Coping with Depression: A Tip-a-Day for 2021

By Julie Aiken

365 strategies for coping with depression are presented in this extraordinarily useful book -- a tip for each day in 2021.

These simple ideas are thoroughly researched and instantly applicable to help you handle depression, with Internet links providing additional information and material. Medical studies, expert advice, nutrition tips, exercises, simple yoga instruction, music, comedy, celebrity testimonials and more are included, with specific guidance for handling anxiety and distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resources covering a plethora of mental health issues are provided throughout the text, along with helpline and hotline numbers for mental health emergencies.

2020 was an incredibly stressful year. These strategies can help you prepare for whatever 2021 throws your way. You got this!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Julie Aiken
• Release date: Oct 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005677275

Julie Aiken

Julie Aiken, author of the day-book "Coping with Depression: A Tip-a-Day for 2021," has a passion for understanding and defeating depression.At 59, Ms. Aiken has suffered from depression for 40 years -- more years than she's been depression-free. Focusing her passions for self-exploration and understanding her own psychology, she has compiled a list of anti-depression tips for each day of 2021.In the age of COVID-19's loss and isolation, learning coping skills is more vital than ever. Ms. Aiken fervently hopes some of these tips can help you live a more peaceful and joyful life. The book has a companion website, http://mydepressionstrategy.blogspot.com/, and facebook page, @mydepressionstrategy, both of which are updated every few days with tons of supplemental material.Check out her other book, Travels with Mom, The A-B-C's of Traveling with a Senior Companion, available on Smashwords!Currently based in Pennsylvania, Julie has lived in New York City and Los Angeles, and has held a variety of jobs in arts and entertainment. From Writers Assistant on a CBS Saturday morning show to Managing Director of a nonprofit community theatre, her creative and management experience is vast, and writing has always been her special passion.

Book preview

Emergency Helplines:

If you are depressed or think you might be depressed, please seek professional help.

The tips in this book are common sense mental health suggestions and cannot substitute for medical care.

If you are in crisis or need professional help, please seek it immediately.

Phone numbers and website addresses for several emergency resources are listed here. If you cannot find the correct contact information and are having a mental health emergency, dial 911.

Here are 7 resources with toll-free phone or text numbers for emergency help:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255

1-888-628-9454 for Spanish

Lifeline Crisis Chat: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat

Crisis Text Line – US and Canada: text HOME to 741741

UK: text HOME to 85258 – Ireland: text HOME to 50808

The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

Crisis/Suicide Intervention for LGBTQ youth under 25, 1-866-488-7386.

Free, confidential, secure – text START to 678-678.

National Domestic Violence Helpline:

1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522 – TTY – 1-800-787-3224

Chat in Spanish from the website: https://espanol.thehotline.org/

Military OneSource – Help for U.S. Military Personnel

Call and talk anytime, 24/7, in Spanish & English – 1-800-342-9647.

TTY/TDD – Dial 711 and give the toll free number 800-342-9647

Live Chat – https://livechat.militaryonesourceconnect.org/chat/

The International Association for Suicide Prevention can link you to hotlines and other resources outside of the USA: https://www.iasp.info/resources/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline:

1-800-662-4357 or TTY: 1-800-487-4889

Confidential, free, 24/365 information service, in English and Spanish

NAVIGATING THIS EBOOK

As a Tip-a-Day book, Coping with Depression has a unique format, quite different from most books. You navigate this book by date rather than page numbers.

Read the tips chronologically, or use the find or go to command to go to a specific date.

Alternatively, you can search the text for topics such as COVID-19, medication, nutrition, exercise, etc.

Often you will be offered more information via Internet hyperlinks. Hyperlinks will look underlined in the text, and you can access them by placing your cursor on the text and using Ctrl-click. This supplemental information includes articles, videos, music, references and more; it adds an extraordinary amount of value to the tips, and I urge you to explore it.

The blog https://mydepressionstrategy.blogspot.com/ will be updated every few days, and will provide a mountain of supplementary material and links. In addition I post regularly on twitter as @DepressionMuses and on Facebook as @mydepressionstrategy.

If you are in crisis, you will find toll-free phone and text numbers for emergency help on Page 1 of this ebook, or dial 911.

January 1

Use the New Year as an opportunity to do things differently. See things differently.

Take one step, just one, towards getting through and over depression.

Take walks.

Cut down on processed sugar and increase your intake of fruits and vegetables.

Get enough sleep.

Meditate or learn breathing exercises.

And get help!

January 2

The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality.

