Depression Behavior Modification

Depression Behavior Modification: Depression is a mental illness that can cause a variety of symptoms including fatigue, feelings of discontent, moodiness, aches, pains, and more. If you have been diagnosed with depression and are not in danger of hurting yourself and others, you might consider behavior modification techniques before resorting to medication.
Find a Therapist:
A therapist trained in cognitive behavioral therapy, and specializing in depression should be able to help you get started in your efforts to deal with your depression.
Get Out of The House:
Often when you are depressed one of the hardest things is getting up, dressed, and out of the house. Yet it will often make you feel better. Challenge yourself to go someplace each and every day just to get out of the house. It could be the post office, grocery store, library or mall. Just make sure to get some fresh air and see other people every single day.
Get Regular Exercise:
Regular exercise has proven to be almost as effective as medication for people who suffer from depression. Exercise for 30 minutes to an hour every day. If you need an extra push, find an accountability buddy to exercise with. You will be less likely to skip your workout if you know someone else is counting on you.
Eat Healthfully: Eating a healthful diet can be an important component to treating depression. Try to stick to fresh produce, lean meats, and other healthful foods designed to nourish your body. Creating a variety of colors on your plate might also help to brighten your mood.
Express Yourself:
Find ways to creatively express your emotions through journaling, playing music or creating art. Creating an outlet for your emotions will help to prevent them from building up and seeming unmanageable. Depression has a tendency to magnify feelings, so dealing with your feelings can make your depression much more manageable.
Find Support:
Create a support system of healthy people to surround you such as family and friends. You might also seek out a support group for people dealing with depression. Make sure that you stay in contact with your support network and let them know how you are feeling. Leaning on others will help you to find new ways to deal with your feelings and keep you from becoming isolated, which can make your depression worse. Health Belief Model: offers a useful framework by describing four factors that can be assessed which influence health related decision-making.
Health Motivation: * The individual’s perception of health matters and the degree to which they are motivated to change it. * Varies enormously , it may correlate with personality, social class, ethnic group, religion etc etc.
Perceived Vulnerability: * How vulnerable or threatened one feels about a particular disease.
Perceived Costs and Benefits: * The individual’s estimation of the benefits of treatment weighed against cost, risks and inconvenience.
Perceived Seriousness: * Perceived seriousness of leaving the depression untreated * Trigger factors such as alarming symptoms, advice from family or friends, messages from the media, disruption of work or play
Health Beliefs about Depression: * Difficult to elicit * Patients frightened of looking ‘foolish’ or ‘crazy’ * Patients may be reluctant to “waste a doctors time” with ‘personal issues’