Better Way

By Jacob Muse

Feel like a weight is pulling you down? Tired of endless lockdowns, lines, uncertainty, and stress?

Learn how to control your brain, get off the couch, and get things done… even when you feel like shit. Discover how to:

build a routine—and actually stick to it,

exercise regularly and practice self-care—just like The Rock,

tackle stress, fatigue, and overwhelm for long-term success, and

boost your health in five quick minutes!

Stop canceling plans and lying in bed. This is your chance to control your life, manage your symptoms, and support long-term growth… to manage depression like the badass you are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Egle Simanskaite
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201884017

Book preview

Book Description

Feel like a weight is pulling you down? Tired of endless lockdowns, lines, uncertainty, and stress?

Learn how to control your brain, get off the couch, and get things done... even when you feel like shit. Discover how to:

●  build a routine—and actually stick to it,

●  exercise regularly and practice self-care—just like The Rock,

●  tackle stress, fatigue, and overwhelm for long-term success, and

●  boost your health in five quick minutes!

Stop canceling plans and lying in bed. This is your chance to control your life, manage your symptoms, and support long-term growth... to manage depression like the badass you are.

BETTER WAY

Manage Depression and Other Challenges Like a Badass

Jacob Muse

© Copyright 2022 - All rights reserved.

The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher.

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book, either directly or indirectly.

Legal Notice:

This book is copyright protected. It is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer Notice:

Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaged in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book.

By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are incurred as a result of the use of the information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why, Brain?

Shades of Gray

SOS

Survivor Spotlight: Dwayne The Rock Johnson

Exercise: I Am a Survivor

Chapter 1: You Got This

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Denial

Anger

Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance

Future Forecasts

Survivor Spotlight: Deepika Padukone

It’s Okay to Ask for Help

Useful Resources

Helplines

United States

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Disaster Distress Helpline

Crisis Text Line

Veterans Crisis Line

SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline

Trans Lifeline

Canada

Canada Suicide Prevention Service

Crisis Text Line

Hope for Wellness Helpline

Trans Lifeline

LGBT National Help Center

Financial Assistance

United States

Mental Health America

NeedyMeds

Medicine Assistance Tool

Canada

Government of Canada

Canadian Association of Mental Health

National Benefit Authority

Support Groups

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

7 Cups

Exercise: Clear That Path

Chapter 2: You Are Not Alone

Do I Have Depression?

Exercise: Mood Tracking

Brain... Why’d You Have to Go And Make Things So Complicated?

This Is Your Brain on Depression

Exercise: Understand the Causes

F*ck Good Vibes Only

Exercise: Let Them In

Survivor Spotlight: Lizzie Knott

Chapter 3: Do the Thing

Use the Power

Survivor Spotlight: Kathryn Rose Wood

Under the Surface

Exercise: Find Your Strengths

Courage

Justice

Wisdom and Knowledge

Love and Humanity

Transcendence

Temperance

Chapter 4: Water Your Plants

Get SMART

Specific

Measurable

Exercise: Track Your Routine

Achievable

Relevant

Timely

Exercise: Find Your Flow

Survivor Spotlight: Vivan Cheng

Build a Map

Mindset

Exercise: What’s My Mindset?

Meaning

Exercise: Meaningful Menu

Accountability

Associations

Preparations

Pauses

Starts

Chapter 5: Get Physical

Move Your Body

Five Quick Ways to Get Moving

1. Stretch in Bed Before Getting Up

2. Do Ten Jumping Jacks

3. Do Ten Squats

4. Do Ten Push-Ups

5. Walk for Three Minutes

Practice Hygiene

15 Hygiene Hacks to Stay Clean

An Apple a Day

Level Up

Level One

Level Two

Level Three

Get Some Sun

See the Forest and the Trees

Clean Your Environment

15 Quick Ways to Tidy Your Home

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Eight Strategies for Better Quality Sleep

Survivor Spotlight: Jarvis Googoo

Chapter 6: Don’t Cancel Those Plans

Exercise: Find Your Squad

Know Your Limits

Exercise: Will I Really Hate It?

Survivor Spotlight: Jed Forrest

10 Easy Ways to Stay Connected

Chapter 7: Smash That Glass

Exercise: Recognize the Cycle

Survivor Spotlight: Harry

Cognitive Distortions

Black and White Thinking

Filtering

Fairness Fallacies

‘Shoulds’

Change Fallacies

Blaming

Control Fallacies

Personalization

Overgeneralization

Jumping to Conclusions

Magnifying and Minimizing

Heaven’s Reward Fallacies

Global Labeling and Mislabeling

Always Being Right

Emotional Reasoning

Exercise: Name the Distortion

Chapter 8: Mind the Gap

Four Five-Minute Mindfulness Meditations

Concentration Meditation

Affirmation Meditation

Compassion Meditation

Gratitude Meditation

Survivor Spotlight: James

It’s Okay to Wander

Conclusion: You Are a Badass

References

Introduction: Why, Brain?

