Small Ways to Feel Better When You're Depressed

Depression is more complicated than most people think. It’s not just about being sad and it certainly isn’t about being lazy. But those are common misconceptions that sometimes prevent people from seeking treatment and getting the help they need to feel better.

Even when you’re experiencing depression, it can be tough to identify how you’re feeling and it can be hard to take steps to improve your mood and outlook in the moment.

That’s why we put together this article—to help you on your journey in coping with your symptoms. A better understanding of how you’re feeling and what action you can take can empower you to live your best life even when you’re feeling depressed.

Understanding Your Emotions

Some people experience more irritability than sadness when they're depressed, other people report feelings of guilt and hopelessness. And while some people report their emotions stay pretty constant, other people say their depression causes their emotions to shift pretty quickly.

Before you can make decisions about how to best cope with depression or what types of treatments you want to try, it’s important to gain a better understanding of the emotions you’re experiencing.

Then, you can develop a plan for dealing with each of those emotions you're encountering. What works to calm you down when you’re feeling anxious might not be helpful when you’re feeling unappreciated.

Learning to identify these emotional components you're encountering can help you develop strategies to feel better sooner. And while everyone's experience with depressive symptoms is a little different, developing a better understanding of the emotions you're encountering can help you determine which coping skills work best for you.

Taking Small Steps

Your depression will try to convince you that nothing will work to help you feel better. It’ll tell you there’s no use in trying any formal treatment and any steps you take to improve your emotional state will be useless.

It may tell you that there's no sense in taking medication because it won't work. Or, your depression might try to convince you that you shouldn't talk to a therapist because talking won't help. Consequently, you might not take any action that could help you feel better.

That’s what depression does to your brain—it makes you think unrealistically negative thoughts.

But, the truth is, you won’t know if various strategies work until you try them. You don’t have any take huge leaps to help yourself feel better (that’s likely to feel overwhelming when you’re depressed). Instead, you can try small steps to see if specific strategies help you feel better.

To do so, however, you'll have to go against what your brain is telling you. For example, depression might try to convince you to just stay in bed all day. But staying in bed is likely to keep you stuck in a depressed mood.

You might have to push yourself to get up, get dressed, go for a walk, or call a friend. While you might think none of things will help you feel better (or you might even think they'll make you feel worse), getting active might decrease your symptoms a little if you're willing to try.

Think of various coping strategies as experiments. Some of them may help you feel better and others might not necessarily work for you. But the more experiments you try, the better equipped you'll be in identifying which strategies best reduce your symptoms.

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A Word From Verywell

While it’s important to have professionals who are helping you manage your depression, like a physician and a therapist, there are also many strategies you can try at home to alleviate your symptoms.

In this special series, we’ve gathered some tips and strategies for coping with the various emotional aspects of depression. If you give them a try, you might discover that they help you experience some relief from your symptoms of depression.