How to Get Out of a Depression

Although a healthy diet, a quick to the psychiatrist and perhaps a prescription or two works for some people, there are other ways to tackle depression. Below is a more philosophical approach to getting out of a depression.

Instructions

• 1

  Learn to appreciate the great outdoors. Contemplating the intricacy and beauty of nature can not only move your mind from negative to positive but help you keep things in perspective.

• 2

  Watch the international news to help bring your anxieties and problems into focus. Your life may be temporarily disappointing but others have it much, much worse. Sometimes being sad or dissapointed about something can make us feel hopeless and depressed, until we watch the nightly news.

• 3

  Attack the causes of your depression head-on. Give yourself the time to process how you got to this state of mind and why you are still there and possible ways of changing your mood. Although depression cannot be fixed just by thinking it, it does help you find reason when sometimes there is only sadness.

• 4

  Help someone else as a way to refresh your memory on how to feel good. Charity or volunteer work, or even just listening to a friend in crisis can remind you of your ability to empathize with others. Knowing this can help you give yourself some good advice.

• 5

  Read some of the great philosophical works to remind you of the bigger picture. Depression can make the world seem very small and isolating, restricting abstract thought. A quick perusal of Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" or Rousseau's "The Confessions" to place your current sorrow in the context of humanity's collected experience.

• 6

  Paint, write and draw away negative emotions. Physical activity which forces you to both focus and think can be very therapeutic and allows you to visualize your pain and perhaps lessen it slightly.

• 7

  Listen to music that stirs your soul. No matter if its heavy metal or the lightest classical song, find the those lyrics and that beat that moves you on the inside. Allowing music to lift the soul can help you lift your heart.