Keeping on Track

It might be helpful to think of it as a maintenance programme – you need to keep a watch on your general mood and be ready for times when you start to feel low or stressed. This is true for everyone, because we all come up against difficult times in our lives and we all need to know how to respond and cope with stress.

Talk to your GP about whether to stop prescribed medication

If you have seen your GP and they have prescribed medication you must keep taking it for the recommended amount of time, even if you start to feel better before it ends. Your GP will have decided on the length of time depending on how depressed you were and whether you have had an episode of depression in the past. You can put yourself at more risk of your depression coming back if you just stop taking it. Read more about antidepressant medication in the Getting Help section.

Plan for down times

Having a plan is a really good idea. One of the hardest things when you are feeling low is being able to make decisions about what to do. There’s a medical reason for this - when you start to feel overly stressed or low your brain changes and the decision-making part of your brain stops working as well, and the "impulsive" part takes over. Knowing in advance what you need to do to help yourself can make it easier to take action before things get out of control. It might be that when you start feeling stressed you plan to take some “me time”.

There’s a free online course that can show you how to do this: visit www.livinglifetothefull.com. There’s lot of different modules but the one you will need to identify your early warning signs and make a step-by-step plan is called Planning for the Future.

If you think you are getting worse

If you think you are getting worse and are feeling depressed then go to your doctor.

Here’s a few other tips to help prevent depression coming back...

Figure out what your early warning signs are – such as having problems with your sleep, crying a lot and not really knowing why, feeling irritable, feeling more anxious, or not going out with your friends like you used to.

Knowing what your boundaries are and not pushing yourself too far beyond these limits – know how much overtime you can do before it start to take a toll on your health, being clear about how you expect to be treated in your relationships with other people or knowing how much money you have to spend each weekend and sticking to that budget.

Think of other possible risk factors that might cause low mood, like using drugs and drinking too much, having sex with strangers or having unprotected sex. Keep yourself safe.

Exercise! Keep active, exercise has been proven to prevent depression – those days when you really can’t be bothered getting out for a walk, bike ride, run or to the gym are often the most enjoyable in the end.

Don'tt bottle things up for too long. You don’t need to tell everyone how you are feeling, but having one or two people you trust who you can turn to when you need to can be really helpful. And they don’t need to counsel you – just ask them to do something with you, like going to the movies, meeting for a drink, going shopping, whatever it is that you will enjoy and help to reduce stress.

Brought to you by Depression Alliance Scotland.
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