 Doing things to look after my emotional health. Thanks and kisses to Lexi and Tsuri for their healing company. The tools we looked at in part one focused more on supporting your physical health. Let's now look at tools for supporting your emotional health. Acknowledging your stress and trauma Stress can be a big contributor to depression, and stress can be caused by many things. There are:
Often a combination of different forms of stress can lead to depression. It can be helpful to consider which stressors you have been exposed to and are exposed to ongoing. From here, you can make a plan to start reducing and managing your stressors. For example, you may start going to bed earlier, book in to see a nutritionist and therapist, and start eating more veges as first steps. If you have experienced intense stress or multiple stressful events and you are feeling depressed and overwhelmed, you may be experiencing burnout. As a nutritionist, I can support you in learning nutrition and lifestyle tools to help you begin to recover from the biochemical effects of stress. I can also help you learn how stress affects your body and support you in learning strategies to manage stress. Reaching out For many of us, traumatic experiences (deeply distressing or disturbing experiences) both past and recent impact our mental and emotional health. If this rings true for you, I highly recommend talking to a qualified therapist or psychotherapist who has experience supporting people affected by trauma and depression. This is vital if your traumas are private and difficult to discuss with friends or family. Do not isolate yourself. Often depressed people feel no one understands or cares, and they withdraw from the world. Withdrawing will not help you recover and being isolated is another form of stress. Again, finding a good therapist is advisable. You do not have to share all the details of what has traumatised or depressed you with those you are close to, but you do need empathic people you can talk to, for emotional and practical support and social interactions that lift your spirits. Reach out to a trusted friend or family member, and if you don’t get the support you need, reach out to a support group or helpline. Reach out until you find people you can rely on for support, in addition to your therapist. Giving yourself compassion You don’t have to force positivity, 'move on' before you are ready, or accept the insistence of others that you do so. Some hurts, hurt deeply. Allow yourself to feel your painful emotions so these emotions don't get buried. Painful feelings are a normal part of being human. Allowing ourselves to really feel our painful emotions is like cleansing our wounds, and we have to cleanse our wounds before they can begin to heal, or ache less. A good therapist can help you through this process. Recognise that depression is a normal response in many situations, particularly when you lose a loved one, whether to death or the end of a relationship, or suffer trauma of any kind. When you’re in pain, it can feel like it’s never going to end. This can be especially tough. Don’t give up on yourself – there is only one you, and you have something unique to share with the world. One wonderful way to care for your emotional health is to regularly ‘book’ self-care and pleasurable activities into your week. These could be:
Reducing stress
A final note Know that millions of people experience depression and recover. Some people who have experienced depression say getting in touch with what you really want in life – with your passion – and taking action on those things you've always wanted to do but kept putting off, can greatly support recovery from depression. Additionally, creating distance between yourself and any abusive or uncaring people, and surrounding yourself with loving, caring people, can also greatly support recovery from depression and your mental health in general. Which two tools from this article might you get started on this week, to support yourself through depression? Warmly, Francesca Are you suffering with depression and looking for holistic help from a health professional who understands? Click here to contact me for a chat and to book your consultation. In many countries around the world, 20–25% of people will experience a mental health problem. This is one in every four to five people. Depression is one of the most commonly experienced mental health problems. While the causes of depression can be different for different people, there are often common contributors such as excessive stress or ongoing stress, trauma (past or recent) and emotional pain.
I’m going to share some tools for managing and recovering from depression that you can start to action in your life. This article will be in two parts. First, we'll focus on some basics of supporting your physical health - nutrition, reducing caffeine and alcohol, and supporting sleep. Part two will then look at ways to support your emotional health. Supporting your physical health Nutrition - regular meals and keeping blood glucose levels stable Some people lose interest in food when they are depressed and unintentionally lose weight. Unfortunately, lack of nutritious food can exacerbate depression. Other people overeat comfort foods when they are depressed, which may be a sign of hungering for comfort (e.g., talking to someone, being around kind and supportive people and in environments that uplift you). From a nutritional perspective, the following guidelines will help support stable mood.
