Things You Should and Should Not Do When You Have Depression

As someone who has survived depression, I thought I'd write this post to help other people silently suffering from this affliction. Today I'm going to talk about things you should and should not do when you have depression.

Let's start with things you should NOT do.

1. Do NOT think you're a burden - When you're in your own head all the time you constantly wonder what other people think of you. Truth is people are so bothered about themselves that they have no time to think about you. In fact, they can't even form an opinion of you without your help. People mirror your opinion of what you think of yourself so be careful what you think about yourself. If you think you're stupid and clumsy, guess what others will think? That's right. They'll think you're stupid and clumsy as well.
2. Do NOT isolate yourself - Doing this encourages negative thoughts, which is the last thing you need right now. And you will be thinking a lot of negative thoughts in such a state of mind because you feel gloomy. Speak to someone who you know will listen to what you have to say without judgement.
3. Do NOT think that you don't have it as bad as other people and avoid comparing emotions. Someone will always be better off or worse off than you. You never know what's going on behind the scenes. Don't judge people by their highlight reels. And definitely ignore people who say that others have it way worse than you, be grateful, etc.
4. Do NOT let others project their insecurities on you - By allowing this you are allowing attacks on your already plunging self-image and self-esteem. You can prevent this by being protective of your own energies and focus.

Now let's talk about things you SHOULD do:

1. Seek professional help - This will help build better self confidence in yourself, build a positive outlook on life and help you understand the root cause of your depression. 
2. Give in to your need for connection - get in touch with old friends. Call or message - either works. Then depending on your availability you can even decide to meet. 
3. Create a ritual that grounds you - for instance, getting together with friends to just talk on a Friday night every week or every month. Never underestimate the power of a ritual.
4. Think at least one positive thought a day - Check out the 1000 awesome things blog. Each post gives you a dose of positivity. 
5. Plant a seed of hope in your mind - I know it's tough to look at the bright side at the moment but you can look towards others to remind you of the beautiful things in the world. Gratitude podcasts such as Happiness Spells, which you'll even find on twitter, are of major help. You can write each point of gratitude mentioned in the podcast in a gratitude journal until you feel you can come up with your own points. Another thing you can do is fill a clean empty jar with chits on which you write what you're grateful for each day of the year and pull one out every time you're feeling down. I saw this idea on Pinterest and seeing it's popularity I'm sure it works.

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10 Ways to Remember Your Dreams (And 4 Ways to Interpret Them)

According to Sigmund Freud, dreams provide clues about how the unconscious mind works. I am one of those people who is very interested in how the mind works and almost always remember their dreams. One of my most vivid dreams was seeing a triceratops coming towards me and the closer it got the better I could see that it was made of sand. On looking up the meaning of this dream I discovered that I was letting outdated attitudes control my life and this needed to change.

From a little survey within my own friends' circle I've come to find out that not everybody can recall their dreams. So I put together a bunch of tips using which you can not only recall your dreams, but also interpret them to an extent.

Ways to Remember Your Dreams

1. Meditate to improve dream recall.
2. Stay away from stimulating drinks before sleeping.
3. Before sleeping tell yourself that you want to remember your dream.
4. Keep a book nearby so that you can scribble your dream as soon as you wake up.
5. When you wake up, lie still and remember your dream before you proceed to write it down.
6. Get enough sleep. You need to get into rapid eye movement (REM) stage to be able to dream. A REM cycle takes place once every 90 minutes of your sleep.
7. According to experts, you tend to forget about 90% of your dream on waking up. This is because the frontal lobes, that play a key role in the formation of memories, are inactive during REM sleep. Keep thinking about the dream to remember it and look it up later.
8. Try to wake up naturally without a distracting alarm which will make you forget your dream.
9. Make sure you are not disturbed in any way during your sleep, be it people waking you up or environmental disturbances such as an AC set too low or too high. However, note that if you're purposely woken up during REM sleep you are more likely to recall your dreams.
10. If you've tried everything and still can't remember your dream you likely have a condition called 'aphantasia' - the inability to visualize things.

Ways to Interpret Your Dreams

1. Recall how you felt in the dream. Did you feel at peace, were you scared? Anxious? If you felt any negativity, the dream meaning is most likely to be negative. E.g. You dreamed that you were drowning and you felt panicked and scared. This means that you have a fear of being overwhelmed by difficult emotions. (By the way, negative emotions in dreams are common.)
2. Revisit your dream later in the day. You'll be surprised at the insights you get when your mind is at its most energetic.
3. There are quite a few interpretations online. Pick the one that feels like it hits home.
4. Sometimes your dreams are literal. If you dream of traveling you may actually be living that truth or maybe you're looking forward to visiting some place soon.

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