Why Balance is Needed When Dealing With Depression

Part 3 of a 4-Part Series
This is the third article in a four-part series on helpful tips for dealing with depression. In it, I focus on the role of balance in countering depression. These techniques for dealing with depression have all come from a book entitled, The 10 Best-Ever Depression Management Techniques by Margaret Wehrenberg. If practiced consistently over time, these techniques truly can alter the brain and foster healing.

Balance Your Life

Have you ever noticed how, when you get into a routine of working out, other areas of your life are also affected? You want to eat a salad instead of that cookie after your workout. Or you want to get your bills paid on time, instead of trying to ignore them. When you start to feel empowered in one area, you get energized and want to feel the same in all areas.

A similar kind of dynamic occurs when you start trying to gain balance in your goals, your attention, your thoughts, and your emotions. These four areas are usually all off balance when you are feeling depressed. You may even have forgotten what your goals are. The attention you used to give them is simply not there, and you feel as if it just does not matter anymore.

Negative Thinking Reaps Negative Emotions

In depression, thoughts tend toward negativity. You may lose sight of the fact that your actions and attitudes continue to affect others. It is easy to just sink into an attitude of “It just does not even matter.” And our emotions are strongly influenced by those thoughts. Negative thinking will reap negative emotions.

Try some of these exercises as you seek to deal with depression. Again, this is not to over-simplify the struggle with depression, but to offer tips that truly can alter the depressed brain over time. Go outside. Break your routine. Do not spend all day doing one thing. Remember and repeat past joyous experiences. Enhance your spirituality. Define your values. Change one pattern in your behavior and keep track of how that change makes you feel on a daily basis. Do what restores you.

Remember and Repeat Past Joyous Experiences

Try this exercises with another person. It could be your counselor, a family member, or a trusted friend. 1) Recall an experience that was pleasurable on any level, and spend a few minutes remembering the details. 2) Describe the details out loud for five or ten minutes using every sense – describe what you were seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting. Get to all of it. 3) Consider how you can repeat this experience as soon as possible. If it was something that occurred while on vacation, pick an aspect of it that is easily repeatable. 4) Make a commitment to the person listening for when you will repeat the experience – or some aspect of it. 5) Decide how you will be accountable for doing so.

Define Your Values

Over a day, a few days, or an entire week, list your activities during that period of time. Thoughtfully and honestly write down how much time you spent on each activity. Whether it was watching TV, browsing the Internet, walking the dog, talking with a friend, or lying on the couch. Even if you think it should not be on the list, write it down. On another list, write out your ideal values. This could be something like, “Being an attentive parent” or “Having time for prayer and meditation.” Come up with at least three ideal values. There will be clashes between what you say you value and how you actually spend your time.

Set goals to reduce the amount of energy you put into those activities that do not line up with your ideal values. And set an intention to add a behavior to your day or your week that does line up with your ideal values. Again, changing even one pattern of behavior will go a long way toward gaining more balance in your life and decreasing depressive symptoms.

Christian Counseling for Dealing with Depression

As a Christian counselor, I am convinced that we do not need to be incapacitated by feelings of depression. If you would like additional resources on dealing with depression, or if you would like to practice some of the techniques mentioned with another person, please consider calling a Christian counselor today.