Six Tips for Finding Help For Depression

Getting help for depression starts with a glance, then a look, then a small step, and then another. When you’re struggling to get up in the morning, feeling low energy and discouraged, it can be really hard to build up the will or enthusiasm or the motivation to ask for help.

So, what should you do? Well, try to visualize help for depression in your context by reading the following tips and asking yourself what it would look like if you were to take this advice just one step further. Why? Because even taking small steps in the right direction will grow the feeling of control and well-being in your life.

Six Tips for Getting Help for Depression

1. Be real with yourself

Recognize where you are at. Depression is common enough that millions of people look for, and often successfully find, help for depression – likely even some you know. Get to know yourself and recognize that how you’re feeling now was not how you felt previously and is not where you will stay. Being open, accepting, and loving toward yourself and what you are going through is a healthy approach to self-treatment.

You will have some down days. Accept and acknowledge them. By pretending everything is fine and denying that you are unusually grumpy or even angry may seem like a way to try and “get over it,” but it is not a healthy or sustainable way to cope. It takes courage, and then a growing and ongoing awareness.

Self-reflection is a useful process. Writing your experiences down in a journal on days when you are feeling down or up will allow you to see the come and go of depressive symptoms, help with your healing process, and give you hope. Read these words King David wrote after a time of reflection:

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, And skillfully wrought in in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was none of them. – Psalm 139:14-16, NASB

2. Today’s trajectory belongs to today, not tomorrow

Have you heard the phrase, “I got up on the wrong side of the bed?” It has a kernel of truth to it, that each day starts afresh. Remember Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV).

It is important to remember that if today did not work out as hoped, if perhaps you did not manage to get out of bed or to check items off your to-do list, then tomorrow offers you hope and a new opportunity.

The hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” has the line, “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” And what strength and hope is that?

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (NIV). Be encouraged that this mighty strength is at work in everyone who knows Jesus Christ each day, and our hope is securely set in the eternal Word of God. – Ephesians 1:18-20

3. Compartmentalize, don’t generalize

Depressive feelings can put a pessimistic filter on your memories. If you find that you are thinking about the one part that went wrong out of a whole lot that went right, then changing focus to first identify the good then concentrate on thinking about it can be a significant help for depression.

Look at Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (NIV).

A useful way of doing this is to start writing down things for which you are grateful. Then write down some things that went wrong that day. Do you notice which list is easier to create? Notice also that what went wrong is likely bugging you a lot more than what went right is cheering you up.

This is the weight that you are actively attributing to these negative things. Notice where in your body you feel this weight. Rather concentrate on the things that went right and make them big, and shrink the things that did not.

4. Set yourself up for success

Similarly, set goals that are within your grasp. Listing everything that you need to get done in a to-do list of 50 items may make you feel like someone has taken the wind out of your sails. So instead of cleaning the whole house, perhaps just empty the trash cans.

Instead of doing a hard workout at the gym, perhaps just get to the gym and let the routine of being there take care of the workout you do. Doing a series of little things adds up to productivity that is difficult to envisage when you are feeling discouraged.

And when you do succeed beyond what you thought was possible at the start of the day: celebrate. And yes, not in a manner that exhausts you but rather something that helps you remember the victories. Perhaps a bubble bath, a spoil, or a star chart on the inside of your cupboard door – it does not have to be something to publicize, but looking at all those crossed-out days reminds you of successes you’ve chalked up.

5. Follow good behavior patterns that free up headspace

Remember when you were learning to brush your teeth or tie your shoelace and you had to concentrate harder than you do now to do the same task? In fact, how you do it now is probably a habit you do not think of twice during the process – but the outcome is the same, healthy teeth and gums, and laced-up shoes. And you do not think about the action, just that it needs to happen. It has become second nature.

In the same way, introducing a good routine in your day, or for simply a part of your day, can help make the whole day flow better.

Remember to set yourself up for success by starting with something within your capacity when you are feeling down. Try looking at a particular time that normally influences the rest of the day. This may be a time when you feel most unfocused or muddled, such as right after seeing the kids off for school or as you prepare to go to sleep.

Starting your workday right or making sure you get good sleep gives you a focus time that, comfortably structured, helps you keep pace with your day. Once you are in the habit of routine at these times of the day, then celebrate and take another step forward to the next time and routine.

6. Do things you enjoy

One way to celebrate and proactively find help for depression is by introducing something you enjoy doing into your routine. Depression may encourage you to feel too sick and tired to do anything fun, and sometimes provoke stronger than joyful emotions.

Look back at the successes you’ve celebrated and do something you love to do that will relax and energize you – playing an instrument, painting, hiking, and cycling all slightly boost your mood and energy levels, giving you further strength to draw from as you combat your depressive symptoms.

As you rejoice in the ability that the Lord has given you by making music or getting into nature, look and listen and take time to enjoy the One who made it all. As Psalm 96:11-12 reads, “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy” (NIV).

Christian Counseling for Depression

If you’re looking for additional help for depression beyond this article, please browse our online counselor directory or contact our office to schedule an appointment. We would be honored to walk with you toward a place of healing and hope.