Ways To Cope With Anxiety And Depression

It is not uncommon for people to feel up and down as they go through daily activities of life. When it comes to feeling down, it is especially unavoidable for the human race to not be around stressful and difficult events. Be them, failing to get the job you want, having problems in relationships – to the loss of the loved ones in our family and other close relations. All of these can affect our general wellbeing for bad and lead us to anxiety and depression.

Anxiety and depression are quite connected to one another. But we should be aware that they are not the same things. While anxiety is a term that indicates several mental disorders that cause mostly worry and fear, depression merely causes feelings of sadness and a loss of interest in enjoyable activities.

Both of these disorders affect the way you act, feel and behave and their symptoms can be manifested emotionally and physically. Also, if these manifestations tend to persist for more than two consecutive weeks, one might be experiencing a depressive or anxiety episode. As Helpguide highlights anxiety is triggered when you are under pressure, face a period of stress or you feel threatened. On the other hand, Healthline suggests that depression doesn’t always need a trigger to occur in an individual and sometimes some of the triggers are out of your control. Also, just like anxiety, depression can be mild, moderate and severe.

However, it’s important to find ways to cope with every struggling situation that comes in our lives and try to manage it in the best and healthiest way we can. Now, there are many different experiences of anxiety and depression and many strategies to help you cope with their treatment. These strategies range from self-help to seeking professional help, thus depending on the intensity of the disorder.

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Treatments for anxiety and depression

There are a variety of coping techniques to help people manage their anxiety and stress symptoms and some of them are:

Lifestyle Changes – according to Taking Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing if you suffer from mild depression or anxiety, there are some lifestyle changes that can help you alleviate your problems. A powerful tool to start making changes is to start exercising. Researchers over the years have approved that exercise can help one lift the mood since it stimulates chemicals in the brain which help to defeat depression. Among the meditative techniques to fight anxiety, especially yoga is recommended. Also, as bonuses – exercise effects not only our mental health, but it also helps one maintain a healthy weight as well as increase the chance to develop a calming sleeping routine. Another important issue to consider is to make sure you balance your eating and drinking habits. As Medbroadcast writes – make sure to minimize the amount of alcohol and caffeine in your body.  And be aware of the food intake that you consume as it plays quite a big role in balancing your mood and energy during the day.

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Psychosocial Therapies-  As Taking Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing puts it – is very important to be well informed for the anxiety and depression treatments and consult professional advice to get the best fit. Although there are a variety of therapies that help in the treatment of depression and anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) is widely used for mild and severe depression or anxiety.  According to Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, CBT is a highly effective talk therapy that focuses on identifying, understanding, and changing patterns of negative thinking and behaviors. The recovery depends on the individual as well, as there are homework assignments to complete and skills that should be learned during the therapy sessions. Usually, the benefits are seen in 12 to 16 weeks.

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Medication – Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing lists some severe symptoms that should be taken into account before deciding to take any medication. They are: destructive and suicidal thoughts, depression that hasn’t stopped for weeks-despite using self-help therapies, persistent and severe sleep disturbance and repetitive episodes of anxiety and depression. They also state that it might take weeks or months for medications to have an impact, this is why you should keep track of how you feel and see if medication is helping you. Sometimes it also takes time to find the correct dosage and type of medication that you need.

Finally a quick tip: Take a purifying breath and focus on releasing negative thoughts and feelings.

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                AND BREATHE BECAUSE YOU MATTER <3!

Disclaimer: The contents of this article: text, graphics, images, and other materials contained are strictly for informational purposes only. The Content is NOT intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical diagnosis, advice, or treatment. Please ALWAYS seek the advice of a qualified health provider with all the questions that you have related to, or about, a medical condition.

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