Have you ever been so down in the dumps that you don't know how you'll ever come out of your hole? Anxiety's bad, depression is suffocating, and it feels all so overwhelming. Well, I've been there and sometimes I'm still there, but here are five things that can get you aiming in the right direction.
1. Give a compliment.
Giving someone a compliment is probably the last thing on your mind when you feel like your world is terrible, but it shifts your brain into thinking a more positive way. It also can make you feel better to see you making someone else's day better! You know what they say, a compliment a day keeps the doctor away. That's the saying, right?
2. Go see a counselor.
You should never feel ashamed for talking to someone that can help. Sometimes getting everything out on the table makes you feel better, and feel less weighted down. They can also provide you with some skills that are tailored to help with your specific situation.
3. Journal
I know sometimes you don't feel like you have enough time in the day to think, much less sit down and journal. Take 5 minutes when you feel that positivity dropping to write down what is making it drop. Then release it once it's written down. And if you want to take more than 5 minutes, take more than five minutes, and write down how you feel right now and what's been going through your brain.
4. Do something you haven't done before.
Take a weekend and do something you wouldn't normally do, or a weekday for that matter. Go see that movie you've been wanting to see, or go take a day trip to the mountains or the beach. Make your heart and brain happy by switching up your daily routine that becomes monotonous.
5. Make yourself.
That's a pretty blunt way of putting it, but forcing behaviors can make your emotions change. Is there something that you want to change, but you just haven't felt like putting forth the effort? Well do it, but a little bit at a time. Instead of putting that full face of makeup on, choose one thing that you could put on that would make you feel a little bit better. Are you tired of that clothes pile, but feel like it's overwhelming to do it at once? Hang up/fold five items a day until it's gone.
There's probably a lot more than five things you could do that would help build your confidence, positivity, and all around mental health for the better, but here's five to get you started. A lot of times people are so bogged down by life and all the bad parts of it that it's easy to forget the good. Always remind yourself of the good you have, and you'll be on the right path!
