I was on my way to see someone this morning when she told me about a situation with a teenager in her life and asked me if I had any tips for teen depression. I composed the following list and while I could write about 500 pages on the subject, I think this is a good starting point:
Ways to Beat Feelings of Depression, Defeat, Anxiety, Fear and Helplessness:
1. Learn to recognize how you feel when these feelings of despair creep into your thoughts. As soon as you recognize that feeling, take action to make it go away by implementing the following strategies.
2. Eat healthy. Be healthy. Processed sugar is a well know cause of chemical imbalance in your brain. So, try to eat more vegetables and natural sugars like the ones in fruit. When you put the right foods in your body, your body will have the right vitamins and minerals to function better. Go outside. Your body absorbs vitamin D from the sun. When you are not deficient in Vitamin D, your brain works better.
3. Exercise. When you get your body moving it increases the serotonin in your brain. Serotonin is the chemical in your brain known as “The Happy Chemical”.
4. Pray. A relationship with God is the number one, most important thing you can ever do no matter how bad life gets. God is the ONE and ONLY person you can count on no matter where you are or what is going on in life.
5. Never suffer alone. If you feel like you are going to snap, tell someone. Confide in a friend or a family member or a counselor but don’t hold it in. Sometimes in life we just need someone to talk to that we can trust..not because we need their advice but because sometimes we just need to hear ourselves talk it out so we can make sense of it. It can feel good to talk through a problem with a caring friend. But depression can lead people to complain, blame, and rehash problems too much. It can keep you focused on what’s wrong. It’s OK to air your thoughts and feelings with people who care. But don’t let problems be all you talk about. Talk about some good things too. Try to turn your negative thoughts into more positive ones. This can help your mood become more positive.
6. Don’t hold onto hate or resentment or vengeance. People do bad things and it hurts us, but we cant hold onto it. The bible says: “Vengeance is MINE says the Lord.” We have to trust that when someone does something wrong God will punish them in ways we cant even imagine. God does this so we don’t have to fill our lives with hate or weakness and we can turn our focus to more successful endeavors.
7. Life is about who you want to be and how you want others to see you. Watch other people, see how they act, then ask, do you want to be like them? If they are a bad person, DON’T DO THE THINGS you dislike about them. If they are loveable, ask yourself, what makes them likeable/lovable? Then be like THAT.
8. Happiness is not a feeling, it is a CHOICE. If you are waiting to FEEL happy. You will never BE happy. You have to make the choice to look at life like an opportunity for good things. Notice good things. Depression affects a person’s view of things. Things can seem dismal, negative, and hopeless. To shift your view, make it a goal to notice 3 good things in every day. The more you notice what’s good, the more good you will notice.
9. Sometimes in life, bad things happen. You can choose to let them make you weak or you can learn from them and let it make you stronger. We cant change the past but we CAN choose to move forward and put the past behind us and not let it affect who we want to be.
10. Express yourself. With depression, your creativity and sense of fun may seem blocked. But it can help to do things that get your creative juices flowing. Paint, draw, or doodle. Sew, cook, or bake. Write, dance, or compose music. Chat with a friend or play with a pet. Find something to laugh about. Watch a funny movie. Do things you can enjoy. Even a little. That helps turn depression around. Isn’t it interesting that God, the ultimate Creator has given us a similar desire to be creative; to make music, to be crafty, to write or improve in some way. The many ways God made you and me are so closely tied to who God is which is another reason to reach out to Him for His great wisdom and grace in all things.
Photo from 1989ish, we were all teenagers on the verge of beginning our independent grown up lives; overcoming the challenges of our youth and finding the way to happiness and independence.