1. Take One Day at a Time
It sounds like a cliche, but taking each day and each hour one at a time can help you cope with depression. Don't become overwhelmed with what you have to do tomorrow or next week. Focus on one task at a time, and have friends, family members or housekeepers do mundane tasks like cleaning or walking the dog. Free yourself to do things you enjoy like reading or drawing. Creative pursuits are a good way to take your mind off sad thoughts or turn them into something positive and vibrant.
2. Draw Comfort From Your Significant Other
If you're in a relationship, talk to your partner. Allow them to do kind things for you and bring you gifts. They're doing it out of love and you need to feel that in your life right now. Even if you don't feel like it, engage in romantic cuddling, kissing and sex. When you're in the throes of depression, you're convinced that nothing will make you happy, even lovemaking with your partner. Get over doubts if only for an evening and let a loving partner make you happy.
3. Keep in Touch With Friends
Engage in social interaction. Even a short conversation about weather with the mailman can perk you up when you're depressed. Scroll through your address book and call or email an old friend just to say "hi." Studies show that people with close personal friendships get depressed less often and are able to bounce back quicker when they do get depressed.
4. Eat Right and Take Your Vitamins
Changes in appetite, like eating too much or too little, or binge eating are signs of depression. To cope with this area of your life, keep small portions of your favorite comfort foods around to spur your appetite. Have a relative come over and cook a "comfort food" dinner for you, or cook yourself a simple dish, like scrambled eggs. Take St. John's Wort, Vitamins C and B9 (folate) and inositol or eat salmon and other foods with Omega 3 fatty acids.
5. Communicate With a Therapist
If a depressed mood verges on suicidal feelings, don't try to cope with it yourself. Call your therapist or a suicide prevention hotline if you don't have a regular doctor. Let a friend or family member know how you feel. Let them help you overcome your depressing or suicidal thoughts, or take you for treatment. If you take anti-depressants like Prozac or Zoloft, you may need a change in prescription if the depression continues.
