Finding gifts for depressed people can be confusing, but with the holiday season in full swing, some of you may be looking for thoughtful ideas for presents to give to someone who has been diagnosed with depression. Perhaps you yourself have depression and are trying to figure out what types of gifts you'd like to receive this year. I decided it might be helpful for me to share some of my favorite present ideas with you so you can give gifts to depressed people that make a difference to them.

Knowing how to deal with a crisis is especially important when those of us diagnosed with depression are faced with one. It can be especially difficult to cope with both the crisis and our depression simultaneously. Yet, in spite of the difficulties, we can not only survive but even thrive while managing both a crisis and our depression. This can be done by practicing the effective coping skills discussed in this post for dealing with a crisis.

I'd like to discuss ways you can protect your mental health while we cope with depression because World Mental Health Day is Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Depression itself is stressful enough on our brains, but then certain outside factors exist that can make things worse. How can we avoid, or limit, these stress-inducing situations and people that can worsen our depression? I've discovered some strategies that protect your mental health and work for me, and I'd like to share them with you.

Should you share your suicidal thoughts? How will the choice to share affect your depression? Whether we face suicidal thoughts or have had one or more suicide attempts, the decision of whether or not to share these experiences affects us and how we deal with our depression. 

Is it really possible to build self-confidence when you have depression? Yes, it can be done. While the challenge is greater for those of us with depression, it truly is within our ability to build up confidence within ourselves. Now that we know building self-confidence is possible, let's find out how we can start working towards that goal today.

It's appropriate to focus on the importance of routine self-care in our depression recovery since International Self-Care Day was this past Tuesday, July 24. This kind of self-care includes daily tasks that are important for our health and hygiene, but we often find these seemingly basic activities overwhelming with depression. What are some of these routine tasks? Why are they an integral part of coping with depression and how can we find the motivation to complete these routine self-care tasks?

We should fight depression stigma now because May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the spotlight is on mental health and depression stigma. That means there is a greater opportunity to reach a wider audience about how we can work together to fight the stigma surrounding depression and other mental illnesses. With this in mind, how can we best use the time that we have during the month of May to fight depression stigma?

Managing stress and depression on a day-to-day basis can be overwhelming. Depression is stressful enough without considering the everyday life stress everyone experiences. So, how do we cope? How do we deal with both our depression and stress that life brings us?

Choosing exercise to help treat depression is a great idea. Not only does it release feel-good endorphins, it allows for social interaction as well as gives structure to our days. In this post, I share how to exercise to help treat depression as well as three things to consider when you exercise to help treat depression.

How can using mindfulness for depression help you recover? Well, mindfulness is about living in the now by taking notice of what’s around us and the feelings that are inside of us. It’s about being fully present and removing the extra layer of thought that we normally attach to people, things, and events. Using mindfulness for depression changed my life because my depressed brain was anything but peaceful.