7 Effective Ways to Manage Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety and depression are two related mental health conditions. Depression symptoms include feeling sad, anxious, irritable, and restless. According to WHO, 5% of adults all over the world suffer from depression [1]. Tiredness, sleeplessness, and thoughts of hurting oneself are also signs of depression [2]. Anxiety involves fear and excessive worry. It can lead to phobias or other stress disorders.

In 2017, around 197.3 million people in India had mental disorders. Out of these, around 45.7 million had depressive disorders and 44.9 million had anxiety disorders [3]. Learning stress management can help you manage anxiety and depression. There are many ways to control these stress symptoms. Read on to know how to manage anxiety or seasonal depression.

Additional Read: Have Traveling Anxiety? 7 Easy Tips for Hassle-free Trips!

Try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

This psychotherapy helps you with coping skills and relaxation techniques to manage stress.

It helps you track and change patterns that influence on your behavior and emotions. It focuses on challenging thoughts that contribute to anxiety, depression, and emotional difficulties. CBT is one of the most reputed ways to treat pain, anxiety, and depression.

Go for Interpersonal Psychotherapy

This is another successful way to manage anxiety and depression. It focuses on the link between symptoms and your interpersonal problems. These problems may include:

• relationship disputes

• social isolation

• unresolved grief

Its aim is to improve the quality of your social and personal relationships to reduce stress.

This evidence-based therapy treats mood disorders with a focus on four key areas. It helps resolve personal deficits and manage unsettled grief. It helps with difficult life transitions and addresses interpersonal differences [4].

Get Antidepressant Medication

Your psychiatrist may give you medicines to manage anxiety and depression. Antidepressants include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These drugs help treat anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and other psychological conditions.

They primarily manage depression by raising the serotonin levels in the brain. Some SSRIs include:

• Citalopram

• Fluoxetine

• Escitalopram

• Paroxetine

• Sertraline

In cases of severe depression, you may combine SSRIs along with CBT or other therapies. Other medications include serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as:

• Duloxetine

• Venlafaxine

• Desvenlafaxine

Work Out and Be Active

Exercise is not only good for your physical health, but also boosts your mental health. It releases feel-good chemicals in the brain. As per to studies, exercise reduces anxiety, depression, and negativity. It improves your self-esteem and cognitive function. It also decreases symptoms like social withdrawal [5]. Thus, it enhances your well-being and can help you cope with workplace depression too. Walking for only 10 minutes can reduce signs of depression [6]!

Try to Relax and Rejuvenate

Calming your mind and body can also help relieve stress symptoms. Some relaxation techniques include:

• deep breathing

• meditation

• yoga

• aromatherapy

• music and art therapy

Mindful meditation is something you can try too. It focuses on deep breathing and creating awareness of your mind and body. By doing this, you can train yourself to slow down racing thoughts and feel at peace.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation affects your psychological health. Adults should sleep for 7 to 9 hours every night [7]. If you have mental health problems, you are at a greater risk of insomnia and other sleep disorders. About 75% of people with depression have insomnia. People with depression suffer from:

• sleep deficiency

• excessive daytime sleepiness

• hypersomnia [8]

Getting sufficient sleep helps your mental health. So you can try to follow a routine by shutting off the lights at a suitable time, keeping your phone aside, and focusing on getting a good night’s rest.

Have the Right Food

Eating a well-balanced diet is important for good mental health. Your meals should be rich in nutrients and vitamins. Consume food that has complex carbohydrates and protein. Your body synthesizes complex carbohydrates into serotonin. This calming chemical helps manage anxiety and depression. Your body also requires protein to feel fuller for longer and maintain your blood sugar levels.

Additional Read: 8 Effective Strategies that Can Help You in Fighting Depression

Taking care of your mental health is important for a happy life. So, don’t neglect it or hesitate to get help when needed. As a matter of fact, depression and anxiety in women and men are common. When you experience any symptoms of these conditions, seek professional help and ask your loved ones to do the same. Consult specialists on Bajaj Finserv Health by booking a video consultation. This will help you manage anxiety and depression better.