Managing low mood and depression
Depression and low mood can occur for a variety of different reasons, such as certain situations, feelings, emotions or events or can either be triggered by seemingly nothing, which we can internalise to believe that there is no valid reason for feeling that way we do. It is completely normal to feel bouts of low mood, however if the feeling persists, it is important to seek help from a GP.
Below are just some examples of the causes and symptoms of low mood or depression.
How to manage low moods and depression
Routine
Having a routine gives you structure and purpose and is something to aim to have even when going through a period of low mood. Each evening, plan for the following day so when you wake up, all you need to do is follow your plan.
Self-care
Feeling low or depressed can often cause individuals to forget about self-care. Getting enough sleep, eating properly and regularly, exercising, spending time with others and relaxing are just some of the fundamentals to try and achieve even when feeling low, as often poor self-care can lead to further feelings of low mood.
Positive self-talk
Often when we feel low we will start to talk negatively about ourselves which can lead to a downward spiral of negative thought and often a lack of motivation to do anything. Instead, try to turn all negative thoughts about yourself into a positive to help raise your esteem and motivation about yourself.
Keep a diary or journal
Keeping a mood journal can often be useful in pinpointing why you feel a certain way and what has caused that feeling. By jotting down when you feel different emotions and what was happening at the point you felt that emotion, you will hopefully begin to notice a pattern in why you feel down at certain points and what potentially is causing that feeling.
Distraction techniques
This technique is only a short term fix but distracting yourself through watching something on TV or reading a book can be good in keeping your mind off unwanted thoughts for a little while.
Open up
Opening up can be extremely helpful as i tallows you to get things off your chest and rationalise them in the process. It can help ease isolation and you are far more likely to be offered compassion rather than the rejection you maybe fearing.
Seek support
Animation talking about depression
Below is an animation that talks about what depression is and how it feels in a more narrative style. I really like how depression is depicted within this animation and personified, but still manages to get across the seriousness and factual information about what it is like to live with depression. I think that this video really succeeds in informing people what depression is actually like while still presenting the video in a light tone through the images shown. This is something I hope to achieve through my animations due to my target audience being children. I want my videos to be informative and education while still keeping a light tone so that I don’t scare the children with my subject matter.
I had a black dog, his name was depression
Bibliography – [complete references]
Student Wellbeing Centre (2021) Managing low mood and depression [Blog]. Available from: https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/dist/4/8317/files/2019/07/Low-Mood-2-1.pdf. [Accessed 15 March 2021]