Self-Management of Depression

Psychologist Carol Dweck describes people having two types of mindsets – the fixed mindset and the growth mindset (Dweck, 2008). Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their qualities, temperament, abilities, talents, aptitudes, and interests are fixed and cannot be changed. Thus, when faced with a failure, individuals with a fixed mindset attribute this to their lack of talent or ability in the domain they failed (e.g., “I am never good in relationships” or “I am such a loser”). These people mistakenly assume that one doesn’t need to put in effort or take risks to succeed if one is talented to begin with. Therefore, they don’t challenge themselves and don’t reach their full potential. In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset view their personal attributes such as talents and abilities as being malleable and are open to improving themselves by learning from failures, stretching beyond their comfort zone, and making concerted efforts. They don’t blame their personality f...

A disconnect between your present accomplishments and your core values may make you suffer from  success depression,  wherein, despite “having it all” (e.g., successful career, stable relationships, healthy children, etc.), you still struggle with depression and view your accomplishments as hollow (Zettle, 2007).  The cure for this malaise is to clarify your core values and set goals and actions that are driven by them. Psychotherapist Russ Harris describes values as our heart’s deepest desires for the way we want to interact with the world, other people, and ourselves. They are what we want to stand for in life, how we want to behave, what sort of person we want to be, and what sort of strengths and qualities we want to develop (Harris, 2009). Values are subjective; what one may consider a value (e.g., being famous) may be considered as being cocky by another person. Moreover, values do change with time. For instance, you may value social popularity and raising a f...

A search for tips on increasing happiness mostly yields notions about how chasing happiness is an exercise in futility. This lopsided description of happiness has promulgated the misconception that happiness cannot be increased. Contrary to this popular belief, there are proven ways to enhance happiness in one's life. One such practice to increase and not chase happiness is the Quality of Life Therapy (QOLT). QOLT has been used as a positive psychology intervention to promote happiness and wellbeing and has also been shown to be an effective treatment for depression (Frisch, 2006; Grant et al., 1995). One of the core techniques of QOLT that you can use to boost your life satisfaction and thereby increase your happiness is the CASIO model. The five strategies in this model target satisfaction in important areas in one’s life, with satisfaction defined as one’s subjective evaluation of the degree to which one’s most important needs, goals, and wishes have been fulfilled. The...

Improving communication is a proven intervention for improving relationships and entails not only learning how to address negative issues in a relationship but also how to consistently express positive feelings to each other. When you communicate, you are doing one of three things: 1. Speaking: Sending a message or sharing your thoughts or feelings. 2. Listening: Hearing and paying attention to what the other person is telling you. 3. Responding: Replying or answering back to your partner after listening to them. Failure to communicate can stem from a problem in any or all of these communication processes. Below are some guidelines to improve your communication skills (Duggal, 2018): Improving Speaking Skills  Establish and maintain eye contact with your partner to ensure they know you're paying attention. Speak in a clear and direct fashion. Don’t beat around the bush and play games. Make sure that what you are communicating is in line with your non-verbal communica...

What Is Bright Light Therapy? Bright light therapy involves exposure of the eyes to bright light for a specific duration of time on a daily basis. The person sits next to a light box or a lamp that emits a full-spectrum light. It is a safe, rapid, and effective way of treating depression, both the seasonal variety which commonly happens during winter and the non-seasonal ones (American Psychiatric Association, 2010; Morgan & Jorm, 2008). Bright light therapy is also beneficial for sleep disorders in people with sleep-wake cycle disturbance, especially in older adults (Sloane et al., 2008). Seasonal Depression and Bright Light Therapy If you are getting symptoms of depression every fall or winter and they usually go away around springtime, then it is likely that you have a seasonal pattern of depression. Of course, having a stressor such as being without a job every winter will preclude such a diagnosis. Having two episodes of depression during a particular time ...

When good fortune knocks, our first response is often to contact significant others to share the news. Sharing good news with others promotes well-being by enhancing positive emotions and satisfaction in one's life (Gable et al., 2004). That's obvious. Here's the catch! It's not the sharing of good news per se, but how one responds to the good news that actually determines its positive impact on a relationship. Gable and colleagues elaborate that people respond to their partner’s sharing of good news in four different ways. Below is an exercise to gauge what your partner’s response to your sharing of good news is (or what your response is being perceived by your partner) (Gable et al., 2004): "Please take a moment to consider how your partner responds when you tell him or her about something good that has happened to you. For example, imagine coming home and telling your partner about receiving a promotion at work, having a great conversation with a family mem...

