(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Hey Psych2goers, welcome back to another video.
Thank you so much for all the love and support
that you've given us.
Our mission is to make mental health
and psychology more accessible to everyone.
Today, we've invited Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage
and family therapist to share her insights on depression
and some tips on how to cope with it.
Her channel is therapy in a nutshell,
you can check it out in the link in the description below.
With that said, let's get started.
History of depression in my family and myself,
just like physical health,
you have to maintain it by taking care of your body
with exercise and eating the right food,
and going to the doctor when you're injured or ill.
With mental health you also have
to take daily action to be healthy.
And when things are stressful,
I have to take extra care to manage my mental health.
So for example, when I was in grad school
or when I'm pregnant or postpartum, and right now,
when we as a global community are fighting a pandemic,
we all have to take a little extra care
of our mental health.
What I'm going to talk about today is more
about maintaining mental health than it is
about getting out of the deepest pit of depression.
When you're deep in a depressive episode,
it can be really hard to see any light.
It feels like you're at the bottom of a pit
and can't imagine what it feels like to be out of it.
At that place, often, all you can do is tiny steps
and hopefully get some help to get out of there.
So don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed by my routine.
Just choose one little thing to start with
and then take the next step when you can.
Number one, morning routine.
So the first thing I do every day
is getting on my knees and praying.
I express gratitude for the day and for my life
and the opportunity I have to do good in the world.
And that connection with God for me
helps me feel loved and purposeful through my day.
If you're not religious
you could do some meditation or a breathing exercise here.
I try not to look at my phone first thing in the morning
because I wanna start my day intentionally,
the way I want it to be.
If I open social media
I'm letting others choose what I take in
and that could be positive, negative, stressful,
uplifting or critical.
And so I just choose to start my day with some quiet time.
I do a little reading and then I write out my goals
and priorities for the day.
And right now with all the news, that's frightening.
I choose to listen to the news around lunchtime, once a day
so that I don't get constantly stressed out
and have time to process it during my waking hours.
And speaking of waking hours
let's talk about sleep for a minute.
I have three kids, five and under.
So I usually wake up before them to get some quiet time
to set my intention for the day.
My natural wake-up time is around 5:00 a.m.
I don't usually set an alarm, but to wake up then
I often go to bed between 9.00 to 10:00 p.m.
I'm not fighting my natural bio rhythms.
I just listen to my body.
And this is the schedule that works best for me personally.
For many people, they might have different sleep needs
or a different schedule.
Sleep is super important to managing depression.
There's a massive correlation between sleep problems
and depression.
Lack of sleep can cause depression
and getting good sleep can actually let your brain heal
from depression.
So I really value my sleep.
I have old friends who nicknamed me 905
because I often go to bed at that time.
And I miss out on some fun for sure,
but it's what keeps me healthy.
So it's worth it for me.
For each person, your sleep needs are different
but getting enough sleep can really make a big difference.
One study found that 87% of people with depression
who resolved their insomnia
significantly decreased their depression symptoms.
Number two, get dressed and showered.
So after waking up refreshed and taking quiet time to pray,
study and set my intentions for the day,
I make sure to get showered and dressed.
I found that this can be really hard when you're depressed,
but being clean and dressed helps me feel more energetic
and gets rid of my excuses.
I mean, if I have yesterday's makeup all over my face
and I'm wearing PJ's, it makes it hard for me to want
to go out and see friends or be social or get things done.
So just get dressed for the day.
Then I take my multivitamins.
And if I remember I take my omega-3 supplements,
and nutrition is an important part of my routine as well.
I try to eat a lot of plants and not too much sugar
or processed foods,
but I'm not going to go into that too much right now.
Number three, exercise.
The other essential part
of my mental health maintenance is exercise.
There's so much research that proves that exercise
is great for mental health.
It helps clear brain fog,
and it helps reduce stress chemicals in your brain.
I feel like when I exercise, it just works through a backlog
of pent up emotions and I can feel my body relax.
I think it also helps me deal with anger and frustration.
And I just like it.
I know a lot of people exercise in the morning,
but for me back when I worked full-time,
I used to always go climbing or for a hike
or run after work.
That's when I needed it the most.
And it was hard for me to get motivated in the morning
but by afternoon, I was looking forward to it.
