17 Quick Fixes when you become Moody or Depressed

Retrain that brain

- “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  

   King James Bible,  Proverbs 17, verse 22 

- “Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” 

  ~Buddha 

   Sadness is an emotional pain associated with loss, despair, hopelessness, and sorrow. An individual experiencing depression may become quiet or lethargic, cry, withdraw from others, stop eating, and have difficulty sleeping. Or delve into alcohol or drugs. Or inflict physical pain on themselves.  Numbness, shock, feeling unsettled, making grumpy remarks to others, and an inability to focus are symptoms of depression.

   The limbic system is a complex system of nerves in the brain. It controls the basic emotions (fear, pleasure, anger) and drives hunger, sex, dominance, and the care of offspring. It also has much to do with the formation of memories. Your limbic system becomes familiar with your depression, like a nice comfy pair of slippers. Continued depression isn't healthy because you keep slipping back into that unwanted darkness that controls your life for a few minutes to a few days.  To take control, you need to build a new picture in your brain and update it. Of course, grieving and sadness are a part of life, so we still have to go through the process, but it shouldn't take over your life.  

 Here are some simple fixes if you are not too depressed but get your booty into trauma therapy if it continues for more than a week.  (Here are some techniques that I use.) On my blog, it lists the types of counseling that have helped me, but there are tons more out there. Seek, and ye shall find.)

QUICK FIXES I USE:

1.)  Walk my dogs

2.)  Write in my journal

3.)  Sit down at the piano and play, sing, and listen to music 

4.)  When I cannot focus for a few days, I take a long hike. That really regrounds me.

5.)  Meditate for 15 to 30 minutes  (  Blog # 7 https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5521247939977254378/2780554452811162931  )

6.)  Dance, get a coloring book you like, and have fun or sketch
7.)  Hug a tree or lay on the grass, but first, make sure there aren't any ants. Those bites hurt! 

(Blog #12  https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5521247939977254378/134130178745949783  ) 
      

UPDATING THE BRAIN: In other words, making your brain realize the situation has changed, so you aren't reacting to the trauma anymore.

1.)  When I get depressed about the numerous mistakes I made as a parent, which might have made my daughter not want to talk to us, I remind myself how I've changed, or I remind myself, or I remember some of the things I did right as a parent.

2.)  I slow myself down and zero in on the actual memory that had kicked me in the gut.  Sometimes the memory is not about the mistakes I made as a parent but the crap that happened in my home when I grew up that has somehow been triggered by something in the present.

     a)  I allow myself to feel that fear, anger, or sorrow. (Crying is good, you’re releasing the emotion out of your system).          

    b)  My therapist also taught me to bring in someone who is my protector. Sometimes it’s Alan,        my mom who has passed away, or an angel. Yes, and even a crystal will work, a doll, or a four-leaf clover. Whatever makes you feel happy and safe will do the job.  See it.  Notice how you feel while holding the item or seeing the angel or person in your mind's eye. 

    c)  Give yourself time to acknowledge the change: breathing has slowed down, you feel calm, etc. 

WOW!  A useful site that explains other ways to return to that ‘Happy Place’ Click HERE.

If you wish to write a personal message to me, my email is tbboivin8@gmail.com. I will respond in a couple of days.