1 obvi...take the meds
2 relax...not all the rules of society are real or even important....by this I mean you’re probably not going to get fired if you take a mental health day fro time to time....my T would ask is there anything you could have done differently knowing this would be the outcome.....suddenly a lot of walls dropped, things I felt incredibly pressed to do could have been done more slowly....we must have made 100 grant revisions there could’ve been 20 quality revisions with the same result.
3 nip depression in the bud, if you feel it coming at all you better do something before it’s too late. For me I pick three things I love with three different senses so paining while listening to music and enjoying a cup of cocoa for example. This tends to bring me back to neutral or even happy. If you wait this won’t work.
4 keep a self care box, if things have gone beyond the pick 3 technique pull out a few new items. It helps to keep gift cards for retail therapy but also some stuff you’ll enjoy immediately. Maintain the self care box regularly. I’ve had a variety of things, silky pjs, bath salt, Nutella, books, photos, a little note that says buy 10 new songs etc.
5 make sure I have someone monitoring me, whether professional or family.....I can’t spot everything