This TED Talk is phenomenal: Depression, The Secret We Share – Andrew Solomon

January 3

Get help.

If you just can't shake your depression and it's impacting your life, like causing you to miss work or avoid time with your family, get help!

But you've tried that before and it didn't work? Or you don't need help. Or you're afraid people will judge you. Or…

Drop the excuses and do this for you. Just for you. Get help.

January 4

What is depression?

Almost everyone feels down from time to time... Clinical depression is different.

CLICK HERE to watch a short TED Talk video breaking down what depression is.

January 5

A young man I know posted on Facebook that he’ll be in the Philippines soon. He’s found a job in his field, he’s good at it, he travels with it – he’s got (what looks from the outside like) a fantastic life.

I can be jealous and depressed. He has always had social disabilities. I've been blessed. Why can’t I do this?!?

Or I can be uplifted and encouraged. If he can handle life and excel, I know I can!

Today, I choose to feel positive.

January 6

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, mental health issues have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Average weekly data for June 2020 found that 36.5% of adults in the U.S. reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from 11.0% in 2019.

The states with the highest percentage of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder are Louisiana (42.9%), Florida (41.5%), Oregon (41.3%), Nevada (39.1%), and Oklahoma (39.0%).

The states with the lowest percentage of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder are Wisconsin (27.2%), Minnesota (30.5%), Nebraska (30.6%), North Dakota (30.9%), and South Dakota (31.0%).

CLICK HERE to read more about mental health and substance use during the pandemic.

January 7

In winter the nights grow longer and your mood may get darker.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons – SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you're like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer. (the Mayo Clinic website, HERE)

January 8

"After years of experience dealing with anxiety, low-self esteem, an unfulfilling life path, I realized that my mental wellness was so much more than mental health.

"A large portion of mental health is overcoming negative thinking patterns, practicing mindfulness, and going to therapy and taking medication if you need it.

"BUT it's about taking care of your physical health, your dreams, nurturing your spirit, realizing your confidence and power, and so much more!

That's why we also focus on personal development as part of a holistic approach to managing your anxiety.

Check out THIS website for terrific tips to live an anxiety-free life.

January 9

For over 25 years PsychCentral has been a trove of information. It's a great website!

Here's a short article from 2018: Tips for Sleeping Peacefully While Anxious.

8 simple but proven tips like When you lie down to sleep, keep your room as quiet and as dark as possible.

January 10

Get help.

Therapy under quarantine?

What are some of the ways that we can make the most of therapy or best manage our mental health while we're stuck at home?

Licensed therapist Kati Morton offers practical ideas for getting help during COVID-19.

January 11

There is so much going on in the world – vast global social justice activism, economic crisis, COVID-19... Things are vibrating at a very high frequency and keeping many of us agitated.

It's crucial to frequently still your mind, even for short intervals. But it's difficult when you're on the computer at work and in your down time. So much information and stimulation constantly. Just breathing is wonderful!

Simple breathing exercises will do. Breathe deeply. Hold that for a few seconds. Release.

Calm your thoughts.

Repeat for a few minutes.

January 12

The Rock on Depression and Decision: an Oprah's Masterclass video.

CLICK HERE to watch.

January 13

‘What do you think about self-hatred?’ I asked when it was my turn to bring up an issue for discussion. I was eager to get directly to the suffering I had seen so often in my students, a suffering I was familiar with myself. The room went quiet as all of us awaited the answer of the Dalai Lama, revered leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Looking startled, he turned to his translator and asked pointedly in Tibetan again and again for an explanation. Finally, turning back to me, the Dalai Lama tilted his head, his eyes narrowed in confusion. ‘Self-hatred?’ he repeated in English. ‘What is that?’

CLICK HERE for the full article by Sharon Salzberg.

January 14

Do you have hundreds of unread emails haunting you but can't delete them because what if one of them is important?

Delete them. If you miss something important, you'll find out sooner or later. And you are much more likely to miss important things if your inbox is perpetually full.

After that liberating act, check your email and clean up your inbox(es) daily. Don't read everything. If it's not important, delete it.

If you've signed up for way too many email lists, unsubscribe as they pop up.

You'll feel so much lighter, so much more together and on top of things. You are so virtuous and organized!

January 15

Do you get depressed because you think your life will never get better and there is no way to make changes and you will always be underemployed and in debt and broke and unlovable and pathetic?

NOTE: You think these things because you're depressed.

They are not true.

January 16

Turn off the news.

January 17

Get help.

If you are depressed, have been chronically depressed, or