Depression, often misunderstood and shrouded in stigma, is a common yet serious mood disorder that affects countless individuals globally. It's more than just a bout of the blues; it's a complex mental health condition characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest, and a multitude of physical and emotional problems. The bustling life of the 21st century, with its myriad of challenges, only adds to its prevalence, making it a critical issue that demands attention.

In the face of depression, mental resilience emerges as a beacon of hope. This resilience is not an innate trait but a skill that can be cultivated and strengthened over time. It involves the ability to bounce back from adversity, adapt to challenges, and maintain mental equilibrium. Building this resilience is critical to not only overcoming depression but also to thriving in spite of it.

"Tools for Triumph: Overcoming Depression & Building Mental Resilience" aims to be a comprehensive guide for those struggling with depression and for anyone looking to fortify their mental health. This blog will delve into the intricacies of depression, explore various tools and strategies to combat it and provide guidance on nurturing mental resilience. From understanding the roots of depression to embracing practices that foster a resilient mindset, this blog is dedicated to empowering individuals with knowledge and practical tips to navigate their journey toward healing and mental well-being.

Join us as we embark on this journey of understanding, overcoming, and, ultimately, triumphing over depression. Through this exploration, we hope to inspire and equip you with the means to survive the mental health challenges and thrive amidst them.

Understanding Depression

Our first stop on the journey toward resilience is understanding the nature of depression and what causes people to experience depression. As the American Psychiatric Association notes, “Depression can affect anyone—even a person who appears to live in relatively ideal circumstances.” That means even New Yorkers who appear to be thriving externally are not immune from depression. Achieving certain professional status, earning a high salary, securing a romantic relationship, or any of the other metrics often used in New York City to measure success do not preclude individuals from experiencing depression. Therefore, it behooves us to maintain awareness of the risk factors that may trigger this mental health condition.

From a biological perspective, changes to the levels of certain chemicals within the brain can cause different types of depression. For example, in the case of people who have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), studies show reduced levels of the brain chemical serotonin that regulates mood. This is likely due to the seasonal decline in access to sunlight, and we know that light molecules from the sun help maintain normal levels of serotonin in the body.

Genetic factors may also increase an individual’s risk for depression. However, data on the potential of inherited depression is challenging to confirm. Much of the research has been gleaned from studying twins, and we cannot discount that shared environmental conditions also largely contribute to how we see depression move within a family system. In general, people who are regularly exposed to high-stress environments—where violence, abuse, neglect, or poverty are present—may be more vulnerable to experiencing clinical depression.

Psychological factors also influence the risk of depression and your mental well-being, such as personality type and the ability to process difficult circumstances with optimism. For example, people who tend to catastrophize or think the worst about situations may be more triggered during life’s challenging moments to have a depression disorder.

Depression can leave a lasting negative impact on one’s life, impairing an individual’s capacity to flourish in relationships, work, or personal growth. Relationships become disrupted as depression can cause an individual to withdraw, emotionally or physically, from others. Work performance declines as the symptoms of depression, like fatigue, insomnia, or an inability to concentrate, interrupt productivity. Mood changes that can accompany depression (and bring with them hopelessness, sadness, or apathy) may inhibit an individual’s desire to pursue actions that lead to personal growth and development.

At Healthy Minds NYC, we are committed to helping clients live, work, and play better. Depression and chronic stress are at odds with that goal, and therefore, our team of psychiatrists and other healthcare providers are available to help New Yorkers who want to beat depression. If you are concerned that you or someone you love may be experiencing a depressive disorder, the best next step is to connect with a mental health professional to help you come to a diagnosis.

There are many types of clinical depression, such as the aforementioned seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, or persistent depressive disorder. A mental health therapist can help make an accurate diagnosis of the type of depression that is occurring and craft a treatment plan to lead back to health.

Some common symptoms of depression are as follows:

Mood: Feelings of sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, guilt, anger, or loss of interest or pleasure in activities previously found enjoyable
Behavioral: agitation or irritability, social isolation, or excessive crying
Sleep: insomnia, fatigue, or sleeping too much
Physical: loss of appetite or increased cravings, weight loss or weight gain not otherwise due to another medical condition, recurring physical problems like back pain or headaches no otherwise due to a medical condition
Cognitive: slowed or impaired thinking, difficulty concentrating, rumination, or frequent thoughts of suicide or death.