Now that I'm a full-time mom,
I have to be more creative in how I get my exercise in.
I often just work out in the yard, gardening,
digging in the dirt and running around the yard
with my wheelbarrow,
or I'll do some yoga on TV or go for a walk with my kids
or pull them behind my bike.
Now that we're stuck in our homes
with the coronavirus pandemic,
I'm doing more inside workouts.
I like the seven minute workouts on my phone
or The Fitness Marshall on YouTube.
Number four, nature time.
This takes me back to another aspect
of my mental health routine that is really important for me.
Outside time.
I need nature.
I need to see the sky and soak in some sun.
I'm fortunate to live in a beautiful place.
And I take advantage of that by getting outside.
There is some research showing that sunshine and nature
and being outside changes our physiology.
It slows our heart rate,
and decrease the stress chemicals and stuff.
But regardless of the research
I can just feel the difference for me.
If you can't get outside, open your windows,
sit on your porch.
Or if you can't do any of that
then you can spend some time looking
at beautiful landscape photography or a nature film.
Your brain has the ability to bring to mind the feelings
of nature just by imagining it.
Number five, my evening routine.
My evening routine looks like getting my kids to bed
and then taking some quiet time for myself.
I usually take a hot bath and read a book
or an archeology journal.
I'm kinda nerdy, but that's what I like.
Even though I have very few hours to work
on my passion project, these videos,
I don't usually work in the evenings,
because it would just stress me out a little
and I need the downtime to stay healthy.
So then before bed, I write in my journal,
I often take the time to write about my wins
and accomplishments of the day so that I can remember them
because it's my natural habit to dwell
on my mistakes and shortcomings.
So I write about my wins and then I pray a prayer
of gratitude and talk with my heavenly father about my day.
Again, gratitude practice is an essential habit
of mental health, and it's been shown
to be an effective treatment for depression.
So you can pray about it like me,
express gratitude as a family, which we do at dinner time,
or write about it, whatever works for you.
And then I go to bed.
I try not to spend too much time looking at screens
before bed, but if I do, I choose some calming documentary
or a mudlarking channel like Nikola Whites.
If you don't know what mudlarking is,
it's just finding historical bits of treasures
on themes in London.
Anyways, I find it relaxing.
I encourage people not to be on TV
because it's just not super great for your brain.
But if you do choose a short and calming show.
Lastly, other self-care.
For me that includes scheduling and some time for my hobby.
I have tons of hobbies, but because I'm so busy with kids
I really don't have time to do most of them
but I make sure to carve out about two hours a week
to do at least one of them.
Right now that's metal detecting
which is something fun and relaxing for me.
I put it on the calendar so that I make sure it happens.
I also take the Sabbath off, no work, no housework.
I don't check my work email.
I let my brain completely focus on other things.
Mostly my family, which is also exhausting,
but it's a day that is different from the others.
And I make sure to have social time as well.
Having social interactions is really essential
for mental health.
Our brains are inherently social.
We are social creatures.
So right now this is going to be an extra challenge
with the Coronavirus.
I'm taking the time to call up old friends.
I have some groups I'm hanging out with on zoom
and when we're not on lock down
I meet up with friends to let the kids play
or to go out to lunch or whatever.
So there you have it.
My daily routine to maintain mental health.
I have a careful morning routine.
I make sure to get enough sleep.
I get dressed every day.
I exercise and get some outside time,
I carve out time to relax each evening, practice gratitude
and acknowledge my successes of the day.
And once a week, I make sure to get out
and do something just for me, stress, anxiety
and social isolation can all contribute to depression
but you can prevent depression during stressful times
like the pandemic and social distancing
by using daily habits that promote mental health.
Depression is treatable
and there are some simple things you can do everyday
to prevent depression and stay mentally healthy.
I hope you can find some things
from this list that help you figure
out a way to maintain your mental health.
Today, this week and during the crazy pandemic
that we're going through.
And remember, you're braver than you know
and stronger than you think.
Thanks for watching and take care.
If you enjoyed this video
and would like to learn more about therapy, mental health
and what you can do to improve depression,
anxiety or other mental illness,
check out Emma's channel, Therapy in a Nutshell,
the link will be in the description.