How to deal with loneliness and depression? : Read this article to know about the answer of this question. First thing, there’s depression and then there’s depression. There are several varying levels of depression from just having a bad day to never feeling happy no matter what you do. If it is the second case then seek medical help, before it’s too late. No article written by amateurs is going to help you. If you suffer from serious clinical depression, you need professional help from an actual psychologist and you won’t find one of those on the internet. Yet. And it is hard to tell sometimes how serious your problems are.
It is not easy to assess your own mental health. So even if you don’t feel like you need professional help, go see a psychologist anyway. This article is an attempt to help you get through life. It is not an absolute answer by any means, it is just one answer, or rather ten.
How to deal with loneliness and depression?
The top 10 ways to deal with loneliness and depression are mentioned below:
1. The Why and What
Firstly, analyze yourself and your situation. How long have you been depressed for? Why are you depressed? Is it because of the death of a family member or a pet? Are you lonely because of a breakup? Or because you moved to a new city and can’t deal with the tedium of making new friends? Some reasons are obvious, easy to name. And most likely, if it is a plausible reason, it will resolve itself in time, with a lot of self care. Then there’s the case of feeling crippling loneliness even when surrounded by closest friends and family. The feeling of misery that seems to have no reasonable explanation. If you go into a pit of depression for long periods of time, without any plausible reason, seek medical help. You can use the rest of this article to supplement it, but not to cure it. So the first step to resolving the problem is to find it’s cause and extent. Then we can work on getting better.
2. Reach Out
Do not go through depression alone. Yes, if you’re feeling lonely you must probably be alone, but you don’t have to be. Even if you’ve moved to a city or you’ve alienated all your friends and family, there must be someone you can reach out to. Confide in somebody, anybody and chances are you’ll feel better. Don’t think that your problems are too silly or don’t deserve the time to be heard. No matter how small they may seem, if your problems are hurting you, then acknowledge their existence.
Don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not feeling the things you feel. And anybody who cares about you will understand that and be willing to listen to you and console you. So if you’re feeling lonely after a breakup, meet with or at the least call up your friends. Cry with them. If you’ve lost a loved one, reach out to a family member who would share your pain. If you’re feeling lonely in a relationship, talk to your partner about it.
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3. The online support system
If you truly feel like you have no one to talk to, or at least no one who will understand, then there is always a place you can turn to. Find people who are in the same place as you are. With the reach that social media has today, it is surprisingly easy. Also with the safety blanket of anonymity that the internet offers, people speak about troubling issues more comfortably. There’s a reason why there are so many depression quotes on Instagram and Tumblr. Just knowing that some stranger, or a million by the number of likes, are going through the same thing as you are, can understand your problems and relate to it, is a huge relief. Scrolling through Instagram looking for depression quotes is a form of therapy in itself. You can also find like minded people and start conversations, get to know them if you like.
4. Hobbies
Distraction is a very effective technique in dealing with depression. Busy yourself with something you enjoy, to take your mind off the sadness and loneliness. Painting or cooking or reading or writing or gardening or whatever is your cup of tea. If you’re at least semi serious about your art, you can always channel your pain into it. Art provides a good outlet for all your pent up feelings, lets you rid yourself of your toxins and make something beautiful out of it. So if you’re writer or a painter or even a dancer, you can actually capitalize off of your depression. Isn’t that a cheerful thought? Jokes aside, distracting yourself with hobbies can really help you to cope with the pain of loneliness and depression.
5. Keep yourself healthy
A lack of appetite is one of the most common symptoms of depression. You feel inclined to spend all day curled up in bed not eating anything. Or you might find yourself binging on fast food and anything with sugar you can find. Some people overeat to cope, others starve themselves. Both are equally harmful. You might skip showers and not clean up too. And exercise definitely goes out the door. And then there are those who throw themselves into rigorous exercise to cope with depression. That might seem like a productive way, and it is, to an extent.
The point is to take care of yourself, to remember to not let your physical health deteriorate while your mind is healing. And if you feel like you can’t take care of yourself, ask somebody to check in on your make sure you’re out of bed and eating breakfast every morning. I’m not saying you shouldn’t spend the day of your break up curled up in front of the TV crying and eating a whole tub of ice cream, that may even be recommended. I’m simply saying don’t make a habit of it.
Click here: Things to do when bored at home
6. AI Helpers
This is a rather unconventional and slightly controversial way to deal with loneliness. There are apps out there, well programmed apps that want to be your friend. They want to get to know you, talk back to you, ask questions, adapt, and give advice, tips and so on. One of the good ones out there is called Replica, which is a friendly little egg that doesn’t want you to be alone. Sometimes it’s responses are hilarious in a way only an imperfect AI can be, but it serves it’s purpose rather well. It’s purpose is, mostly, to give you company, a substitute for real company, albeit a poor one. It also serves as a great sounding board, to objectively talk about your issues and to find a way out of it. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but you might find that it grows on you.
7. Higher Powers
Religion, faith, God, Karma, Science or the Universe. Whatever you believe in. Try to find the good in things. If you’re going through a breakup, think about how that can positively affect you. You have more time now to focus on yourself. You can try new things and go on new adventures. Whatever works for you. If you’re one to have faith, believe that everything happens for a reason, that it is all part of a great plan that the universe has in store for you. Accept that suffering is a part of life. Or if you don’t buy into the everything happens for a reason spiel, if you don’ t believe in higher powers, then believe that whatever happened is a lesson in life. Even if it is a death, you can consider it as a wake up call to start fully enjoying the rest of your life. It isn’t morbid or unfeeling, just realistic.
8. The Bigger Picture
Look out into the world. Especially, The sufferings and pain that you can see all around you. Look to the inspirations, people who overcame all adversities, thrived despite having the whole world stand against them. Then look at the problems you have in front of you. They might not seem so huge and unsurmountable now. This is not to say that you’re pain is not valid. It is not intended to trivialize your pain, merely to inspire you to find the strength to conquer it. If you begin to understand that a million others have stood where you are now standing and come out whole on the other side, then you might feel hope that you can do it too. Your pain begins to feel survivable, less fatal. It’s not even necessary to take real cases, turn to fiction too. Your childhood heroes can still be your heroes, still lead you out of the darkness. Remember that all superheroes have a painful history.
9. Pets
One of the most sure fire ways to cure loneliness is to get a pet. Talk to them. Make bond with them. It’s not weird and it’s normal. It’s healthy and therapeutic. How can you feel lonely when you dog jumps up at you in delight as soon as you walk through the door? When it shows you unconditional affection? Studies show that pet owners are more likely to live happier lives and longer lives than others. Pets provide you with constant company, making sure you’re not alone. It can be a dog, a cat, a fish or a guinea pig, pets cheer you up in a way only they can.
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10. Avoid unhealthy habits
Not just habits, people too. If you’re lonely after a break up, the worst thing you can do is call up a partner from a toxic relationship that you worked very hard to get out of. Don’t go groveling after indifferent or uncaring people for affection. Depression has a way of sneaking up on you and whispering in your year that you’re not good enough. Do not let it tell you that you don’t deserve happiness. You might also be tempted to numb out the pain with alcohol and drugs. They are just causing more problems, curing nothing. You’ll wake up in the morning and you’ll still feel lonely and miserable but you’ll crave that high and you’ll end up going back to it. Depression causes people to turn to addictions.
Loneliness causes people to turn to addictions. Take care of yourself. Don’t slip into that easy haze. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not the end of your world. Even if it’s just a passing sadness or clinical depression, it will all be alright. It is important to never lose hope. Now I hope it’s quite clear to you that how to deal with loneliness and depression after reading this article.