Tools for Overcoming Depression

If the depression symptoms listed above are familiar to you or someone you love, be encouraged that there are tools for overcoming depression. Behavioral health interventions like psychotherapy and medication management can help. For example, at Healthy Minds NYC, many of our clients who experience depression have made significant improvements in their well-being, like enhancing their self-esteem by engaging in weekly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The goal of CBT is to recognize and correct cognitive distortions, and it’s pretty effective in treating a wide range of mental health problems. The Child Mind Institute defines cognitive distortions as “repeated patterns of unrealistic negative thinking, ” such as overgeneralization, emotional reasoning, or mind reading.

Whether it's a case of mild depression or severe depression, seeking professional help quickly is the best course of action to begin receiving health care targeted to your specific circumstances. A clinician can also consider whether co-occurring disorders may influence the wellness plan.

Beyond seeing a professional for depression treatment, some self-help strategies can also be employed. Behavioral activation, such as integrating mindfulness techniques, increasing exercise, or changing to a healthier diet, can all contribute to the alleviation of some depression symptoms.

Leaning on a social support system is also a great way to overcome depression. People who are connected to a supportive social network of family and friends have lower rates of anxiety and depression. Maintaining or building safe relationships in a place like New York that can be transitory and competitive can be challenging. However, the benefits of intimate relationships far outweigh the risks. Consider some of the following ways to connect.

How to maintain healthy relationships in New York City:

Express gratitude for the people in your life so they know how much they mean to you.
Stay in touch with your social circle through regular phone calls, texts, or emails.
Reciprocate offers for help by giving and receiving assistance in times of need.
Celebrate the joyful moments in the lives of people you know to develop balanced and mutually encouraging relationships.
Respect your boundaries and honor others’ limits for socializing.

How to build new relationships in New York City:

Initiate contact with your neighbors in your apartment building or invite co-workers to coffee or a meal so you can deepen connections to people you’re already living or working in proximity to now.
Volunteer for local organizations, like the New York Rescue Mission, to find communities of generous and others-centered people who care about issues in the city the way you do.
Join a gym, take a regular fitness class, or start playing sports to meet other people invested in their physical health.
Start or participate in a book club to connect with new people around ideas through meaningful conversation.
Consider connecting to a church or faith community to find others who may be spiritually aligned with you.
Use social media sites or online resources to join virtual communities of people who share your interests, hobbies, or seasons of life.

Building Mental Resilience

At the core of most strategies to overcome depression is building mental resilience. Adverse circumstances cannot always be changed, and stress is unavoidable. However, it’s possible to have mental strength and resilience amid stress. Mental toughness looks like developing practical coping skills to manage stress and negative emotions.

Everyone can increase mental strength by becoming an expert at noticing the early signs of stress in your body, such as muscle tension, headaches, a clenched jaw, or a nervous belly. Once you have tuned into your bodily sensations of stress, develop mental toughness by countering those immediate responses to stress with interventions like deep breathing, meditation, stepping away for a walk, or processing thoughts and emotions in a journal to build emotional resilience.

When wired for resilience, the mind is a powerful tool to beat depression. Individuals develop more mental strength and resilience and learn to cultivate a positive mindset. This kind of mental toughness means choosing to see problems through a new lens continually. Experts call this practice “reframing.” The National Institute of Health emphasizes that reframing is a mental strength skill to boost resilience that can be practiced and improved over time.

Maintaining a long-term view of wellness is essential as mental strength and resilience are built through the years. Change in one’s mental health doesn’t necessarily happen overnight. Small, consistent, and incremental change is the goal when it comes to building resilience and overcoming depression.

Start with small habits that can lead to significant mental strength and prevent relapse. Adopt a resilience-building self-care routine that is manageable for you. In her book Life Starts Now, our Co-Founder Chanel Dokun introduces a daily journaling practice called Reclaim the Morning that she points to as a powerful self-care routine to re-center daily. Reclaiming the morning empowers individuals to increase their mental strength by amplifying their inner voice to honor their needs and desires. Find your forms of self-care to grow mental strength, or discuss potential options that work best with your lifestyle when you next meet with your therapist.

If you need help connecting to a therapist or want to learn more about depression, schedule a free consultation with our Care Coordinator today.

Tools for Triumph: Overcoming Depression & Building Mental Resilience