Best Way to Strengthen Your Support System When You Are Depressed
When people are depressed, they often don’t want to socialize, even with friends and family they ordinarily have fun with. But when you avoid people, you deprive yourself of a source of pleasure, and it’s easy to become even more depressed. This leads to doing even fewer things with others, and the cycle continues until you may feel so depressed that you spend most of your time alone.
Even though it seems hard at first, work to strengthen your social support system. The term social support system refers to the people in your life (family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances) with whom you have frequent contact and who are on your side. This contact may be in person, through the mail, on the telephone, even via your computer. The important thing is that you have people with whom you can talk freely, feel comfortable, and seek comfort.
Having a strong support system will help you weather tough situations. The people who are part of your support system can do more than just show you they care. They can also help you challenge your negative thinking about yourself, your world, and the future. People with depression tend to be much more critical of themselves than their friends would be.
Keep in mind that antidepressant medication may increase your energy and decrease your irritability, so taking an antidepressant could help improve the time you spend with other people.
Increase your contacts with family and friends
When you’re depressed, socializing can feel like a major effort. You may even wonder who would want to be with you in your present state of mind. Perhaps your most recent contacts with your family and friends have not been pleasant. It may be hard to imagine how spending even more time with them could be rewarding.
One way to get more pleasure from social situations is to make sure that when you’re with other people you’re doing something you really enjoy. You’re more likely to be in a good mood and friendlier to others.
Some Activities You Might Enjoy with Other People Include
- Playing or watching sports
- Cooking
- Getting involved in religious or spiritual groups in your community
- Joining a volunteer group that helps other people
- Taking dancing lessons
- Joining an outdoors club
- Volunteering for a local political or civic group
Stay away from fault-finders
Decrease your contact with people who always criticize and who regularly bring you down or cause you stress. People with depression are self-critical enough; they don’t need help!
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