Gayathri Ramprasad is the president and the founder of the ASHA International, which is a non-profit organization for the promotion of community, organizational and personal wellness. She revealed that she struggled with depression, panic attacks and anxiety for more than a decade in her life. She also said that like many people, she too was struggling to find a remedy to get out of her problems. She began to think that wellness is a distant dream when different medications, electroconvulsive therapy, psychotherapy and many other techniques seemed to be useless for her. Many victims of teen depression face similar situations.
As against curing her problem, the antidepressant medications worsened her condition and made her more depressed. She has attempted for suicide two times and those attempts were also failed. Then, she decided to take charge of her life and she started to thank the medications for making her sick, rather than curing her problem. She decided to begin to listen to her inner wisdom and she too stopped the medicines and decided to go in the holistic ways of health and wellness with the help of her psychiatrist. Here are some tips she has given to get out of your problem of teen depression:
Transcendental meditation
She decided to try out transcendental meditation for managing her depression and anxiety. When her American Teacher, Pat was teaching her this life-affirming practice, he was still with his eyes closed and steady breath with his serene face and relaxed body. But, when Gayathri tried to sit, her breath was erratic and her mind was not still in a place. Then, she learned how to control her wandering mind and with this practice, she has expressed that she was able to discover the retreat of restfulness, creativity and energy. Slowly, she became an observer of thoughts and emotions and with daily practice of meditation, you too can regulate your emotions and can live each and every moment in your life with mindfulness. This practice can get you out of your teen depression and will fill your life with eternal possibilities.
Exercise
Gayathri’s psychiatrist recommended her to exercise and she began to educate herself with the benefits of exercising in effective management of depression and promotion of overall well-being. Then, she enrolled in a health club and began to work out for three times a week. She also attended yoga and aerobic classes. Yoga can rejuvenate your mind, body as well as spirit and exercise can make you feel energized and can elevate your mood. With these practices, you can also create a network outside your family to relax yourself.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Dr. Lin, her therapist once taught Gayathri how human behavior, mood and feelings are interlaced and how to identify negative thoughts and replace them with positivity. She was also taught how to regulate breathing for effective management of anxiety. Even though, you might initially find it difficult to practice cognitive behavioral therapy, with regular practice, it will get easy for you.
So, the above-mentioned techniques can also work for you in effectively treating your teen depression.