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Divorce Depression Busters

Divorce Depression Busters

Any major life change can leave you stressed, but for many, divorce is an especially challenging, and can often lead to depression.

Here are some tips in which you can avoid depression.

1. Write a goodbye letter
Sit down with a pen and paper and write a letter of goodbye to everything and everyone that isn’t the same now that you’re divorcing.
Some of the things you might want to say goodbye to are your role as spouse, the traditions you had of celebrating birthdays and holidays, and seeing your kids every day. Some of the people you may want to say goodbye to are your ex, your in-laws and your friends who aren’t able to stand by your side during your major life transition.
Writing a goodbye letter takes courage. It requires you to come face-to-face with what you’re losing with the end of your marriage. But the reward for doing this is a catharsis. You’ll know exactly what it is that you’re grieving and begin to have a better idea of how to deal with your situational depression because you’ll be able to see what you can work on to put your grief behind you.

2. Movement
Get into motion. Moving your body boosts your mood, positive hormones, and positive thoughts and feelings follow. Also, increasing your breath has a wonderful therapeutic affect that helps to move stagnant energy. Be gentle with yourself. If you are not already active, start small and realistic. A 15 minute walk around the park is a great place to start even if you “don’t feel like it”. Recognize, that you may not feel like it; however, you’ll be thanking yourself for it afterwards. Find your favourite, energizing music or podcast to help you along. Then when you go for it, congratulate yourself for following through.

3. Tickle Your Funny Bone
Laughter truly is nature’s medicine. It engages your lungs, increases oxygen flow, and massages your internal organs. Enjoy some laughs with your funniest friends, go to a comedy club, watch hilarious video clips on YouTube, ask someone to tell you their best joke, or watch your favourite funny movie. Do this (schedule it if you have to) regularly to dissipate negativity, and ramp up your optimistic emotions and thoughts.

4. Be Good To Yourself
This point is worth saying again. Be sure to schedule time to make yourself and your self-care a priority. It may be as simple as making sure that you get your manicure or pedicure this week, scheduling time with friends, taking time for a nap, or giving yourself permission to just chill out. When you get back to your “regularly schedule program” you’ll have much more energy and enthusiasm to bring to those activities, and you’ll feel much better about it.

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