4 Simple Ways to Look After Yourself When Battling Depression

Living with depression is not easy. It is an illness which often affects a person, not only emotionally, but also physically. While depression itself is a mood disorder, and therefore has limited – although it does have some – physical effects on the body, it indirectly can cause all sorts of problems. Many of these problems arise because the depressed people struggle to look after themselves and take care of basic day to day things.

When you are depressed, it is all too easy to let things slip. It starts with skipping brushing your teeth, or not taking a shower one day, but it can quickly snowball. Even if it doesn’t, foregoing even these simple parts of our routines only reinforces to us that something is wrong. It is important that those who are prone to depressive episodes find ways to look after themselves, and to show them love.

Here are 4 simple things that any depressed person can do to show them some love. It isn’t always easy, but these techniques can make a big difference.

Brush Your Teeth

This is such a simple thing, and yet it makes a big difference. Part of the reason that it is important to keep up with things like brushing your teeth is that your brain will associate that feeling, the minty breath, the taste of toothpaste etc. with your usual routine when things are going well. As a result, brushing your teeth every morning will help your brain to make the connection with things being ok and will hopefully cause a subtle, yet potentially vital, shift in your mood.

Wash Your Hair

Keeping your hair washed and clean will help to keep your self confidence up. When your hair begins to feel matted, greasy, and unclean, it can quickly make you feel much more negatively about your overall appearance. If you are able to take care of your outward appearance, you will find that other people act more positively towards you. This will obviously make it much easier for you to feel positively about yourself.

Eat Healthily

When depression sets in, it is not uncommon for personal hygiene to suffer. This is usually the clearest indication that a depressed person is beginning to struggle to look after themselves. Being depressed makes it difficult to motivate yourself to do simple tasks. Things like cooking and preparing meals suddenly becomes much more complicated than it needs to be, and so depressed individuals start to settle for lower quality meals which prioritize convenience over nutrition. Having a poor diet is itself a contributing factor for depression. If your brain doesn’t have access to the building blocks that it needs to produce neurotransmitters, it will be unable to regulate mood properly.

Treat Yourself Everyday

Every day, try and set yourself a health-related goal, perhaps to eat a certain amount of fruit for example. It can be anything you like, it doesn’t have to be difficult, but the purpose is to get you to meet goals that you set yourself. Once you meet those goals you should then find a way of rewarding yourself (healthily of course!). Check out Healthrow.net for a plethora of great health advice and inspiration for health goals.

Being depressed can make it difficult to look after yourself properly, however, it is important that you continue to try and do so. You will find it much easier to battle depression if you can hold down the basics.