If you aren't happy, change it!

Last night I went to an Relief Society Meeting where we had Dr. Dave Adams come and talk to us about fighting stress, anxiety, and depression. I liked what he had to say and decided to share it on my blog in case someone out there who reads this wants to make a change.

Dr. Adams said that before he will prescribe meds for someone who feels like they have depression (or anytime someone talks to them about not feeling happy) he asks them to really work on these 6 things to see if they can make a difference. He said if you don't like the way your life is going or the way you are feeling than you can make the effort to change it.

1. Exercise: 30-40 mins a day of strenuous exercise (it should make you feel winded).
-he said that sometimes we will be on vacation somewhere like Hawaii and we see people on vacation out running and we say to ourselves that they must really love exercise, not everyone that exercises regularly loves it, many people do it consistently because they know that helps them feel better.

2. Church: studies show that active participation in any church or religion helps peoples mood.

3. Talk: don't socially isolate yourself, it helps to talk about things that are bothering you but it is even beneficial to talk about something as simple as the weather or as controversial as politics
- if you have trouble talking that is where Counselors come in, they are trained to draw people out of themselves

4. Keep your mind busy and your days productive: before you go to bed make a list of 5-10 things you want to accomplish the next day, even if it is supposed to be a relaxing day you can list things like read in a certain book or work on a certain hobby. Even if you only get a couple done you can recognize that you did get something done.

5. Mood follows your actions:
Common habits that contribute to depressed mood:
- staying up too late: too many people think they are night owls when they shouldn't be
- too much TV/video/texting/computer games: the more time you spend on these things the less you see your self and others as people not just things
- talking about others

Everyday you should be spending time in prayer, reading your scriptures, and serving others.

6. Mood follows your thoughts: try and keep a grateful heart, don't dwell on negative stuff, everyday can be good or bad depending on what you dwell on


A note about food: Dr. Adams said that his best advice concerning food and depression is to not overindulge. He said if you make brownies, telling yourself you will only have one, and then you do it helps your self esteem so much. If you overindulge you feel worse about yourself and it doesn't help you be healthy.

A note about light: Don't go home and sit in a dark room or a dark house, let the sun light in and enjoy the world around you.

If you don't like how you feel- change it, don't wait for something to make it better!