Beating Depression Before it Beats You
- Guest Blogger: Christian Gonzalez
Over the past two years my life has occurred many up and downs. A few weeks ago, I would have labeled these instances as being more downs than ups, however my mindset has changed. Over the past few weeks I’ve been able to break away from those negative feelings, those early stages of depression. I took a minute below to backtrack to where I believe the start of my short period of depression had begun.
- I accepted a new job (not exactly what I wanted to do, but a foot in the door at a big company)
- I worked my butt off to gain recognition and respect within the company from every department
- I applied for an internal job within the company, I was recommended by a member of the department through demonstration of my work in my current role.
- I was not offered that job
This is where it all goes down hill, I started to feel signs of depression.
Falling into Depression
Everyone that knows me, knows that I’m a fighter. I don’t quit, I grew up a competitor. I played football just about my entire life all the way through high school; always the smallest player on the field (literally) but also operating in the position where you should be the tallest, Quarterback. I was never afraid of going up against the biggest guy on the field, and I outworked everyone on the field, mentally and physically. However, after not being active in sports and fitness, I felt like I lost my competitive edge, and that’s what led me down this road.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, not even that job, but I wanted it so bad that it literally crushed me. I threw in flag at that company, I quit and moved on, didn’t even put up a fight. The following month, I was offered a job in Detroit, Michigan for the same position in another company. I saw a little bit of light shine through my tunnel, but deep down inside it wasn’t what I wanted. I soon fell back into a stage of depression.
Dealing With the Uncontrollable; Life
I’m a stubborn person, I don’t express my emotions as often as I should and I’m one hell of an actor; I can make you feel like I’m the happiest person on earth, even when I’m not. Throughout this short period of time that I felt depressed, like I was suffering, I never opened up to anyone, never wanted to talk about it, just kept it all inside of me. I coped by listening to other people’s problems and issues and it made mine feel so small.
What I was able to observe while doing more listening than talking (about my problems) was that most issues were uncontrollable, even mine. At the point in my career, at that time I applied for that job, I didn’t have enough experience, I had the knowledge, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t control it, I was too youthful to have been able to gain the years of experience needed.
Unclutter what you can control
I started to look at ways to deal with depression on my own, how to keep myself out of that funk I was in and just be happy again. I found a good article that talked about a few ways to deal with depression on Verywellmind. One of the topics was “Get a handle on your household chores.” After reading that article I started to observe a few things about myself that changed over the past year; I’ve become a slob. I used to be very OCD about putting things in certain places, keeping my room and common areas clean, having a routine laundry schedule, but it all became so cluttered over the past year.
After reading that advise, I started to unclutter my life, beginning with my keeping my room clean, sticking to a laundry schedule and folding my clothes right away. Believe it or not, this little bit of advise has helped me maintain a clear mind for myself. Keeping a laundry schedule and folding my clothes so that they are not piled up, has spiraled into many other new healthy routines for myself; Gym Schedule, Sleep Schedule, Downtime / relaxation schedule, all which have contributed to a healthy mindset.
Find Your Support System
For me, my support system was a few articles to help me regain my fight, my former boss, my family and close friends. For you, that might not be the case, you might feel ashamed of opening up to your friends and family about your issues, and that’s okay, in fact, its quite common. If you’re feeling that way, try reaching out to a professional counselor or a licensed mental health practitioner, they are trained to help you with these issues and one small piece of their advise could change your life forever.
If you feel like you need to reach a licensed mental health counselor, schedule a free consultation with Natalia Savage, MS, LPC,LMHC, fill out the form below or head to the contact us page to schedule you appointment now!