Gratitude is one of the most commonly used and proven positive psychology interventions. It enhances well-being and is an effective way of self-managing depression. Grateful people experience higher positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism. Gratitude buffers you from hurtful feelings of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness. In addition, grateful people can cope more effectively with everyday stress and show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress (Emmons, 2013). Whether or not you have a grateful disposition, the good news is that it is possible to cultivate gratitude intentionally. You can choose one of the following three methods to express gratitude, but most beginners start with a gratitude list as it is a simple yet effective strategy. Gratitude lists This is the “classic” and the most studied method of expressing gratitude. It involves regularly making written lists of several things for which you are grateful. T...

After a person has enough income to meet basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and security, how one spends money has been a topic of interest for social psychologists trying to understand spending patterns that promote happiness. The research in this field boils down to three key ways that money enhances happiness which is contrary to the popular notion that money can’t buy happiness. 1. Spending on others: Social scientists have found that spending money to buy gifts for others or donating to charities promotes happiness (Dunn et al., 2008; Aknin et al., 2020). You don’t have to shell out enormous amounts of money on others to reap this benefit; amounts as low as $5 spent on others are sufficient to produce significant gains in happiness. However, people are still hesitant to spend money on others, mainly because they feel that spending money on themselves will make them happier than spending money on others. Research shows otherwise. 2. Buying an experience: Stu...

Perfectionism and Depression If your thoughts are, “I have to do it right,” “I have to do it all,” “I cannot fail,” “I have to keep up with others,” “Is this good enough?” or “I need to be in control,” then you are letting perfectionism dictate your life. As a perfectionist, you hold yourself to high standards because of irrational thoughts. These irrational thought patterns include all-or-none thinking and “should” and “must” statements. If you don’t meet your perfectionist standards, you start to feel worthless, which then fuels more depressive thinking. Perfectionists often seek pleasure by focusing on the results of their activities rather than enjoying the process. This then prevents them from savoring the simple pleasures of everyday life. In fact, perfectionism increases one’s vulnerability to depression, possibly because of a lack of self-compassion (Ferrari et al., 2018). In other words, perfectionist individuals are more likely to judge themselves harshly and criticize ...

Are You Worrying About Not Sleeping? If you are prone for insomnia, then you are already going to bed preoccupied with getting to sleep quickly and obtaining as much sleep as possible. You also worry about the impact of sleep on your physical health and daytime functioning. These excessive worries and ruminations trigger in you a state of physical arousal and emotional distress through activation of the sympathetic nervous system similar to the fight-or-flight response. This arousal and anxious state then narrows your focus to attend to and monitor for sleep-related cues such as: Body sensations for signs consistent with falling asleep: slowing of heart rate and loss of muscle tone.  Body sensations for signs inconsistent with falling asleep: heart pounding quickly and muscle tension.  Surroundings for signs of not falling asleep: noises outside and inside the house.  The clock to see how long it is taking you to fall asleep: “It is 1:30 a.m….I have been trying t...

“Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt or inappropriate guilt” is one of the nine core symptoms of major depressive disorder according to the American Psychiatric Association. Guilt can be an adaptive emotion when it is appropriate to context, is not excessive, is based on altruism (acting with an unselfish regard for others), and serves the purpose of maintaining attachments. However, in depression, guilt tends to be exaggerated or is inappropriate (not relevant to context) and is called maladaptive guilt. Maladaptive guilt presents in depression in one or more of the eight types as described below: 1. Survivor guilt: Survivor guilt first gained attention when survivors from the concentration camps of World War II were noted to harbor feelings of guilt for the loved ones who were killed in the camps. These survivors, years later, developed symptoms of depression and anxiety. Besides combat and natural disasters, survivor guilt has also been observed in medical situations....

Self-Help Vs Self-Management You probably have heard the term “self-help” and may have also read a few self-help books. When it comes to treating depression, most self-help books focus on the acute treatment of depression based on a particular model of therapy, usually the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). While the self-help approach tries to address a particular condition using a focused treatment modality over a short period of time, self-management is learning new ways to manage an illness over a longer period of time. In other words, self-management is using the resources and learning the skills to “positively manage” an illness (Lorig et al., 2006). Self-management, besides treating depression, also prevents relapse of depression and helps an individual maintain good mental health on a day-to-day basis. Lorig and colleagues (2006) further elaborate on self-management: it is a “management style” wherein you are a positive self-manager who not only uses the best trea...

We all like getting approval and recognition from others. Approval-seeking is good as long as it remains a desire or a want. For example, your boss approves of your work and you feel happy about it. When approval-seeking turns into a need or a necessity, then you become a victim of the “approval trap” that will either make you vulnerable for depression or, if you are already feeling depressed, will make your depression worse. If you have low self-esteem, which is not uncommon in depression, and seek approval to give yourself a temporary boost, then you are setting yourself up for the “approval trap.” The trap works somewhat like this:    Depression causes you to feel worthless → when you get approval from others, you feel better and less worthless → you try to seek more approval → in seeking more approval, you do things you don’t want to do to please others and avoid your own needs → others get used to your approval-seeking behavior and stop approving your behavior → you ...