Let’s start this off by getting one thing clear:

I suffered from clinical depression and pure OCD from late 2015 to August 2016, beat it and made a full recovery. I am tapering off my medications and am due to be medication-free in April 2018.

I know what it is like to wake up dreading your very existence, struggling with huge anxiety-inducing doubts and existential questions and quite simply be bed-ridden with an overwhelmingly heavy feeling deep in your chest.

I also know what it is like to begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel; to experience the return of hope and possibility; to beat the monster and truly know that I believe in myself and in creating my dream life.

I know what it is like to struggle with thoughts of suicide every time I pass by a window but I also know what it feels like for those thoughts to be nothing but long-gone memories – memories that push me to help as many people going through depression as I can.

Today, what you are to read ahead are 5 extremely easy things you can do right now, that I promise, if you are consistent, WILL help you to start making a recovery.

Now, keep in mind – this is not to replace professional medical treatment. It is something to do while the medicines and therapy do their work, in addition to all the regular advice your doctor gives you, like maintaining a healthy diet and exercising.

Nonetheless, I know that it is not easy to start implementing the advice your doctor gives you. Eating a healthy diet requires you to buy the groceries, exercising means heading outdoors. While all this is ultimately necessary to do, sometimes we need that foundational support to get us out of bed to even start to make these larger changes in life.

These 5 things are meant to help you with that.

Alright, enough of me – here we go.

1. Start Your Day By Making Art

Photo by Andrian Valeanu on Unsplash

Any kind of art – write, draw, paint, make music, anything at all! If you used to enjoy doing a particular type of art – do that. It doesn’t matter if you don’t temporarily enjoy it because you’re going through depression. Just start your day with it. This will establish a routine in your day, and give you something to look forward to. You can even give yourself creative challenges like you must write a poem with the word ‘orange’ or that you must use the color blue. What matters is that you’re engaging your creative faculties and just making something of your own.

And when you’re done, be proud that you created something regardless of the end product! Start practicing kindness to yourself and begin by complimenting yourself for getting out of bed and creating something amazing. Know deep down that you are significant because in you resides inexplicable beauty. Your art is evidence for it. Don’t judge yourself for its quality! You don’t have to be Michelangelo to feel proud of yourself!

2. Then Go To Any Mirror And Practice Saying “I Love You”

Photo by Ivan Obolensky from Pexels

People underestimate the power of this. I too found this incredibly ridiculous when I first encountered it in Louise Hay’s book “Life Loves You”. But, boy, was it an incredibly challenging thing to master. Do this activity daily, no matter what you think of it. Simply practice it, and see how it makes you feel. Do not judge yourself for the way you feel or how you react. You may find it impossible, you may cry, you may get angry. It is okay to feel what you do.

The point is that you will be making effort every day, to directly tell yourself that you love yourself no matter what you have done in the past, no matter what your external circumstance and no matter how you are feeling right now. You will be giving yourself a chance to rest on yourself. Be your own safe space. Allow yourself to be comfortable with yourself. Help yourself heal. This activity is the first step to doing exactly that – learning to fully and completely accept and love yourself. I did this, and it changed my life.

Today, I can go to any mirror and smile and truly mean it when I say “I love you”, and I can tell you, it is the best feeling ever. You will get there too. I promise.

3. Download Affirmations And Listen To Them

Photo by Kaboompics // Karolina from Pexels

Affirmations, or positive belief statements such as “I am worthy of love”, may seem silly too, but they’re literally at your fingertips. Go to YouTube and type “positive affirmations”. Any of those videos will work. Pick what you are drawn to and listen to them throughout the day. Put them on when you’re going to sleep, or when you wake up while you make your art for the day, or at any time you feel comfortable. Just let them play and allow your subconscious to start believing these affirmations. Start believing that you are worthy of love and recovery. Meditate on these affirmations and allow them to get stuck in your head – like that annoying song!

Except, this, I promise, won’t be annoying. At first, you may even find them ineffective if you expect them to work like magic – but if you’re consistent and patient, you’ll start noticing that these affirmations begin to become part of your daily life instinctively. You will realize that they are no longer external statements but ones you believe in from the inside. That will be the moment you will realize that you have made it.

And that moment WILL come.

4. Write Down Your Goals And Take 1 Action Towards Them

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

I cannot stress this enough. Often, while going through depression, I felt I simply was not the person I was before. I started believing that I would never achieve any of my goals and that those goals weren’t my goals anymore! Don’t do that to yourself. Even if you do not feel passionate about anything, simply choose any of your goals you had before depression and write it down in a journal.

Then decide to take one simple action towards it. It could be anything. Did you want to open a restaurant? Find a new recipe to learn today. Did you want to write a book? Write a page of it. If that’s too hard, it’s okay, just read something related to what you want to write.

The point is to DO SOMETHING towards your goal. Take action. Praise yourself for doing so when you do. Boost your own confidence by acknowledging that you have indeed made some progress, no matter how small it may be.

For myself, I wanted to make films and this was around the time I was about to come to college at USC. So what did I do? I posted on my batch’s Facebook page looking for people to collaborate with. When I got over 60 responses, it made me feel good. It encouraged me that I could continue developing my production company, a YouTube channel called Nightingale Films. Who knows! The point is, it made me feel good. And that brought me to a different headspace and emotional state to kickstart my own recovery.

5. Pray/ Meditate With Gratitude!

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While suffering through depression, I found myself always focused on the negative things in my life – the event that led to my depression, the fact that I was depressed, my feelings of anxiety and their triggers etc.

It doesn’t matter if you’re religious or not.

If you are – then great. Pray deeply, but instead of asking, give thanks. For anything at all. What is important is that you give thanks in the first place.

If you are not religious – at least consider the fact that everything in this Universe is energy and that all of us and everything around us come from the explosions of stars. Isn’t that simply incredible? You are literally made of cosmic forces - a phenomenon so huge and significant. And if we are all energy and we are one – let that sink in, and let yourself feel that you are safe in the Universe. Give thanks to the universe for anything at all.

Believe that things are going to get better and that one day you will be giving thanks for going through this at all. I know hearing that sounds sacrilegious – how can I give thanks for my depression?

Trust me, I felt the same way. But when you get out of that thick cloud, I promise you that you will recognize your significance and how you have changed for the better. You will see your success as an opportunity to help anyone going through the same thing, and you will thank your lucky stars that it gave you a chance to make yourself who you are now.

Photo by Kevin Bluer on Unsplash

I promise you, that you will recover and change. You will succeed. The best way out is through. If you are stuck in bed or at home and find yourself stagnating because of depression, I urge you to try these things. They do not require any additional effort. Simply practice them and see how they make you feel.

I sincerely hope that they will benefit you or anyone you know who is suffering from depression. I know these things helped me. And while medication, therapy, and all other self-care advice were incredibly useful, I know that I needed something simple in addition that I could do without much external exertion that could contribute to my own recovery.

Let the medications do their work, and you focus on doing yours.

You will beat this.

This world needs you.

Don't you ever give up.

Share this if you found this useful or if you think it will help anyone.

(And feel free to message me on Facebook (facebook.com/shreybhargava), twitter or instagram (@shreybhargava) or email me at shreybhargava7@gmail.com if you’d like to talk. I’m always here for anyone going through depression and who wants to reach out. Take care and know that you are loved 😊)