A car accident is a traumatic event, and for some, life is suddenly drastically different in one moment.  There is a broad spectrum of events that could contribute from financial hardship to life-altering injury, to the passing of a friend or family member.  All these sudden issues are difficult and overwhelming at first, but as time passes, it usually gets gradually easier.  For some, however, depression can develop, and the passing of time does not decrease the difficulty.  This is a condition that, like an injury, needs to be attended and not ignored.

Allow Others to Help

Depression is a difficult period of life in which your mind and emotions are greatly affected.  You should not try to fight the battle on your own.  You need responsible friends and family members that you can trust to help and support you.  View depression as an illness rather than a deficiency.  Communicate your thoughts and feelings to your trusted friends and family, and let them help you through the difficult times.  Since your emotions are affected, they may be able to better identify problems and know if you need to seek a doctor’s care.

Face Reality

This can make you feel better in some ways and worse in others, but it is important for recovery.  No matter the source of your depression, it is probably a circumstance that might never be ideal again.  While this can be upsetting, bring this up in your mind and talk out your feelings to yourself and trusted friends and family.  You may even need to find a trustworthy counselor, like a pastor, pastor’s wife, school counselor, or other professional.  Be honest about your feelings.  In doing this, you will have to face the source of your depression, but if you are truly facing reality, you will see that there is still a lot of good in life, and in time, there is still a lot of good that you can do.

Take Care of Yourself

With depression, it is easy to take poor care of yourself, but be sure you eat plenty of healthy foods, rest, have good hygiene, and take your medicines on time.  Also, these steps contribute to staying in a daily routine.  Depression makes it difficult to be motivated, but a routine helps you to keep moving, which is a crucial step to battling depression.

Get Moving

Many people who battle depression feel constantly fatigued.  They don’t want to get up and do anything because it does not feel like it would be worth the effort.  The best action to fight this fatigue is to get up and get moving.  Simple exercise, like walking, can help to reduce feelings of fatigue after a short time.  Once you get started, you may feel like you cannot do it, but keep going and the feeling will gradually subside.  A couple ways to make walking even more beneficial is to walk with a friend and to walk outside if the weather is nice.

Pick Up a Hobby

Do you have something you enjoy doing, like crocheting, cooking, gardening, or writing?  If you do, take some time to do these activities.  If you don’t have a hobby yet, find one.  Think of something that interests you, and pursue it.  This type of activity will usually keep your hands and mind busy, and after a while, you have a beautiful completed work to show for it.  If you are stuck when trying to think of a hobby, there is a huge list on Wikipedia to help you get started (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies).

Help Others

This is very difficult to begin while battling depression, but getting out and helping others is a great way to find fulfillment.  This might be another area where another trusted friend or family member could help.  You and this trusted person could go together and find a place to volunteer.  This accomplishes so many things that greatly help with depression symptoms.  You are a valuable creation whether you find ways to help others or not, but volunteering your time and talents can help you to see just how valuable you are and how helpful you can be to someone else.

Have a Good Attitude

This advice goes completely against the grain of depression symptoms, but making an effort to have a good attitude can help recovery from depression.  Remember that depression is an illness and it needs to be treated like an illness.  With physical illnesses, it is very important to believe that you can recover.  Depression is no different.  Believe that recovery is very possible and that brighter days are coming soon.

Be Patient

While having a good attitude and positive outlook on recovery is important, realize that complete recovery from depression will not happen in a day.  Some days will be harder than others.  This is discouraging, but it is to be expected.  Instead of just enduring those difficult days, make a plan for yourself.  Being faithful in completing your daily routine is a great place to start.  Have some other activities in mind for these especially difficult days.  Maybe you could visit an elderly person or call a friend.  Interaction with other people is important on these difficult days.  Keep reminding yourself that recovery is coming, but that it can be slow.

Conclusion

Depression is difficult, no matter what the source is.  There are no two cases exactly alike, so the best way to treat them will be different, but following these steps is a good place to start.  Be sure to allow support from trusted family and friends as they can be your most valuable asset in this journey, and remember that with time, recovery is very possible.

Sources

Competitive Advantage https://www.competitivedge.com/rebounding-injuries-0

DBSA http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_brochures_coping_unexpected_events

Help Guide https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/coping-with-depression.htm

Lotsa Helping Hands http://lotsahelpinghands.com/blog/how-to-battle-depression/

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies