Battling against something visible to the eye is easy when being prepared for.

However, overcoming
something that the eye can not see is almost close to impossible. Or at least that’s what many people
thought. Mental disorders and illness have been a game changer for everyone and it has also affected
people in many aspects. All of us today, are vulnerable to mental illness, especially now that the pandemic
has caused bereavement, isolation and financial conflicts which are one of the risk factors of medical
illnesses such as depression. Coping to such sickness, have been difficult for everyone so I have chosen
this area of research as my topic to help the very individuals that have been struggling with this illness.
First and foremost, Depression is a common and serious medical illness that affects how you think, what
you feel, and how you act. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you
once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to
function at work and at home. However, it is indeed treatable. Coping to depression is clearly a hard task
but this won’t mean that it is impossible. It will only need a few steps to eventually overcome this but this
won’t be easy as everyone already knows the very nature of this sickness.
Depression drains your energy and hope which makes it more difficult to do the things a person him/her in
feeling better. It can make you unproductive, lazy and emotionally unresponsive to situations around you.
Although it is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. But, to affect
you in a certain way that it also affects other aspects of your wellbeing is kind of different. Sometimes, just
thinking about the things you should do to feel better, like exercising or spending time with friends, can
seem tiring or impossible to put into action.
However, even if the Depression, is severe and stubbornly consistent- the key is to start small and build
from there. The first steps may be the hardest but we should be reminded that when we start something be
it business or projects in school- we always start small. So, when you’re depressed, you’ll know It could be
a walk around the block or a calling of a loved one over the phone. In consistently trying to build up small
energy from doing these tasks, we can try to move forward, do more and lessen the feeling of depression.
There are a lot of things we can do as our starting point but the accessible step where we can start is to
reach out and stay connected. It is crucial for one to have an emotional support, and this is most likely
found from family and friends. Therefore, we can reach out to them about our situation and hope that the
feelings we build up from communicating will eventually help us carry the sadness off our shoulders.
Reaching out could be calling a family member over the phone, or attending to social activities with friends
and new people. Staying connected, on the other hand, could be having lunch or coffee with a friend.
Doing the things, we love can also help us in the state of depression. Although we may feel exhausted due
to the sadness, we can build up our past feelings about doing the things that we once are passionate about
and then start to put it into action. Through this, we will be able to regain back the energy from the feelings
that we felt in doing some certain activities. These activities can be dancing to your favorite K-pop song,
reading a book, painting on a canvas or even play games with your family.
To get a daily dose of sunlight, is also one of the things that can help us overcome the despair we are
feeling. Although this may be the very least-expected tip in coping with depression, sunlight can actually
help boost serotonin levels and improve your mood. Whenever possible, try to go outside and expose
yourself in the sun for 15 minutes, or you could take a walk on your lunch break, have your coffee outside
or spend some time gardening. you can also increase the amount of natural light in your home and
workplace by opening blinds and drapes and sitting near windows.
When you’re depressed, just getting out of bed can seem like a daunting task, let alone working out! But
exercise is a powerful depression fighter—and one of the most important tools in your recovery arsenal.
Research shows that regular exercise can be as effective as medication for relieving depression symptoms.
It also helps prevent relapse once you’re well. To get the most benefit, aim for at least 30 minutes of
exercise per day. This doesn’t have to be all at once—and it’s okay to start small. A 10-minute walk can
improve your mood for two hours.
As mentioned earlier, when you're depressed, you tend to withdraw and isolate yourself from interacting
with other people. when you fail to reach out in these times, you can spend this time to actually try
something. Trying something new can actually improve your mood. You could try a new hobby like painting,
reading a book, or maybe even try to practice calligraphies. When you try activities that actually interests
you, curiosity builds up and therefore we can seize this opportunity to convert curiosity into energy and
hope that this so little fire that has ignited us will eventually burn up until it lasts.
To conclude, Depression is a mental illness and therefore it’s not arguable that the weapons we need to
use to fight this sickness is also through in our head. Feeding our minds with healthy perspectives and
viewpoints can help us cope up even before we feel depressed, so by the time that depression has taken
over, at least, small positive thoughts still have room for you to think about. But by going through the steps
one at a time, we can eventually lift the heavy feeling that has consumed our thoughts and slowly step up
into the light, hoping we can go far from the shadows of depression.

Written by,
Mary Rose A, Enso,
March 18, 2022

Submitted to: Mr. Jonald R. Saladaga

Submitted by: Mary Rose A. Enso