soul out there the reality is that we're physical, just like the rest of our body, and we exist in our brain.
And its health is massively important to our ability to think clearly.

So a first step is to look at getting healthy food and enough sleep as problems with either can cause issues.

The *first* step is your sleeping pattern.
There's a *high* correlation between sleep disorders/disturbance and mental health problems.

To sleep in the evening make a fixed schedule for when you want to sleep.
Your body needs ca 8 hours of sleep every night, possibly more.
So plan to go to bed at least 8 hours in advance of when you wake up, ideally 9 hours ahead of that time so you have time for your body to calm down.
Ban *any* light sources during that period.
If you're bored in the last hour before bed use sound based entertainment instead of light based ones as light messes with our inner clock.
On a similar note make sure that you see some blue sky every day with your own eyes to help your inner clock keep track of when there's daytime.

Make a *fixed* sleeping schedule to follow *every* night, no changes, nog even for weekends, so your body can adapt to it.
And like I said, try to get 9 hours in there for relaxation and sleep (including the calming down period before sleep)

If you can't stop yourself thinking too much to fall asleep I recommend listening to something at a low volume that occupies your mind that's still low enough volume that once you stop focusing it becomes background noise.

On the other side of the health coin...

Make sure that you get all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fats that your brain needs to function (it's mostly made up of fats so make sure you get enough omega 3, the right type of fat for our brain, flaxseed oil etc might help here).

Also avoid other types of fats and sugar etc (a occasional dark chocolate isn't the end of the world, but daily candy or soda definitely should be removed from the menu, but feel free to treat yourself once a week or something if you want that)

Some physical activity through the day to help blood flow to your brain is also good.

Okay...
So lets assume that your actually giving the brain what it needs physically.

The next step is to work on its exercise.

Just like we can train some muscles and exclude others to the point where it actually becomes harmful the brain does the same thing.

We kind of have a filter in our brain that's intended to look at the world and determine what's important to focus on or not.
Positive experiences, negative experiences, threats and problems, potential solutions, etc.
It's there because quite frankly we can't handle all the information we're dealing with every day, both in the present and in our memory.

A part of being autistic is that filter failing and you being overwhelmed all the time by all the information.

With depression and anxiety it's also letting in too much of things we don't want and too little of what we *do* want.

But the thing is that we *train* that filter up every day by what we choose to focus on.

I'm not saying that you need to be happy all the time in order to be happy all the time.

Instead try to grab onto all the positive memories and moments that you get.

Because our mind tends to trick us into thinking that everything is bad even when it's not.

And sure, sometimes you genuinely have reasons to be feeling down, and that's natural but try to practice spotting the good moments even if it might be hard to see, and to remember the good moments.

Perhaps write a "happy" diary where you only write down good memories as you get them.
So you'll have a reminder that they *do* exist even when you can't think of any?

It's okay if it's short, just make sure that the feel good moments that *do* exist doesn't get forgotten (all too common during depression).

Also, try to recognize when you're feeling like crap not just because of what the world is doing, but because you're hangry etc.

That cold hard lump in your stomach?
While it's partially mental it's also partially physical.
Get a warm nutritious soup.
You'll still have reasons to feel bad, but after such a soup it'll be a *lot* easier to relax your stomach and feel normal sad instead of absolutely awful.

If you get my meaning.

What else...

Oh yes, look for and learn to recognize mental spirals where you get trapped in a mindset, when you're about to enter such a spiral and try to actively think otherwise.

It's kind of hard to explain without examples.

And I can't think of any at the moment for some reason...

A therapist can help you with that if you contact one.

Anyway, please, please do pm me if you're struggling.

I can't do miracles.
But I'm actually a pretty good listener at times.
And just having someone to vent to and/or help you see things from another perspective might be helpful.

(I might be slow to reply if you're in the US though, as I've *finally* gotten my own sleeping pattern in order again and will be awake during European times)

[Losalt]

Regarding medication.
It's a shortcut that can only really help you do the work yourself.

[Losalt]

A better trick then the medication for that cold hard lump in your stomach is to eat a hot soup when you're feeling really awful.

That said.
If you *genuinely* are unable to think of a single positive memory or experience then drugs can help you notice those.
But you still need to grab hold of them yourself.

[WhitneySnow]

Therapy and meds. The person may suck at sports and even if they don’t the last thing a depressed person wants is sports and socializing.

[balyai]

I agree with you 👍🏼

[WhitneySnow]

@balyai thanks 🙂

[balyai]

@WhitneySnow no worries

[CrimsonAngel09]

That's like telling a person with broken legs to get up and walk.

[Billlewis]

Stay busy.

[In_Trance]

Therapy