By Wasim Kakroo
LIVING with clinical depression can be particularly challenging because the disorder saps one’s energy and capacity to carry out regular activities. It is precisely this lack of motivation that makes recovery so challenging. For the majority of us, our obligations to work, study, and our families need a certain amount of routine. However, clinical depression has a way of making us lose interest in, control over, and motivation for such large tasks, as well as for regular self-care. We need to establish a routine in these situations to get us through to happier days. But managing a routine might need a lot of concentration and willpower. Here are some ideas for using routine to your advantage when treating clinical depression.
1. Morning Routine: Getting the Day Started:
Take a look at this scenario. As you lay in bed, your alarm clock rings. You’re not at all interested in standing up. Isn’t it odd how your bed grows more and more inviting as the excuses to get out of bed mount? Perhaps getting dressed and taking a shower seem as difficult as drafting that procrastinated business report. However, waking up, cleaning up, and dressed in something other than your favorite trousers might have a significant impact on how you feel. Break up your morning routine into smaller, easier-to-manage chores if the notion of accomplishing all these things at once seems overwhelming.
2. Monitoring Your Routine
Try making a day planner and getting on a schedule if you find it difficult to establish and maintain a routine or if your routine contains a lot of bad habits. You can also use this planner as a journal to keep note of changes in your mood. You’ll be able to identify patterns by contrasting your day’s plans with what you accomplished for the day. This can help you identify habits that you might have previously overlooked. Utilize your planner to handle the activities or times of day that give you anxiety or worry. You can get ready for times when you experience depression by keeping track of your emotional patterns.
3. Examine your daily routine
Whether we are conscious of it or not, the vast majority of us usually run on a routine. Sleeping, eating, taking a shower, and working are common daily cycles. Tracking these recurrent behaviors enables us to proactively manage clinical depression symptoms and makes it easier for us to make mental health-related decisions. Keeping up good habits and avoiding bad mental and emotional decisions would be ideal, but depression sometimes prevents such good behaviors from occurring. Assessing your existing daily routine can help you to realize how the power of routine can benefit you.
What Should Be Part of Your Routine?
It’s challenging to specify with precision what you should include in your daily schedule because everyone has different life goals and challenges. The affects of depression vary from person to person, too. However, when regularly practiced, the following actions can help alleviate depression:
Having a consistent bedtime and wake-up time. Even though it may be challenging for people with erratic schedules, doing this is essential if you’re going through a depressive episode. Additionally, ensure that you receive enough sleep in order to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm, which will help regulate mood and brain health. Aim for regular sleep because difficulty getting asleep, trouble staying asleep through the night, or excessive sleeping may be symptoms of major depressive disorder. If maintaining consistency isn’t your thing, tracking your sleep as part of your daily routine will allow you to assess your sleeping patterns.
Set aside time each day to concentrate on your self-care. Finding small victories in healthy tasks can be satisfying, even though it can be difficult to muster the energy for self-care.
Having a poor appetite or overeating is one of the signs used to identify clinical depression. By including meals into your schedule, you may maintain a consistent meal plan. Get into the habit of regular intake, whether you eat the usual three meals a day or customize your diet to your demands.
Make it a habit to exercise to ward off and treat clinical depression. Our bodies produce a lot of endorphins during exercise, which can improve mood. When we exercise, the prefrontal and limbic regions of the brain produce large amounts of endorphins. You can thwart Major Depressive Disorder by consistently performing activities suitable to your skills.
The author is a licensed clinical psychologist (alumni of Govt. Medical College Srinagar) and works as a consultant clinical psychologist at Centre for Mental Health Services (CMHS) at Rambagh Srinagar. He can be reached at 8825067196
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