Depression lies. It tells you you’ve always felt this way, and you always will. But you haven’t, and you won’t. —Halley Cornell

I can’t, sorry; something came up.

Yeah, a bag of chips and my cat.

I put down my phone with a thump, flopping down on my couch and pulling a warm blanket up to my neck. The fleece feels soft against my skin. I blink and look around the room, watching the corners fill with the eerie orange and gray hues of twilight.

I should turn a light on.

I stare at the wall opposite the couch and watch the room grow darker.

What is wrong with me? I shouldn’t have canceled that Zoom chat. Took weeks to schedule just one evening when everyone was free, even though we all work from home. And now I’m just lying here staring at a wall.

My cat meows, the high pitch of her voice reverberating throughout the silent room.

Maybe it took that long to schedule because no one really wants to hang out with me.

The paint looks dark gray now, barely illuminated by a streetlight outside. Almost night.

I roll over and pull up my legs with a start. My cat is curled up behind my knees—a warm ball of fluff I almost squished. I didn’t even realize she was there.

My stomach rumbles. She needs food.

I’m such a bad pet parent.

I think of my small dark kitchen, the soft hum of the refrigerator bouncing off the tiles and filling the space.

Black bananas on the counter. Garbage overflowing. Unwashed dishes in the sink.

Okay, time to stand up.

I picture myself washing a bowl and searching through the pantry for a can of cat food. The effort weighs on my shoulders like a ball of cement. I wiggle my toes, feeling the warmth of the blanket and the vibration of my cat’s purrs.

Maybe just five more minutes.

Shades of Gray

The anonymous poet Atticus once said, Depression is being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is (Goodreads, n.d.).

Seeing those colors feels impossible.

We focus on everything that’s wrong in our lives: our jobs, our homes, our relationships, the pandemic, politics, the unemployment rate, the housing industry, global warming . . . even ourselves.

Thoughts swirl in our heads, filling us with frustration, anger, sadness, and numbness—and in light of all those feelings and all those problems in the world, everything seems hopeless.

Nothing seems to matter.

Then, others have the gall to tell us It’s all in your head, or That’s just life; deal with it, or even You just need to smile more and use essential oils.

And we feel completely, utterly alone.

That’s bullshit.

SOS

We’re not alone.

In 2020, 21 million adults in the United States experienced at least one major episode of depression. That’s 8.4% of adults in the United States in just one year (National Institute of Mental Health, 2022).

Despite what we tell ourselves, we matter. We’re important. We have worth.

And there’s hope.

Depression and other mental health issues are illnesses—just like the common cold or a broken bone.

And you wouldn’t leave a fractured rib without care, so why would you leave your mental health?

I get it. When you’ve been staring at a wall for three hours straight, getting out of bed feels impossible, let alone self-care.

But it is possible.

You’ve been through a lot. You’re a survivor—a warrior—and you have skills many people never develop.

To take inspiration from Liam Neeson’s character in the 2008 movie Taken (I’ve watched a lot of movies over this pandemic!), you have a very particular set of skills, skills [you] have acquired over a very long [time], skills that make [you] a nightmare for [depression] (Sellers, 2021). Those skills are the things that help you keep going—to manage your depression and kick it in the ass. The biggest of them? The ability to discover and use tools to reduce your symptoms and increase your well-being.

This book will help you learn some of those tools... and to master them with the power of neuroplasticity.

Mental health professionals have proven that our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and beliefs are interconnected, and they make up a cycle.

Say you cancel your Zoom plans for the night. After you decide to watch some Netflix with your dog, you might think, I’m so lazy. I shouldn’t have canceled those plans. That thought triggers certain feelings, leading to a negative belief about yourself.

You can break that cycle and readjust your beliefs and feelings by harnessing neuroplasticity: the amazing power of the brain to continually adapt and change its structure and functions over your lifetime.

At first, it can be hard to recognize and break the cycle that affects your thoughts and behaviors. Think of your habits, thoughts, and actions like a well-worn path in a forest: It’s scary to go off-trail with bushes, trees, and other plants that are difficult to navigate and cut through. But as you tread a new path through the undergrowth—and travel that path more and more—it becomes easier to follow, while your old path starts to become overgrown with vegetation.

I’m not saying that harnessing neuroplasticity is the answer to all your problems. But change has three steps: awareness, acceptance, and action. Starting small and learning how to recognize the paths you’re following—and consistently changing them in small ways—can help you take action to manage your symptoms and work toward future growth.

Whether you can afford a therapist and medication or you have to improve your