This is a list my self-help
group put together of small things we can do to help ourselves pull
out of a tailspin. We invite you to add your own ideas. Think about
what works for you.
If you're really feeling seriously
depressed, please don't beat yourself up if you don't have the motivation
to try any of these ideas. Depression is an illness we can't control;
just wait to try until things start to feel a little better.
In all of these, be cautious
to set specific and limited goals. Be happy with small steps and
don't be so ambitious that you give up before you start. When you
do something, take the time to enjoy it, and take the time afterward
to savor your accomplishment.
• Exercise, aerobically
• Go on a reading program-Dickens, Lecarre, Agatha Christie,
etc.
• Do good deeds-give blood, visit a shut-in
• Play with your pets
• Organize your closet
• Go on the wagon for a month
• Cultivate your sense of humor-Marx Brothers, M. Hulot, Mel
Brooks
• Socialize - get together with friends informally- have an
impromptu potluck
• Phone or write to old friends
• Read a biography of someone you admire
• Cook something different, a new kind of cuisine
• Learn about a new subject: the Civil War, the American Revolution
• Get an orchid plant, or buy some flowers
• Sort through old photos
• Hang out at the library
• Organize an outing to a museum and dinner
• Join a reading group
• Listen to a book on tape
• Make fudge
• Make soup, and bring some to a neighbor you don't know well
• Get up early or sleep late - vary your routine
• Go swimming
• Music - play it loud, without any distractions
• Learn the computer and get online
• Rearrange the furniture
• Shop the garden catalogs
• Wear loud colors
• Learn a joke a day and tell it to five people
• At your impromptu party, play pass the tangerine, or twister
• Have a day of beauty, or grow a beard, or shave a beard
• Change your hairstyle
• Take walks
• Take naps
• Add something to this list