3 Mindsets That Can Beat Depression

Beatingdepression is much more about changing mindsets than changing behaviors. By changing your mindset first, all kinds of behaviors in your life will naturally change.

Here are three different mindsets you can try on to help defeat depression.

The People Mindset

How happy you are in large part depends on the people who surround you.

Are you surrounded by people who're supportive or criticizing? Do you feel loved and accepted by your social circle? Do you feel respected, or do you feel looked down upon?

Studies show that social relationships have more to do with happiness than money, health or any other factor.

If you want to overcome depression, a great place to start is your social circle. If you don't have supportive friends or family, start by changing up how you spend time. Go to different events and hang out in different places to meet new people.

The Chemical Imbalance Mindset

What's great about the chemical mindset is that it takes the blame away from you. Instead of thinking "there's something wrong with me," the mindset turns into "my brain has a chemical imbalance; it happens to a lot of people."

And in reality, that's very often the case. Depression is often caused not by external factors, but by chemical imbalances in the brain. This is especially common during the teenage years.

There are two solutions in this framework: Medication, or just wait it out.

For mild depression, working on improving your lifestyle may be a better solution than taking medication. Anti-depression and SSRI medications have both psychological and physical side effects.

For serious depression however, taking medications is often the only real way to get through life in a bearable way. If that's the case, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it's just a chemical imbalance - It doesn't say anything about who you are.

The Life Building Perspective

Finally, a very useful perspective is the life building perspective.

Instead of treating depression as a chemical imbalance, you can just treat it as a lack of life excitement. Instead of taking the medication route, you can try to improve your life as much as possible instead.

Start by taking on a hobby or two. New hobbies allow you to grow and have fun, while also meeting new people.

Try improving your health. Many studies have shown that even a small amount of exercise can result in a vast improvement in mental and emotional health.

Come up with a few life goals you'd like to tackle. Make it a point to try and achieve one goal you'd feel proud of every single month.

Make building an exciting and inspiring life an active project rather than a passive one. Just the act of taking control of your life can help give you a sense of empowerment and joy.

These are three different mindsets you can take on to help defeat depression. Depression is usually both a mental condition and a physiological condition. Some of these mindsets work better for mild depression, while others work better for heavy, chemical-imbalance types of depression.