DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

In one of my earlier posts I talked about some things to do to deal with depression. These came straight from one of my earliest visits with my pastor, Carl Broggi. I had had a miscarriage earlier that year and after school had started I plunged myself into work and had some major burn out. Between the hormone changes in my body and other things going on externally with work and with my marriage, I was not emotionally stable. I had never felt so bad in my life. Pastor Carl shared some very practical things that one can do to help cope with depression. I want to share these with all of you that might read this blog:

1. Personal thought time or quiet time. At least 10 -15 minutes every day, pray.

• When you pray, express your feelings specifically.
• Write out specific requests in light of your feelings and keep these in a journal or notebook. Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore draw near with confidence ot the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

2. One day at a time. Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

• Take 5 minutes to make a written schedule for the day - hour by hour.

3. Personal exercise - at least 10 minutes.

4. Support partner for accountability.

I can say that I do most of these things. I don't do the written schedule, but I am thinking about implementing that one starting tomorrow. Sometimes the things take longer. My quiet time ends up about 30 - 45 minutes as I usually read the Bible and make some notes on what I read and then pray in light of what I read AND what I am feeling. I also do some other Bible study like The Grace Awakening by Chuck Swindol for my Sunday School Class.

Caroline and I joined Curves last year and that is a 30 minute workout so that also takes longer, plus we have to drive to get there.

I am making it a point to cut back on my caffeine and carb intake especially bad carbs (I know I shouldn't have eaten those M&Ms a while ago and I should have stopped with one bag!)

I am trying to go to bed earlier and get rest, but I still need to work on the rest issue, since I don't sleep well and haven't for a long time.

I have several ladies that are my accountability partners. One especially right now, as I had a melt down at her house last week. She is calling me each morning to make sure that I am getting up on time and not just being lazy and sleeping in every day. After she calls, I have to call her back in about 15 minutes to let her know that I am up and moving.

I did start feeling better once I started excercising again on a regular basis. Get out there and get moving and you will begin to feel better, too.