EPISODE #149- Overcoming Depression: Navigating Challenges and Embracing Resilience

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hello and welcome to Win Over Depression. I am your host, tamara Trotter. I hope you are having a happy new year. Thus far, starting this new year of 2023, we've changed our format just a little bit. We will be having guest speakers on our show and we will also record a new episode every Friday. So today is the first Friday. It's our first episode that we are recording on this Friday in the new year, but actually our second podcast of the new year, so stay tuned. If you are someone who is a mental health advocate and you'd love to be a guest on Win Over Depression, please send an email to tct1867 at gmailcom. If you'd like to be a guest on our show, drop me a line.

Speaker 1: 1:06

I want to start out today with a mantra that I would like for you to consider reciting every single day of this new year. You can find it in the show notes. It will be listed there and you can write it down or copy and paste it from there, and it goes like this Depression has no power in my life. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I am my own person, capable of holding my own, and I do not need validation from anyone to determine my self-worth. I will begin today and this year making independent decisions based upon my needs. I will no longer place the needs of others before my own. I will stand up and fight for the convictions that I am not willing to compromise. I know that my depression in part stems from other people who I have given too much power over my life. Every day, I will begin to make decisions that reflect my beliefs and value system. I want to heal and therefore I will take on difficult tasks and make better choices for the right reasons, because I want to, and I will stay in the game of life, because giving up is never an option.

Speaker 1: 2:35

Today, we'll be talking about the worst part of depression and having a mental illness, but what we can do to feel better. The worst part of depression is not knowing, day to day, how you will be feeling. As we all know, time waits for no one, which means that a depressive episode can occur at the worst possible time, such as a busy week that requires your attention to details and your optimal performance, a time when you are required to engage with others and you're just not up to it. No matter what comes your way, it seems depression definitely changes the outcome. It is really a frustrating existence, dealing with a mental illness that requires your constant assessment, readjustment and wherewithal. Living with depression is like being in a race for survival every single day, knowing that the outcome has nothing to do with how much you prepared. The outcome is largely based on your ability to overcome the thoughts that permeate your mind and the feelings of sadness that exist deep in your soul. However, we have to figure out on our days when we are not at our best, we salvage the day and be able to move forward. The worst part of depression is the feeling you will never heal or live free from sadness. The worst part of depression is all of the time that is stolen from you. You tend to miss out on so much in life because you just are not up to it. You expend all of your energy trying to cope with the work day, and much of that consists of wearing a mask to hide how you're feeling. And once the day is over, much of your strength has been expended and you just want to lay down and prepare to cope for the next day.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Depression is a miserable existence that, in many cases, prevents sufferers from living up to their fullest potential. In addition to all of this, the depressed individual really becomes tired of always feeling sad and begins to wonder why they cannot seem to get better. They reflect back on the strategies they put in place and it really comes down to this. It requires so much effort and it causes sheer exhaustion. Most individuals who suffer from depression have a poor appetite, insomnia, a loss of concentration, an inability to stay on track and follow conversations and, at times, a poor memory. They forget as a result of being depressed. They forget as a result of being depressed, not due to age or any other assumption. Oftentimes they simply cannot focus. They are adversely affected by stigmas that portray depressed individuals as being weak, especially deep down inside, when they struggle, not being able to overcome their feelings of sadness on their own. Depression serves to weaken the ego of someone who is known to be independent, confident and self-motivated.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Depression is a disease that does not discriminate. Mental health sufferers come from all backgrounds and ethnicities, from all walks of life. Depression affects one in four women and one in 10 men. It is truly a debilitating disease that causes sufferers to contemplate taking their own life, and every year worldwide there are over 800,000 suicides, which translates into every 50 seconds someone in the world is committing suicide, and this is why it is imperative that we know what's going on with our loved ones, know what's going on with our loved ones, but the truth is you cannot be with someone 24 hours a day, so they have to be equipped with the ability to ward off the feelings that they have, the feelings of despair and wanting to take their life.

Speaker 1: 7:30

So I share with you the worst part of depression and it is a tough pill to swallow. But I want you to know that I wrote that excerpt approximately two and a half years ago and I have personally come so very far since then. So I am a testament to the fact that if you do the work, you can overcome many of the episodes that you experience of depression and you can feel better and you can thrive. So I know that you're asking well, how do I do that? Well, first of all, you must decide that, no matter how you feel, no matter how low life seems, that you will not give up, that you will go to bed and sleep it off, that you will do something with the feeling, call an accountability coach and talk through the situation.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Many people that commit suicide never knew that that next day would be better, and I understand, because if you've had so many down days then it'd be hard to think that the next day would be better. But you have to have hope and belief that you can and will get better. It is really a matter of you deciding once and for all that you're going to fight, because each and every day, I make a concerted effort to ignore any and do something about it, whether it's listening to some music, doing some chores Because when you get up and move around, your body feels better. You feel better. But if you just sit there and just wallow in despair, then your symptoms are going to rise up and overtake you, and that's when the sadness begins to set in. So is it hard work? Yes, is it hard to deal with almost every single day? Absolutely, but the more that you focus on feeling better, but the more that you focus on feeling better, the better off you will be.

Speaker 1: 10:14

Remember how I tell you how important it is to accomplish at least two goals every single day. The reason for that is it gives you something to focus on and therefore you're not focusing on being depressed and feeling down, and it's something that you achieve each and every day, and so you have to suppress the thoughts in your mind that are telling you not to get out of bed. No-transcript. You have to try it on for size, but you can't just do it once a month, you can't just do it once every two weeks. You have to decide I'm going to start doing it every single day and that's your homework for this episode what will you do to overcome the symptoms of depression?

Speaker 1: 11:20

So you have to know what your triggers are, know when a depression episode is coming on and you have to ward it off. You have to be proactive in your own personal quest to overcome your mental illness. No one can do it for you. You have to want it, you have to believe, you have to maintain hope and you're the one that has to decide that this year 2023, is going to be better for me. I never want to end my podcast without thanking you so very much for listening. 2023 is another year. It's another year of hope, another year to achieve and accomplish. So I invite you to become a patron to help this channel expand and explore new heights.

Speaker 1: 12:22

You can go to patreoncom that's p-a-t-r-e-o-ncom. Forward slash Tamara Trotter that's t-a-m-e-r-a-t-r-o-t-t-e-r. As little as $5 to $10 per month will help me reach more and more people as I vow to decrease the suicide rates in our country. You can find me on Pinterest and mental health expert. You can find me on Twitter, linkedin and you can also join my Facebook group, also called win over depression. Also join my Facebook group, also called Win Over Depression. You can also find me on Instagram and you can find me on Tumblr. My friend, stay in the game of life. Do what you can to ward off your feelings of depression, because progress is progress. Progress is progress If you have no thoughts of suicide or no depressive episodes for 10 or 15 minutes. That's progress, especially if you've been experiencing it every single moment of the day. So the small wins matter. The small wins make a huge difference and those small wins get bigger and bigger. I will see you next Friday for our next episode, and it will be episode number 53. See you then. Keep your head up, my friend.