Ways for women in their 30s & 40s to overcome depression

It is very common for women all over the world to experience a dip in their happiness during this time in their lives. There is hope however, there are strategies that you can use to change your thinking and brighten your outlook. These are the years that should be the prime of your life, not a down period. Yes it may be a little harder, we are often working and raising children and dealing with families, but we are also a little smarter and more aware of who we are. Life should have less drama because we are more sure of ourselves and do not let things that would have gotten us down in our younger years bother us. So let’s step up and start living these great years with all the happiness we should have.

Start with looking ahead to make you feel more upbeat. You know how you feel in the weeks leading up to a great vacation, you feel anxious, happy and are looking forward to the great time you are going to have. Well, you can also take this “looking forward to something” feeling and apply it to life goals. Instead of looking back on what you have not yet accomplished try looking ahead to something that you do want to accomplish. Create a set of long term goals to look forward to achieving. Think about it if you get up every day and you have nothing to look forward to, nothing you are working towards accomplishing, that is pretty depressing. I remember asking myself, what do I have to look forward to? Of course I had things like watching my children grow up and their next soccer game, but as much as we love our kids they cannot be our only focus, we have to do things that are going to make us look forward to the weekend (or next month or next year) just for ourselves. I’m not saying that we can go from doing nothing for ourselves to jumping off the deep end and doing something drastic. You can start with something small like having a girls night out once a month, or joining a gym or aerobics class, maybe even your community theater. As long as we can find something we enjoy doing that is just for ourselves. It is not selfish, it will make you happier and a happier mom and wife make for a whole happier family.

Another area we can work on is being overworked and over stressed. If you are a mom doing it all, especially if you are a single mom then you need to learn to ask for help. As much as you may not want to. I know we want to be super women and do it all on our own sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

Sometimes you get to a place where you just have to try something new. It may be big, it may be small but learn to open your mind and see what is out there. If you hate your job and it is making you miserable it may be time to start looking for something new even if the pay is good, the position is safe and secure, if it is making you miserable and depressed then in the long run the extra money and job security are not going to help when you finally give into to all of the feelings that are building up.

There are also some small things that you can add into your daily life as little “pick me uppers”. For example try giving yourself fifteen minutes extra under the covers every morning. Too little sleep is a common cause of depression. Just a little extra snoozing increases your level of feel-good serotonin. Catnaps are also great so if you have a chance to choose between a little chore or errand and a catnap try opting for the catnap as often as possible. Here is another tried and true one, do a little shopping! No you don’t have to go out and spend alot of money every time you get down and break the bank. Simply browse through your favorite store and get yourself some little something or go to a cheap dollar store, they have all kinds of neat little things and get yourself a couple little somethings!

The last little trick that I can come up with right now (there may be a sequel to this article as I am actively looking for ways every day to make myself a little happier) is to ask your significant other for a massage. You may be very surprised that they will probably be more than happy to do that for you. Now I know ladies what you are thinking…massage always leads to more. Well, I say good! It’s a proven fact that this is the sexual prime of our lives and great sex is definitely a great mood booster!

So get started on these cheering up tips, actually think about what you can do, and don’t just think “oh it would be nice to do this or that”. No! Think of some things and act on them!

Source: Yahoo! Voices