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Using Activities to Cope With Depression
Do something you like to do every day, let yourself feel good and have fun.
Being off work for a month for mental health was extremely boring, and felt like I wasn’t doing anything. I started to give myself horrible thoughts against myself and tell myself that I don’t deserve this time that I am getting to heal, which was completely untrue. One way I found to combat this was to do at least one thing I like to do per day.
Most have probably heard the typical saying of, “Exercise and you’ll feel better!”, well that’s not inclusive advice to give everyone. Not everyone has the stamina or motivation to exercise every day. Or even every week, especially if they’re depressed or anxious. Doing one thing you like to do every day, even for a little bit, can give yourself permission to feel good. Permission from yourself to yourself that you deserve to feel good.
When I started at the beginning of December, I forgot what I even ‘liked’ to do. Whenever the question popped up, I’d say, “I dunno like Netflix and Social Media..”. But those aren’t things I ‘liked’ to do, just what numbed the pain for a little while, and sometimes even triggered it. Through weeks of therapy, I found multiple hobbies I actually liked doing. Playing Sims4, Yoga, Meditation, Playing with my Cats, Coloring…
