Develop These 3 Skills To Prevent Depression

Much has been said about depression and its manifestations. Also how to deal with your symptoms. However, I do n’t think  enough emphasis has been put on something that is crucial: depression is preventable. But to achieve this you need to develop some skills.

It is no secret to anyone that depression is on the rise throughout the world. There are hundreds of studies that certify it. In fact, it has even become a state that many speak of as perfectly normal. They say “I woke up depressed” and that’s it. As if it wasn’t something that didn’t deserve attention.

Although much insisted on it, the difference between sadness and depression is still not clear to many. The latter is not a normal condition, but a sustained state over time that requires specific measures to eradicate it. Sadness is an emotion, depression a disease. And as in any disease, if measures are taken in time, it is possible to prevent its appearance.

Recognize your own emotions to prevent depression

People often describe their emotions inaccurately. This is not a problem of language, but of thought. Many times not enough effort is made to capture and define what you really feel.

The truth is that baptizing and delimiting emotions is not easy at all. It is only achieved with continued effort. It helps if you try to describe each emotion in writing to pin down its nature. Are you angry or frustrated? Are you happy, or rather euphoric?… Sometimes the differences are subtle, but relevant.

If you learn to recognize your own emotions, you will have taken a giant step towards preventing depression. Such recognition helps to put the mind in order. As a result, problems are better understood and ways to solve them are easier to visualize.

Increase empathy

A key factor in preventing depression is developing empathy. It is a skill that allows you to understand the feelings of the other and put yourself in their place. It helps you understand reality from the point of view of someone different: in different circumstances, with different interests and under the influence of different thoughts.

Why does empathy help prevent depression? Without realizing it, the exercise of understanding the other increases the understanding you have about yourself. It also allows you to get out of your mental islands and see the world from another perspective. And, of course, it facilitates your relationship with others.

Empathic people are always less lonely and more flexible. This means that they are also more tolerant and, therefore, less conflictive. A person with well-developed empathy hardly falls into the clutches of depression.

Learn to communicate assertively

The way you communicate with the world determines the way you relate to the world. There is no other way to know what a person thinks or feels, but through the way he communicates it. It can be with a gesture, with words, even with silences. Also through its artistic manifestations. Ultimately, the human being is always communicating.

What you communicate, even if you don’t want to, depends on the quality of the links you establish. If you keep silent, having to say something, what follows is not understanding, but confusion. If you say what you have to say, but you do it without regard to the forms, what follows is not the understanding of your message, but a reaction to your rawness or aggressiveness.

Assertive communication has to do with being able to express what you feel and think in a way that can be truly understood by others. Achieving this requires constant training. Also, you don’t always own what others understand. Still, your thing is to say it clearly, calmly and timely. This way you will have a better chance of being understood.

Recognition of emotions, empathy and assertive communication are intimately linked to each other. These three skills are instrumental in preventing depression. They do not arise spontaneously, but are skills that must be cultivated. Surely it is not easy to do it, but it is well worth it because all this is going to be reflected in greater mental health and better quality of life.