Depressed or feeling like self-harming? These coping skills might help.

Depression is not always laying in bed crying as you may have thought. Sometimes it is an inner sadness that does not go away. It can be feeling quiet or having emotional difficulty in relationships. Depression often makes people emotionally distant and self-critical.

You may care a lot about others, but you let very few people into your inner world. It can bring feelings of worthlessness and sometimes even thoughts of suicide.

Self harm is not always cutting, it can be overspending, binge eating, having frequent casual sex, taking risks, picking, or scratching yourself, over exercising.

Depression and self harming behaviors impact how you may see yourself, see others and the world around you. They can cause distorted thinking patterns. The recovery process can be very up and down but there are ways to comfort yourself during the process.

Some coping skills to try when you feel really depressed or like self-harming:

• Connect with others even when it is hard, even if it is infrequent. Visit family, friends, reach out by text or face-time, whatever you can manage.

• Do something nice for someone else.

• Go outside for a few minutes, change your scenery. Take some deep breaths and be present/accept where you are and how you are feeling for 30 seconds.

• Listen to music that evokes positive emotion or memories from your past.

You are not alone, people care about you, you matter. You cannot think your way out of depression, recovery is usually slow and gradual.

~Laura

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