Self-Care Tips to Cope With Anxiety and Depression

When life gets rough, it is easy to forget to take care of ourselves. There are times when work, family and other commitments seem to consume every ounce of our mental and physical capacities—it’s normal to begin feeling burnt out. Over time, this exhaustion can cause us to feel overwhelming bouts of anxiety and depression.

Anxiety is more common than you may think and most of us live with a daily undercurrent of worry and unease about things that are happening in our lives.

Typically, people have anxiety about their work, issues with money, or problems with their family. But some anxiety symptoms revolve around interacting with other people, such as in dating and relationships, being around groups of men, or even being around women (this is called Gynophobia and is explained in this article).

If you or a loved one has struggled with anxiety or depression on a regular basis, these self-care practices could help provide some of the tools and coping methods necessary to help catalyze a journey into finding health and happiness.

Using self-care to promote mental wellness

Anxiety and depression are mental health disorders that can prevent you from performing your normal activities. Sometimes, losing a loved one, going through a break-up, or being passed-up for a promotion can lead to feelings of sadness, frustration and isolation. These are normal and common reactions to such stressors. No one is immune to feeling sad sometimes.

If you believe that you may be experiencing something more severe, take this self-assessment test for Anxiety and for Depression.

Self-care practices are coping methods for self-regulation. These are methods that can help promote an awareness of the trends regarding anxious and depressive feelings in order to help empower and encourage you to be your best.

Start small using these tips, and remember to be patient with yourself and your healing journey.

4 Simple Self-Care Tips you can do Daily

1. Listen to your body’s physical needs

To pave the way for a better idea of what kind of support you may need, it is important to look after yourself physically. Staying active, eating right and sleeping well can give you a strong foundation to start from. Beginning your day with a hearty meal and setting an intention for the direction of your day may help you feel more grounded

Make sure you are eating and drinking water throughout the day. Do some stretches at your desk to wake up your muscles. Take a walk and get some fresh air. Take a hot bath or a cold shower. Maybe a power nap will help you get through the rest of the day. Listen to your body to ensure that your basic needs are met.

2. Get some sun

Often times, due to work or school, we spend a lot of our time indoors under artificial lighting which makes it difficult to get exposure to the sun when it is out. Exposure to sunlight stimulates the release of serotonin, a chemical that is often directly linked to mood. Studies show that lower levels of serotonin are correlated with depression and anxiety while higher levels are linked to feelings of satisfaction and calmness.

While more is better (with the use of sun protectants), just 20 minutes a day can have an enhancing effect on your general wellbeing. Consider having meals outside or in a sunlit room. Maybe do some work at a restaurant that has outdoor seating. Take a walk with your family, friends, or pets. Take time to get some sun.

3. Write it out

Keeping a journal may be a helpful method to keep track of your regular activities. This can also be useful in helping you recognize any patterns or changes in your moods or habits. It is a great means of release that can aide in clearing your mind of clutter and anxiety. There is no right way for journaling but there are many different ways to do it. It is important to find what works for you.

For some, maybe encouraging sticky notes around the house is enough. For others, they may need to write their feelings down as a bulleted list rather than a sentence. Maybe you will even find that writing feelings out in the form of a poem is what helps you feel better. Try different methods or documenting your day to day to see what method works best for you.
 

4. Live with intention

Living with intention is often easier said than done but it can make all the difference. Give yourself space for a quiet moment in your day. If you cannot incorporate this practice to your mornings, do it at night before bed, make it work for your schedule. Meditation is an easy method of applying the ideals of living with intention to your day and it does not require a lot of time.

Allow yourself to focus on the positive things you want more of in your life. Keep in touch with yourself. Living with intention allows you to weigh your options before choosing what works for you.

Start small with tasks like skipping the snooze button, replacing coffee with a tea, opting for some light reading material rather than your phone or bringing a sacked lunch rather than eating out. Be compassionate and patient with the changes you want to see in your life

Overall, consistency is key. Scheduling time to take care of yourself is difficult especially when things get rough, but it is an essential part of the pursuit for a happier and healthier lifestyle. Offer yourself the love, care and attention you put into the other things in your life because you deserve it.

Using EMDR to overcome feelings of anxiety and depression

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, better known as EMDR, is a scientifically backed form of therapy that works directly on the root cause of your pain. It is widely used to treat emotional disorders, including anxiety and depression, and has bee demonstrated to be more effective and longer-lasting than medication and talk therapy.

Used by millions of people around the world since 1990, EMDR is recognized as effective mental health therapy by the World Health Organization (WHO), American Psychiatric Association, and many national health authorities.

How does it work? Simply put, EMDR works by stimulating Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep which occurs naturally when we go to bed so that our brains can process the events of the day. REM sleep plays a vital role in processing memories so by stimulating it through EMDR, people are given the opportunity to access and re-process the memories they had associated with feelings of anxiety or depression.

Learn more about EMDR in this short explainer video “What is EMDR?”

Introducing Virtual EMDR

Now you can harness the power of EMDR therapy in the privacy of your home. Virtual EMDR is the #1 online EMDR self-guided program. Developed by experts, this interactive treatment has been used successfully by tens of thousands of people to help themselves overcome Anxiety and Depression – anonymously, affordably, and effectively.

Take it from LX who saw positive results in just two sessions:

“There was a time when I used to feel very upset about certain things, like a big looming cloud, and Virtual EMDR has really made that much smaller.
Now, things that used to cause me anxiety don't give me the same emotional distress as they used to.”
– LX, Virtual EMDR customer

Start living your life free from anxiety and depression. Try Virtual EMDR today – and feel the difference instantly.

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