- Spending time with negative people. While there is nothing wrong with venting, some people moan and groan about every little issue without wanting to solve their problems and that can mess with your mood. Negativity drains you so limit your interaction with chronic complainers.
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Ignoring or overriding your body. Fighting against your body may make you tired or irritable. Mindfulness is important. Identify how your body feels and how you can best respond.
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Trying to control others. Other people are not you, they are not always going to do what you think would be the best solution or act the way you would act in that situation.
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Denial. Trying too hard to lift your mood can backfire. Denying that something is painful or pretending that a bad thing did not happen can actually create more tension around the problem and could pop up in unrelated situations.
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Multi-tasking. Trying to pay attention to several pieces at once takes away from our ability to fully focus and enjoy what we are doing. Be fully present in each moment to settle your busy mind.
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Being disorganized. Disorganization can lead to stress, anxiety, and other negative consequences. For example: large wall calendar could help with remembering appointments. or having one day of the weekend that you always go grocery shopping can help make your life more manageable.
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Isolation. Even though we currently we have to isolate because of Covid-19, but in general isolation can lead to depression. Try to be connected to your loved ones, family, and friend to keep your mood high.
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Grief. Ever been through a breakup, lost a job, and experienced the loss of family member? All of these situations are thick with grief. Feeling unmotivated, low, irritable, disinterested in the things you used to enjoy, disconnected, unable to focus. Try to accept the situation and find your own ways of getting out of it.
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Sleep deprivation. Ever noticed how much more fragile and lethargic you are after a bad sleep? Exhaustion affects your mood, our energy levels and our cognitive functioning. If you feel you might have a sleep disorder, consider getting a referral to a specialist and keep sleep hygiene.
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Missing meaning. We require meaning in life for happiness. We can find this meaning through work, relationships, helping others, learning, creative endeavors (writing, music, art, etc.). If you feel lost in life, depression has likely come about to tell you that the way you are living your life does not align with your values and desires. Take it as a positive sign that change needs to happen.
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Stress. Chronic stress can lead to depression. Some stress is good, but when it outweighs coping, it may make you feel depressed. If you cannot cut some of your responsibilities, consider assessing where the expectations you feel are coming from and take some pressure off. Permit yourself lower your expectations for performance, make mistakes, quit, and ask for help. In other words stop treating yourself like a robot and let yourself be a human being.
Written by, Anna Meliksetyan – Founder & President DNA”NGO”