Depression zaps you of joy and energy. Anxiety keeps you on edge. At some point, we all struggle with some form of depression and anxiety. Emotions are part of being human. If you are suffering from depression and anxiety, you may wonder if there are things you can do to help you start feeling better.

Spoiler alert: Yes!

Some techniques are for the “here and now”, and others help over the long term. Some are action driven, and others are about changing your thoughts.

Here are 25 things to help you start feeling better:

Strategies for the here and now if you are suffering from depression or anxiety:

1. Bring awareness to your breath
2. Check your posture
3. Move your body
4. Get outside with nature
5. Laugh
6. Turn up the corners of your mouth
7. Sing and dance to music you like
8. Opposite action
9. Talk to someone you trust
10. Drink water

Strategies for the longer term:

1. Zoom out the lens. Take a step back for a different perspective
2. Experiment with a meditation practice
3. Journal your feelings
4. Change your relationship with your thoughts
   • Clouds imagery
   • Leaf floating down river
   • Brain secretions
   • “Just because I think it does not mean it is true.”
5. Prioritize sleep
6. Regularly exercise
7. Seek Psychotherapy
8. Refer back to a list you made of all the times you overcame depression or anxiety. Remind yourself you have felt the emotions before, and that they didn’t last forever.
9. Help someone in need
10. Join a support group online
11. Read inspirational, motivational quotes
12. Read dark humor
13. Listen to podcasts
14. Find playlists of interest or create your own
15. Take a Values Assessment

Here are 5 quotes to help you feel better if you are suffering from anxiety or depression:

“You say you’re ‘depressed’ – all I see is resilience. You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it just means you’re human.”–David Mitchel

Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.
–Viktor E. Frank

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” —Helen Kelle

“That’s the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible to ever see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key.” –Elizabeth Wurtzel, author

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken.’ –C.S. Lewis, author

Even though anxiety and depression are part of life, you don’t have to suffer.

Recognize that all feelings are part of shared humanity. They come and then they go. And they too shall pass.

I am a clinical psychologist dedicated to helping people find meaning and purpose in their lives. To live authentically in a world where suffering and pain exist is no easy task.

Please contact me if you want to talk about any of these ideas.

You don’t have to go it alone.