Tips for Taking Care of Yourself in Depressive Episodes
October is widely known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but it is also lesser known as Depression Awareness Month! With the first Sunday to Saturday being World Mental Illness Week. This year it took place from October 3rd to October 9th. And today, October 10th is World Mental Health Day.
Mental Health Tings hats are sold here! Sweatshirt can be found at selfcareisforeveryone.com
According to the National Alliance for Mental Illness’ website “20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2019 (51.5 million people). This represents 1 in 5 adults.
5.2% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness in 2019 (13.1 million people). This represents 1 in 20 adults.”
Serious mental illness usually refers to mental illness that has disrupted your life in some way to the point that it affects your ability to function in society.
Furthermore 7.8% of the population (19.4 million people) have experienced a major depressive episode in 2019. Depression is the second most prevalent diagnosed mental illness, behind anxiety.
Major Depressive Episodes can be extremely debilitating to the point where it feels almost impossible to do basic tasks such as eating, getting out of bed, and taking care of daily hygiene. Everybody experiences depression a little differently. Some people lose their appetite, some people eat more. Some people sleep too much, and others get no sleep.
For a list of symptoms of depression, you can follow this link to the Mayo Clinic’s website
Depression (major depressive disorder) - Symptoms and causes
Today I wanted to share different tips for how to take care of yourself in a depressive episode where you are low functioning. When you look online for depression tips most articles will tell you things like “drink more water, eat healthier, practice good sleep hygiene.” I’ve shared such things before for when I am cycling into depressive states. That article can be found here about a list of preventative care for falling into a depression.
Yes, those things work sometimes, but this post is for the person who has been deeply entrenched in a depressive episode and can barely get out of bed. These tips are for the person who thinks that being proactive about mental health is a lofty goal because of how low they’re feeling. Today I am writing for the person who hasn’t had a shower in a week plus. Because depression gets that bad. So if you’re truly struggling I’m not going to tell you to take a shower. But I will share with you what I do when my depression is so bad I can hardly function to take care of myself.
My hygiene station that I keep on the corner of my desk for bad mental health days.
Some tips for maintaining the basest level of hygiene during depression:
Use Wet Wipes when you use the bathroom. It’ll leave you feeling cleaner than if you only wiped with toilet paper.
Facial wipes work great for your face. I used to rely on Cetaphil’s Gentle Skin Cleanser. You can apply a pump of it to your face and just wipe it off with a towel. It will leave you feeling like you washed your face and the good news is that if you keep it on or in a bedside table you don’t even have to leave your room to freshen up.
Keep dental floss picks nearby. They’re not the best for the environment, I understand; but they are convenient in a pinch when you feel like you can’t head to the bathroom to brush your teeth.
Mouthwash is handy when you can make a trip to the bathroom. And even the act of brushing cleans more plaque, if you can’t be bothered to fuss with the tooth paste.
Dry shampoo is also a great thing to use when your hair is in need of revitalization but you can’t bring yourself to go through with a wash day.
For curly hair, I like to keep a spray bottle on deck to rehydrate hair. It can be water, or a certain kind of styling product. Just a little bit of moisture can revitalize curls.
There is so much stigma surrounding mental illness and being unhygienic. It is important to remember that a lot of other people with mental illness struggle to take care of their hygiene. You’re not alone in that.
A lot of lists about how to manage your depression will tell you to eat well and exercise. I’ve tried it; it does help as long as you’re in a place where you can do both of those things. Once again, this advice is for people who are already past that point of depression. Moving your body seems impossible.
Sometimes feeding yourself can be a huge challenge because not only do you have to make yourself eat when you don’t always feel like eating, but you have to prepare food to eat and then clean up after yourself if you don’t want to live in squalor. Sometimes it is easier to starve yourself than to make food and have to clean up after it.
Some quick and easy “depression meals” you can make:
Protein Shakes: First thing’s first, if you have absolutely no appetite to eat food, I suggest drinking your nutrients and calories in the form of protein drinks. My family’s favorite brand has always been the chocolate high protein Boosts, but there are other brands and flavors like Ensure, Carnation breakfast essentials, etc. If you like yogurt, which I do not, Chobani has a yogurt shake that is high in protein as well. There are also several companies that have prepared fruit smoothies to drink a serving of fruits and vegetables. There are a lot of options out there, and it may be worth the effort, when not in a depressive episode, to find the options you like and stock up.
Frozen foods: I like to keep several kinds of different frozen foods on hand: pizza rolls, pizza bagels, beef patties, dumplings, waffles, breakfast sausage, appetizers, chicken nuggets. The cooking aspect is very simple: either a toaster, the oven or the microwave.
Eggs: When I asked on Instagram for people’s favorite depression meals I had several responses. Chicken nuggets, and eggs were the most common.
Sandwiches: PB & J is a great option if you don’t have the energy to pull out cold cuts and mad vegetables. Toast the bread for a little pizza and add a glass of milk for some extra calories.
Noodles: Mac and Cheese, Ramen and Spaghetti are all relatively quick and easy to prepare if you have the energy to use the stove.
Canned Soup
Take-Out: If you can afford to eat out, then do so without feeling guilty for caring for yourself when you’re in pain.
Tuna: Starkist tuna packets that are already flavored are a great thing to keep on hand. I like to eat the buffalo flavor. You can eat it by itself, with chips, or put it in a piece of bread for an instant sandwich. If you have more energy you can dice an avocado into the tuna, add some lettuce or tomato to your sandwich.
To make the clean up easier, I suggest eating off of paper towels, aluminum foil or paper plates. You can simply throw your dishes away when you’re done instead of having dishes pile up for days on end.
The pain of depression can be a lot to deal with. When you’re not feeling horribly, it is a good idea to make a distress tolerance plan for what to do when you start to feel horribly. I wrote a beginner post on that topic here:
Distress Tolerance in the Age of Social Distancing — Mental Health Tings
Some basics for escaping reality when you feel too horrible to plan a fun activity:
Sleeping is a no brainer.
Reading is a good substitute if you’re having trouble sleeping. It can be great to escape into another world where your problems don’t exist.
Television is another great coping mechanism. In fact, my TV intake is an indicator to me of how badly I’m feeling. When I’m great, I don’t watch TV but when I am in a depressive episode I search for any comedic TV show with multiple seasons to binge watch. Last year during my depressed quarantine months I watched Schitt’s Creek for the first time and loved it.
Coloring—If being creative is something that you rely upon to feel complete, like it is for me, I suggest using coloring books. It’s easier to color something that is already created than to put something onto a blank page. And it still feels like you’re being creative.
Support a Black woman-owned business and shop this coloring book at Lemonadine
These are just a few of the things that I do to take care of myself when I’m depressed.
Above all, please be gentle with yourself while you are in this headspace. I wrote another article about why it is important not to beat yourself up about something you cannot control at the following link:
Giving Up The Fight — Mental Health Tings
And because depression can make you lose sight of things and people that are important to you, I wrote another article on how to manage and maintain relationships when you are in a depressive episode.
Managing Relationships in Depression — Mental Health Tings
In short, knowing when to push yourself to do things and when to be gracious with yourself in your mental illness is everything.
Every day is different, and if one day you don’t feel like you can leave the bed then stay in bed. Maybe tomorrow you will be able to shower. Maybe next week. If all you did today was breathe and choose to stay here with us, then you did enough and I am so thankful you did that.
You ARE enough. Don’t ever forget.
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007
S/O to Heather Sampson for editing.
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