Stress relief

It might sound strange but one of the best forms of stress relief and ways out of depression that I find helps me, is sleep.

If I have had a restless night for whatever reason, such as my dog continually barking or one of my children keeps waking up due to having nightmares, I always seem to find that I am feeling quite low and down on the next day.

It is as if my brain is unable to think in a positive way and that the lack of sleep has affected some kind of chemical balance.

I then start to worry about the smallest of things and about aspects of my life that may or may not happen in the future.

This then affects my work and social life as I am basically feeling drained and not up for it, some would say that I am feeling quite lethargic.

This is an example of what happens to most people from time to time but has in a way taught me a lesson about how I should react when I am depressed.

What I basically attempt to do is to sleep my way out of the depression. Some of my friends think that I am a bit mad, they may well be right.

My family understands that it is not that I am just being lazy but that I am trying to make myself feel better.

I might say to my wife in the afternoon that I am going upstairs for a sleep, she of course knows me very well and will no doubt have noticed throughout the day that I am not my normal self.

This may not of course work for everyone but when I wake back up I always feel a whole lot better and able to think more pro-actively.

Exercise also helps me to beat depression. I am not exactly one for exercising but find that when I am working out at the gym for example, that this helps to take my mind off all of the things that I am depressed about.

After the work out, I feel a form of rush that I have done something good. It is as if my brain and body are rewarding me for my efforts.

Lastly I also like to take my family on short weekend breaks, especially when I am feeling depressed.

Just to get away from the big city where I live and to explore a new environment, is always a good way for me to unwind and again helps my mind to focus on other things, such as my family and showing them a good time.

Positive thinking

A friend of mine managed to get through a rather messy divorce and how she came through the whole experience a much stronger person.

My friend is called Sue and she married her childhood sweetheart called John when she was only twenty-two.

Sue has explained that at the time she could not have been happier and was very much in love.

She hoped and imagined that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Sue had met John when she was at school and they had been dating since the age of fifteen.

After the marriage, they then talked about starting a family and before long they were parents to two boys. Sue believed that this was the icing on the cake and left work to bring up her children.

Unfortunately things were to soon go horribly wrong. John started coming home later and later from work and Sue was at a loss as to what was going on.

John of course stated that he was only doing his work and that he was working overtime to give his family a better life, especially as Sue was no longer working.

In reality John was having an affair with a woman he had met at work.

After a few months Sue found out about the affair and asked John as to why he had seeked the attention of this other woman.

He replied that Sue had been the only woman he had slept with and that he felt that he had missed out on the experience of dating other people.

Despite the fact that Sue was willing to forgive John, the relationship was soon to end as he moved in to live with the other woman.

Sue was obviously very upset and could not believe what was happening to her.

Before long divorce proceedings were under way and Sue decided to put the family house on the market and returned to live with her parents, the boys went with her.

This was a very depressing time for Sue. One day, however, she was walking through her local shopping area and saw a group of handicapped children.

Sue thought to herself that the situation she was in was only temporary and that she would eventually be happy again, but that these children would more than likely be handicapped for life.

This strangely enough helped Sue to gain strength and to think positive about the future.

Sue is now re-married and is once again very happy; she still hates her ex-husband however.

Sue has learnt a lot from her experience of getting divorced and tries to think in a much more positive way.

gain more confidence page 11