I bumped into a friend at the shops last night- taking into consideration our social distancing !

We both said how we felt ‘depressed’ and as I said it out loud, as I’d been feeling really off lately, it felt good to say it.

When I hear that someone is ‘depressed’ I think they have a choice to feel that way or not. I mean don’t we?

Get up and make yourself feel better!

But sometimes it’s not that easy.

I’m not an expert in depression, I can just say how I feel and what I’m doing because I know I’m feeling down. If you feel you need help, then don’t be afraid to ask. There are many Counselling , Psychology and Mental Health services that are trained to deal with depression. And remember everyone is different on how they deal with their feelings and how they respond. So I urge you, if you need to seek professional help, then please do.

I remember when I was in high school and the weight of the world felt on my shoulders. I was in year 11 or maybe year 10.. I’d broken up with my boyfriend at the time, hated school, was being bullied and thought no one loved me. he Dr diagnosed me as being ‘DEPRESSED’ What does a 16/17 year old girl do with this? What was I meant to to do? Was I sick? I know had a ‘label’ for being sad. I felt like I now carried this around with me. Hi. I’m Fiona and I’m depressed. What the actual?

I don’t remember much more, except this is when something changed within me .

This is when I also started my obsession with weight. Feel free to skip over this as this is just an insight into me 🙂

I remember eating dinner then purging … yep throwing up. I started running early mornings or doing aerobics. I started to feel better because finally I controlled something. I could control how I felt and how I reacted to things. I became mentally stronger.

But this also had a different affect on me. I started a love of fitness, yes it started with the wrong intentions. But I found something I truly loved. And still do.

Throughout my years I’ve been told I’m excessive and obsessed with exercise. You know what? I am. Because that’s what helps me get through shit times. One of my ex’s used to HATE the fact I made exercise an important part of my life/ daily routine.

When you are feeling ‘down’ it’s fricken hard to get moving . It’s hard to get out of bed, hard to eat (and eat well to nourish your body), hard to socialise and hard to just be. It’s easier to close the eyes and block out the world, drink your problems away or just sit and watch TV. Anything to blank out reality.

For me, I’ve found it best to take a few days and just ‘sit in my shit’ I love that phrase and I don’t mean literally. I mean sit and just feel whatever you feel. If you feel like crying . Cry. If you feel like yelling. Yell (not at people, just cause you’re not in a good spot , try not to take it out on someone else) . If you feel like running. Run.

There’s no wrong or right way to deal with feeling down. Understand it’s part of life.

After I had my few days where I listened to some podcasts, started journaling, acknowledging what was going right (gratitude), read a few books, exercised (wasn’t my best sessions) I started to feel more like me again.

During this time, we really need to take care of ourselves. To understand this is a shit situation, no one has any answers about how long it’s going to last… listen to what your body wants, more importantly needs.

Here’s what I suggest:

Start with a routine.

Get out of bed at a set time

Eat breakfast

Shower & dress for the day. Yep, get out of those pj’s!

Start a task (create a list of jobs that you want to complete/start)

Exercise

Start New Habits

…. save this topic for another blog!

Listen to what your body needs and wants . If you need help ask.

Keep Strong and talk soon!

FE XO