Women of Reddit, how did you defeat depression?

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  3. I go to bed early, wake up early, go for a small walk, pick one goal to complete that day (no matter how small) sit in the sun, watch a show I love but don’t binge, talk to myself like I would someone I love like “It’s not always easy Witch, but you’re doing your best, and your best is good enough!”

  5. You can’t defeat it. It’s going to be with you forever. You just learn to lessen its effects on your life. I recommend therapy, medication, and understanding friends.

  7. I don’t defeat it I cope with it better than in my teens (hobbies, exercising, getting some sun, talking to a trusted person, going for a long walk, eating healthy, crying, therapy, journaling).

  9. I followed a routine, first by little things and gradually added more things that would improve my day to day. Dont bombard yourself with so many things initially take baby steps

  11. It’s never a clear victory. You have to just fight the round you’re currently in and hope you learn new skills to help with the next round.

  15. For depression, it helped to change my beliefs and work on my self worth, cause my depression came from feelings of worthlessness rather than life circumstances.

  16. Like others have said, it’s not something I’m ever going to beat or avoid, at least I’m pretty sure. It’s a part of me, it’s intrinsic. To me, it’s kind of like asking “how did you stop being autistic,” or “how did you defeat being an introvert,” like… you don’t. Or at least I won’t

    I have very much gotten better at handling it though. My baseline has much improved because I identified some contributing factors and I’m working on addressing them with medication and choices on a daily basis. I’ve also learned how to identify when I’m slipping a bit and try to correct it – usually noticeable by changes in my sleep patterns, diet, and how hard it is to be a functional adult. Again, medications and lifestyle changes have helped. A *huge* part of improving my mood has been to start identifying which *people* in my life make me feel worse, and which people make me feel better. I haven’t cut ties with anyone, but I’m working on caring less about the relationships that make me feel bad, and spending less energy on them, and putting more effort into ones that impact me positively.

    I would say I’m managing my depression pretty well. It has been pretty severe for like fifteen years, and I’ve had multiple spells of regularly committing pretty serious acts of self harm, severe suicidal ideation, and having terrible relationships with food, my body, work, hygiene, and more. Over the last year or so I’ve been trying *hard* to commit myself to improving my life, my mood, my baseline happiness, with therapy, medication, hard work and self-care. It’s probably the period of my life where I’ve had the most energy, where my mood is the most stable and highest-on-average, my finances are better, I’m forming better relationships with people.

    My baseline mood is still often quite sad and anxious, but I’m able to work through it better, I’m able to find joy in parts of my life more easily, I feel like I’m more fulfilled and satisfied with the person I am or that I’m becoming. I look better, feel better, and am healthier than I have been for most of my life. I still feel considerably shitty, or sad, or kind of a feeling of intense longing/loneliness/other things, that I can’t quite describe, on a very regular basis. I still have times that trigger me a bit and make me wish to self harm, I still have some passive ideation on very bad days. But it kind of feels like that’s a little intrinsic to me as a person, and it feels like in a way that makes me a more empathetic and kind person, it can reinforce my relationships in some ways, and it feels like I can really really appreciate the joys in my life. And, to some extent, I can sense some beauty in those feelings – I read a bunch of poetry and I’m *really* into music, and it feels like these feelings make it easier to connect with those kinds of art.

    I don’t know if I’ll ever reach a point where my baseline mood is neutral-positive. But I’m at a point where I feel stable, and have things that I enjoy. That feels sustainable, it feels like a major success, and it feels like I can make a good life from that foundation.

  17. I don’t really know. I just woke up happy. Now I’m off half of my medication and I feel better than ever…

  19. There is no defeating it. Accepting that it will ebb and flow the entirety of my life helps to manage my expectations.

  21. Pause. Take a moment of silence then write everything that’s bothering you. A silent battle is not easy, if someone is willing to listen to you at least one person you’ve trusted the most, open to him/her. If not, go and consult with the professional. It’s ok than fighting it all alone.

  22. It took a LOT of time. I almost had to trick myself out of it. Therapy helped, meditating was an IMMENSE help, going out on walks and talking out loud about my senses (named a bunch of things I could see, hear, smell, etc), gratitude practice, journaling, time with my dog, and just keeping myself busy while still fully allowing myself to feel. I also changed my inner dialogue. When I’d have a bad thought about myself, I’d quickly correct myself, acknowledging that it was only a thought and not a fact. I highly recommend therapy in general but also DBT therapy. But the biggest most powerful tool for me, was nature. Go outside. Walk around barefoot. Hug a tree. Play in the dirt. I promise you, while it sounds weird, it helps sooooo much.

  31. I’ve learned that it’s basically just part of my life now and part of who I am. It’s ruined a lot of relationships and friendships as it’s pretty standard for others to expect people to be happy all the time. So it’s just me, my son, my husband, and my depression that my husband cannot stand.

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