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Who are you? No, I am not asking about your name, age, occupation or other obvious facts. I am asking about the secret ‘My self-esteem sticker book’ you started a long time ago (or, to be precise, it was started for you).

It might reside in the ‘attic’ of your brain and rarely come out or it might be so ‘cherished’ that you turn to its favourite pages quite often and are even show it to others.

New month… New season... New suggestions to try to alleviate depression.

You might think: ‘What’s the point! How can these simple and ordinary actions possibly help me to escape the dark and thick cloud of depression?’

Each of these ideas individually is unlikely to cure your depression. However, they are capable to give you the momentum to try something else, reminding you each and every time that life should and can be vibrant, exciting, rewarding and very enjoyable.

You have been depressed for so long that you are sick and tired of being depressed. You want your life back! You desire to feel happy, confident, successful, valued, connected, interested and interesting. ‘If only I can break the cycle of this depression and set myself free to LIVE the rest of my life!’

The truth is: it’s hard to break free from depression. It’s almost impossible to talk yourself out of it (Would be nice to hear from people who succeeded this way!) It’s also unlikely that a person, who has been crippled by depression, would find strength, discipline and motivation to do and act differently from one particular moment forward.

In my previous post, I promised to illustrate the importance of planning your day. So, here it is:

Let me introduce a fictional character called Maggie. She is suffering with depression. She is in her mid-thirties, married to James and has an 8 years-old son Dillon. Maggie is a housewife, as she does not feel she is fit to go back to work since having her first episode of depression 6 years ago. She still drives and sees her old school friend Sally on occasion.

Take 1
Maggie’s alarm clock rings at 7:30am. She remembers the first item on her 'To Do' list:

While it is common to blame inability to plan on depression, I would like you to consider the possible costs of not planning your day in advance:

1. You may believe there are no reasons to get out of bed and follow your morning routine.
2. You may see no point and/or feel no urgency in doing anything during the day.
3. You may engage yourself in negative self-talk and feeling sorry for yourself as soon as you are awake, as your mind is free of tasks, responsibilities and any excitement.

Gwyneth Lewis in her book ‘Sunbathing in the rain’, which describes her experience of depression, writes ”Depression itself can’t harm you, only what you do about it can”.

Way too often we choose behaviours to harm ourselves when we feel depressed. Here are a few examples how you might be hurting yourself:

May is here! What can we do differently this month to alleviate our depression and start enjoying life again? Small changes followed consistently go a long way.

Here is my list of suggestions to implement in May:

1. Eat outside (alfresco) whenever weather is permitting. Eat by the open window, if it’s raining or windy.

We all make mistakes throughout our lives. It’s normal. It’s human. If you try to avoid making mistakes, you will run into all kinds of trouble, ranging from indecisiveness and stagnation to severe depression.

Allowing yourself to live fully would inevitably lead to a few mistakes being made by you and that’s ok. Learn from your mistakes and cherish this knowledge. It is yours to help you recognise the same mistakes in advance and to make the right choices in the future.

Six weeks ago, I started my decluttering experiment. Although I made some progress, the results that excite me most lay not in the renewed order of my personal environment but the knowledge I gained during these past weeks.

Allow me to share this knowledge with you, as some of my insights may be of value to your life too.

Lesson #1: Knowing what and how to do is not enough. Nothing gets done without taking action.

Judging by the comments left on depression forums and blogs, many people would like to find food that can cure depression fast. Last weekend, I stumbled across a list of food that really lifted up my spirit, ignited my creativity and imagination, and reminded me that my future is full of excitement and joy.