Depression - recognised as a serious illness

It was interesting to hear on the news this week that at last depression is recognised as seriously debilitating. So many people feel embarassed when suffering the symptoms of depression, this leads them to ignore the early warning signs and resist going to the GP until the illness has developed significantly. When they finally do ask for help there is still a reluctance to taking medication. I've heard many people talk about feeling a failure.

I think it is significant that while many of us will take care to look after our physical well being, by taking vitamins and simple precautions to resist infection, we take little or no care of our mental well being. So perhaps it would be helpful to get together some ideas of how to look after ourselves during particularly stressful times. We all know we are living in very stressful times at present; from global threats of climate change and terrorism to our country's financial situation and right down to our own personal pressures at this time of the year.

Everyone will have their own idea of what is good for themselves but why not try to get a list together of little things that help lift your mood. It might be a long soak in a hot bath, to sit a read a good novel for a half hour at least, an opportunity to meditate for a few minutes, perhaps giving yourself a manicure, a trip to the gym, time to bake a cake, listening to a special piece of music, a run or walk in the country, etc.

Once you have made a list of your special treats then try to make sure you do one at least every other day.

Another good habit to get into is to review the day before going to bed and find three positive things that have happened for you. If three is too difficult then begin with one and build up to three. It may take some time to be able to recognise the positives, so often we are programmed to notice the negatives that positives slip by unnoticed.