Gratitude and Awareness can help keep you positive!

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5 years ago

Having had a rough few weeks recently, I found myself becoming more and more anxious and depressed. It is nothing new to me, but over the years I have learnt that if one stays aware of your mental state, you can often take action to prevent a complete meltdown, or depressive episode.

Teltale signs

Each person has their own experience of depression, but for me the teltale signs where all there.

Not sleeping well
Being too worried about small things
Feeling tearful
Feeling exhausted without reason
Aches and pains in my joints
Angry outbursts about stupid problems
Metal fog - being slightly forgetful and unable to focus

Awareness and Responsibility

Becoming aware that all is not well is the first step. The next one is to accept and admit to yourself that this isn't just going to disappear on its own. This can be quite a challenge, even for people that have been dealing with depression for years. When it's gone well for a while, its so disheartening to have to admit that that big old black dog is back. ( The black dog is a term my friends and I use for depression, you can just imagine a huge big black slobbering dog sitting on top of you)

Even though you might not feel like it, its your own responsibility to do something about the situation. No one else can do it for you, so step two is to assess how bad it is, and what needs to be done.

My personal grades of depression

This is all very different for every person, but I've created grades of depression and actions to take for myself. It takes some of the thinking out of it.

Grade 0 - no depression, celebrate life, live consciously and enjoy.
Grade 1 - feeling unreasonably tired and frustrated - for me this is really mild, Action: I need to up my dose of B Complex, Vitamin C, Omega 3 and Gaba stimulating supplements. Pro-biotics also do wonders here.
Grade 2 - Tired, frustrated and convinced I'm unloved. Danger signs appear for me when I start feeling unloved - no one can ever fill that black hole, as its my perception that is problematic, not their actions or words. Action: Supplements, meditation, more exercise, daily planning - this organizational exercise helps me recognise what I've achieved in the day.
Grade 3. The whole bloody hog mentioned above. This is the level where I have to do all of the above, plus make a chart of my daily mood. If the steps above don't get me to feel an improvement within a week I find preffessional help with a counsellor or psychologist.

Where does Gratitude come in?

What I have found over the past few years, is one of the most wonderful ways to lift myself out of a dark and anxious place.

A friend introduced me to the 28day gratitude practice in a book called "The Magic". Since I've started doing this practice, my recurring depression has reduced massively. The fact that one is forced to focus on and recognise the many things that you have, and that go right day after day, helps you gain perspective. It also gives you a feeling of calm and abundance about your circumstances.

Yes, I believe that mood disorders can be managed and even cured through the right practices and supplements, I'm a living example.

The biggest thing I noticed in my recent dive down, was that I had been slacking off with the Gratitude work, because once again i had started taking things for granted.