Eating breakfast is key to setting up your mood and energy for the day. Skipping breakfast leads to low blood sugar levels, which leads to low mood and low energy, and can increase irritability and feelings of overwhelm and sadness. Ideally, eat a protein-rich breakfast such as:
Protein-rich foods promote satiety (fullness) and steady blood glucose levels. Stable blood glucose levels = more stable mood. If you have little appetite first thing in the morning, take some hard boiled eggs or dinner leftovers to work with you, or keep some good quality organic muesli and nuts and seeds at your desk. Aim to eat by 9:30am at the latest, even if it's just one hard boiled egg or a few mouthfuls of nutty muesli or leftover dinner. Reducing or taking a break from caffeine and alcohol (depleting substances) Alcohol is a depressant and depletes B vitamins, which are vital for the structure and function of the nervous system and thus mental health. Every alcoholic drink is basically robbing your brain - which is a hungry organ - of nourishment. Like alcohol, caffeine also robs our brain of nutrients. It depletes B vitamins and depletes the mineral magnesium, which is needed for calm mood, relaxation, muscle relaxation and sleep. Furthermore, without adequate B vitamins (which both caffeine and alcohol deplete), the body cannot make the soothing neurotransmitter, GABA. Reduced GABA has been linked to sleep problems, anxiety, addiction and panic attacks. Additionally, caffeine and alcohol stimulate production of the stress hormone cortisol and keep us in the stress response, know as fight-or-flight. Being repeatedly pushed into the stress response via hormonal effects triggered by alcohol and caffeine consumption can worsen depression (and anxiety). Prolonged, elevated cortisol levels are associated with many adverse effects on mental and physical health, such as depression, exhaustion, sleeping problems, digestive problems, feelings of burnout and lowered immune function. Consider taking a break from alcohol and caffeinated drinks (all types of coffee, black tea, colas and energy drinks) for four to six weeks to see how you feel. Supporting sound sleep
Which two tools from this article might you get started on this week, to support yourself through depression? Click here to read part two in this series, which focuses on Taking care of your emotional health. Warmly, Francesca Are you suffering with depression and looking for help from a health professional who understands? Click here to contact me for a chat and to book your consultation.  Are you a chocoholic? I am.....I loooooove salted dark chocolate, gluten free brownies and buttery chocolate chip cookies. I recently decided it's time I began eating less refined sugar, for the good of my gut microbiome. This is because sugar feeds and multiplies harmful microbes in the gut, and a gut microbiome full of friendly bacteria is what we want, because it's vital to so many aspects of mental and physical health. I know I'll still crave a chocolatey treat and the inspiration for these truffles came to this week. They are chocolatey but not too sweet, with hints of berry and spice provided by cinnamon and blackstrap molasses. The cacao nibs add delightful crunch and the coconut oil offers satiating, cell-nourishing fat. These truffles will keep in your handbag or desk drawer for two or three days and in the fridge for a week. Makes about 10 truffles, prep time 10 mins GF, DF, refined sugar free 3/4 cup of ground almond meal/almond flour 1/3 cup of cacao nibs Generous handful of dried cranberries 3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil 2 tablespoons of cocoa 2 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses Teaspoon of cinnamon Desiccated coconut for rolling (can also be used to dry out the mixture if it's too wet) -Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix until sufficiently combined. -Grab a clean dinner plate and sprinkle this with the desiccated coconut. -Shape the mixture into truffles using your hands, then roll each truffle in the coconut. -Once all the mix has been used, cover the truffles and place them in the fridge - but not before grabbing a couple to enjoy with a cup of caffeine-free chai or rooibos tea.  Are you affected by stress, OCD, anxiety, depression or burnout?
I invite you to discover my recipe e-book, Nourish Your Nerves. Nourish Your Nerves offers delicious, simple-to-prepare recipes from breakfast to dessert. Recipes are packed with B6, B12, zinc, iron, protein, fibre and healthy fats - to feed and nourish your nervous system and support your mental health. |
