11/19/2025
I rarely share these type of posts that I see on friends’ pages, but this one is one i can attest to as a therapist. Most of these come under the category of “appealing to your senses”. When your cerebral cortex has you looping through depressing or anxious thougjts, a proven technique to break the loop is to shift the part of your brain that is dominating by appealing to your senses. Listen, watch, touch, smell, and taste things that make you calmer. It works!
💜DEPRESSION TIPS:
Shower. Not a bath, a shower.
Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you gotta.
Moisturize everything.
Use whatever lotion you like.
Unscented? Dollar store lotion? Fancy 48 hour lotion that makes you smell like a field of wildflowers? Use whatever you want, and use it all over your entire dermis.
Put on clean, comfortable clothes.
Put on your favorite underwear.
Those ridiculous boxers you bought last year with jalapeños on the butt? Put them on.
Drink cold water.
Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.
Clean something.
Doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink.
BLAST MUSIC.
Listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing to it, DANCE 💃 to it, even if you suck at both.
Make food.
Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s ramen. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.
Make something.
Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create.
Go outside.
Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.
Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps.
Cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them.
Take pictures of them. Talk to them. Tell them how you feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out, anything.
May seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive.
*** At your absolute best you won’t be good enough for the wrong people. But at your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on.
