Let’s Talk Mental Health :: 5 Things I Do To Help With My Depression & Anxiety

Hi Friends! How are you?

It’s been a minute since my last post, so I just want to say a quick thank you for your support on that post. It really meant a lot to me to have someone listen to what I was saying, even relate and leave such kind comments.

I’ve talked about my struggles with my mental health on the blog before and honestly I have really been struggling these past few months. Between being laid off, quarantine, everything surrounding Covid and all the issues in our world, it all just feels like too much and my depression and anxiety are at an all time high. I haven’t received any unemployment benefits in almost two months so I currently have no income. The cherry on top was my air conditioner breaking a week ago which resulted in a few days of 90+ degree temps in my apartment. It just feels like one thing after another, it feels like when it rains it pours and I just can’t seem to catch a break and get a win. I’ve had more mental breakdowns in the past few weeks than I care to admit. There are some mornings where I wake up and don’t have it in me to drag myself out of bed because I feel overwhelmed, helpless, useless and it feels like the weight of the world is sitting on me and I just can’t catch my breath.

What I have learned from my struggles with mental health is that there are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days. You have to take it one day at a time and you have to show yourself grace. I honestly have to remind myself of this every single day and I’m still learning how to deal every single day. I know that it’s been a tough few months for a lot of us for different reasons. And so, I wanted to share a few things that have been helping me with my depression and anxiety in the hopes that it will help you if you are struggling as well.

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Let’s Talk Mental Health

5 Things I Do To Help With My Depression & Anxiety

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**Also wanted to note, these outfit photos were shot in January during my vacation in Vietnam**

Journaling

If you told me back in January that I would be the girl who journals, I would probably laugh in your face. I could build a library with my failed and abandoned attempts at journaling in the past. But, here we are, I journal.

It’s more of a google word doc, but still a journal nonetheless. I’ve found a ton of journal prompts and “brain dumps” on Pinterest that have really helped me. The prompts ask questions along the lines of, “what are you grateful for today?”, “what do you need to let go of?” “what will make you happy?”. And for me personally, it helps me put things into perspective and it helps me think. It’s been pretty therapeutic for me to plug my headphones in and just write out my honest thoughts. There are so many times where I feel like I have all these thoughts jumbled in my mind and journaling helps me lift that weight off and just get it out.

I’ve created a Pinterest Board with a few prompts I’ve been using if you are interested in journaling.

Talking It Out

Those closest to me know that when I get in this headspace, I fully shut down and isolate myself. I fold into myself and I pretty much talk to no one. It’s partly because I feel like I would annoy my friends to continuously harp on what is going on and partly because I’m just overwhelmed by everything and don’t have it in me to socialize.

But, in those moments where I really feel like I hit a low, it helps to talk to someone because what I’ve learned, is that you have to allow people to be there for you. For me, that’s been my boyfriend who has been an absolute angel to me these past few months. Eddie has been my shoulder to cry on, my rock, my cheerleader and the voice of optimism and positivity and I really don’t know what I would do without him. He listens to me, he doesn’t make me feel like I’m crazy or that my feelings aren’t valid and he pushes me to pick myself up and keep going and even to get out of the apartment to get fresh air and go for walks.

Keep Moving

Honestly, this is either going to sound stupid or obvious, but when I get up and actually push myself to do something, anything at all, it really does make me feel better.

Something as simple as taking a shower and doing my full skincare routine helps me feel refreshed. I’ve also been trying to workout just to get myself moving. I live in a 5 story walk up so I’ve just been utilizing those stairs for some cardio. And creating content has given me purpose again. While I haven’t been as consistent with my blog and Instagram as I would like, I’ve been creating content on Tik Tok that I’ve really been enjoying and like I said it’s given me a daily purpose. Which is why I’m trying to post more, here on my blog and on social media just to give myself an outlet and to push myself to do something rather than just cry on my couch.

Getting Out

Honestly, pre-quarantine I was notorious for staying home and staying in. When I had 2 weeks off for Christmas break I did not go out once so at the start of quarantine I was actually pretty prepared for this. But, even this is quite a long time for me. So I’ve been trying to get out every now and then to get some sun and fresh air. I’ll admit I’m not the best at this so I appreciate Eddie and my mom dragging me out. Something as simple as the walk to Starbucks or the walks to our favorite Asian grocery store 99 Ranch Market really cheer me up.

Binge Watch

I know being a couch potato gets a bad rap, but when everything else fails, getting lost in a good show or movie, even just for an hour to get me out of my own head really helps. The week that I was laid off, Mindy Kaling’s new show Never Have I Ever had just premiered and it was so funny and so wholesome that even for just a moment, it helped me to get my mind off my current situation. When Eddie and I binge watch shows we force ourselves to get off our phones and just be in the moment and honestly I really live for those simple moments.

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The reality is, there’s no easy cure for depression and anxiety. There’s nothing I or anyone can say that will make me say “wow, I’m not depressed and anxious anymore.” I think mental health more of a journey to learn how to understand your feelings, learn how to cope with them and how to grow from them. Which is why I wanted to share some simple things that help me cope with my day to day.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading.