Dealing with Depression, symptoms and solutions #1

So I read this Arabic saying that goes this way, "You want to die? Then throw yourself into the sea and you'll see yourself fighting to survive. You do not want to kill yourself, rather you want to kill something inside of you. you want to kill your circumstances. you want to kill your pain". 

 I have felt suicidal, a lot of times perhaps. Even now as I write this, this article on my blog, sitting on my bed, looking at the ceiling, then looking at my wrist, calculating the easiest way to perish, a less painful way with less suffering maybe, but do I really want it? Don't worry I have felt this way a lot of times, my mind has been in dark, darker places before. 

Sometimes, I wish there was a world, a dream world, a metaphysical world where you could check out of your real life for a while and check-in and live in this simulation, while your body is preserved with some advanced science tools or something, deep freezing your body may be, lowering the metabolism just the way frogs and bears do during the winter season or the way Captain America did, just saying Or maybe just ceasing to exist and everyone being oblivious to it after it happens. 

I daydream a lot, a trait most depressed people have or more like, suffer from. I also lucid dream a lot, maybe it is my way of 'feeling like I have control over everything' or just plain escaping the toxicity of this world. Frankly speaking, I don't know what today's blog post is about. Well, my blog is about, 'trying to spread awareness about Depression and other mental health-related problems and my OG stories of course'. Then I have other blog posts where I'm trying to decipher my mind and thoughts.

 Do you know other than daydreaming, there are more than 10 symptoms of depression? Let us check them out one by one so we can help people we know, people we love, by recognizing the traits and giving them a helping hand.

 Well, now we know what today's blog post is about. I started blank, I wrote as tears streamed down my cheeks, but here I am now, still trying to hold on, fight, knowing how vile the world is. Today's blog post may not be the best thing I have written and it may seem all over the place, but bear with me as I bear with myself. 

So let's just get to the symptoms of depression.

Symptom #1

•  The first symptom we are going to talk about is the feeling of sadness, emptiness and hopelessness. This is the most common symptom and everyone is aware of it. Most of the people associate depression with this symptom only, which is not right at all. This sadness is more than just once in a Blue Moon blues, it is a more permanent and a most common feeling. It is a feeling where, even when the corner of your lips is curved upwards being aware of the emptiness within. It's when you are surrounded by your friends when you are laughing and suddenly your mind halts. Your body is still imitating the same laughter as everyone else yet your mind refuses to participate. When the world seems a tad bit different, your vision a tad bit darker, and your lungs out of breath. A punch on your chest, a pulsing ring in your ears, tears in your eyes, a scream in your throat, a few seconds arduous than a day. 

Solution #1

• The solution to overcome this feeling according to my personal experience has always been venting out, talking or just writing something for my blog. That's why sometimes you see me making many videos just talking about various topics or you see me excessively posting long paragraphs, which obviously are not read by many. 

• Now I understand, talking is not what everyone finds easy and are willing to do. For them, I can suggest writing down their feelings. You can write paragraphs if you wish or just a few points. Download a diary app from the play store or the app store, I personally recommend 'Evernote' but you can download any diary or note-keeping app or you can keep a traditional journal or a diary which you can share with a select few who you think will understand you or keep it private if you wish, it completely depends on you, of course, no pressure.

• What about them who doesn't like writing? You will find many, and I'm telling you, many peaceful melodies on YouTube, mostly under the name of sleep sounds. Put on those melodies and take a nap. Believe me, Naps are great for everything. They are like antibiotics which go with all the medicines. 

• Now, what about those people who don't feel like sharing, who don't feel like writing, who don't have the privilege of taking a nap, or are just too sad to do anything. Believe me, I know the intensity of sadness in depression can exhaust you even if you have been sitting in the corner of your house for a whole day or two. So what can those individuals do? Of course, they can do something related to their hobby, but I personally suggest not doing anything related to your hobby as you are likely to be out of focus at such times and this may lead to irritability and frustration, which may lead you to more hopelessness and disappointment. 

Rather watch a movie or a standup comedy on YouTube, read memes on Facebook, avoid Instagram as looking at other people's lifestyles and selfies is not at all a great way to deal with sadness, it will only get worst. Instead, surf on Facebook or YouTube, watch a movie or standup comedy as I suggested before.

• Make and drink a hot cup of chocolate milk, Tea(Normal Chai or Green tea any) or coffee. A hot cup and not a cold cup. I don't know the science behind it and it obviously has not been proven, yet there are a couple of organizations who have done the research and claim that hot cup of tea or coffee increases dopamine and serotonin, and you just feel better. Depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain, so you tweak it by increasing the 'feel-good chemical' dopamine in your brain by drinking some hot tea. Obviously, this is a temporary solution and not the permanent, absolute solution for depression.

        So this was it, this was the first symptom of depression. I have posted only those solutions which I have personally tried and experienced upfront. So I'm not just making things up. I started writing this post about 2 to 3 hours back with tears in my eyes and my head heavy with all the emotions bottled up. But here I am, applying the solution I recommended, Writing. I was supposed to write about all the symptoms of depression in this blogpost itself but seeing the length of this post, I have decided to write each symptom in a different blog post which I will be posting every day since today, Which will also allow me to write in-depth. So don't forget to subscribe to my blog.

You guys better take care, be safe, and tomorrow I will be posting the second symptom and solutions blogpost. So keep reading my blog, share it, see you tomorrow. If you have any more solutions you can recommend to help people in distress then do write in the comments below. Peace ✌️