[TheJettSet27]

When I drop into a depressive episode during the school year, I tend to have trouble focusing. plus, I don't feel happy and I can barely think and speak clearly. I am seeing a counselor but no mediation.
Does anybody have any good tips for depression during the school year? I don't want to start the year with poor grades.

[HealingNSuffering]

Tips: Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercise vigorously 4 times a week for at least 20 minutes, stay away from alcohol, drugs, processed sugar, caffeine and intimate relationships. Start doing things you don't want to do, because they are good for you and release feel good chemicals into your brain. If all that fails, you are definitely going to want to talk to a psychiatrist about getting on some antidepressants. Once and if you get on antidepressants you should still follow the tips listed above as a safeguard against the pills not working, plus many of them tend to cause weight gain and the diet and exercise will save you from that later. Hope this helps.

[gnat]

Yes, force yourself to do things that you used to enjoy. That's what I do, although I'm a bit of a hypocrite as I don't do it as much as I should. I'd much rather take a sleeping pill and crawl into bed. I know it's counterproductive, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

When I was in college I would get incredibly depressed. I mad myself go to a free aerobics class 5 days a week of which helped. I also found a workout buddy, someone who would drag my sorry bum out of bed and force me to go to aerobics. I hated it, but always felt better afterwards.

[catsrhelm]

For me, getting medicated right helped more than anything.

[TheJettSet27]

My depression isn't eligible for medication.
I will keep all of this in mind.
Exercise always makes me feel better. I'm a bit too young for alcohol and I don't do drugs, so I have that going for me.
Thanks everyone!

[Perna]

Make a good list of things you do enjoy, things that make you feel better, a kind of notebook of ideas to try? "Exercise" is good but make a plan too, so you can try "go to the pool and swim laps" or something and know how to put it in place. If I were to say to myself right now, "Oh, I'm feeling a bit down, I'd better go exercise" I would probably end up doing nothing :-) Or, if I had to find more fruits and vegetables from my dorm, that might prove difficult if I did not have an emergency stash of cash for the grocery store or a restaurant (I taught myself to eat liver when I was in college; got all those good B vitamins :-) and a plan of what friends would go down to town with me, etc. I probably would not go do that either.

How about friends to study with? That always helped me when I was feeling more depressed than usual. Being around people helped me keep moving on in a more even keel than trying to generate the energy all myself to study.

[Hintkin]

Originally Posted by TheJettSet27

When I drop into a depressive episode during the school year, I tend to have trouble focusing. plus, I don't feel happy and I can barely think and speak clearly. I am seeing a counselor but no mediation.
Does anybody have any good tips for depression during the school year? I don't want to start the year with poor grades.

Hi I know that feeling. Through experience, what I did I don't force myself to study when I don't feel like it. I do something that would help me release stress for a while. After that, I would go back to my studying. One thing you can do to encourage yourself is to join a study group. You can also host one with your friends or some classmates who wants to study also. Discuss with them. Hope this helps.