Depression is an Energy Sucker; Can We Do Something About It?

Here is an endless cycle, the dizzying effects of feeling sad, having the blues, being depressed, or whatever you call it – it sucks the energy right out of you.  Without that energy, you can’t accomplish what you want.  You are exhausted and will engage in busywork, meaningless things like lying around watching television or playing around on social media sites for hours on end instead of accomplish what you really need to accomplish: work, household chores, errands, important phone calls, homework, studying, spending quality time with your kids…

Depression is constantly sustaining itself.  It exhausts you, prevents you from doing what needs to be done, making you more depressed because you feel like a worthless, lazy slob who can’t get anything done, can’t do anything right, which makes you more depressed.  It, at the very least, sustains that feeling of depression.

How do you overcome it?  Push through the bad feelings and do your best to accomplish what needs to be done every single day.  Each day, try to do a little more, and if you can’t or don’t, try again later or tomorrow.  Eventually, you may come to realize that you feel good about yourself again because of those little accomplishments, which will lend to greater accomplishments and/or a general feeling of self-worth.

In addition, it’s accepting our shortcomings and realizing that we aren’t perfect, we aren’t supposed to be, and it’s okay not to be!

At least, that’s how I feel.  Maybe I’m projecting my feelings onto you. 

Now, let’s see if I can take my own advice.

Related articles

• Postpartum depression – All Information (umm.edu)
• What are the Effects of Depression on Pregnancy? (brighthub.com)
• Overcoming the stigma of seasonal affective disorder | Susana Adame (guardian.co.uk)