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Look after your physical health

Experiencing depression can make it hard to find the energy to look after yourself. But taking steps to look after your physical health can make a difference to how you feel:

• Try to get good sleep. For many of us who experience depression, we might struggle to fall asleep. Or we may find that we sleep too much. But getting good sleep can help to improve our mood and increase our energy levels. You may find it helpful to aim to wake up and go to bed at the same time each day.
• Think about your diet.
• Try to do some physical activity. Many of us may find exercise difficult. But even lower intensity activities can help our mood. For example, doing yoga, swimming or walking. If you don’t feel confident doing exercise, you could start off with smaller activities and build from there. It may help to begin with gentle stretches or chair-based exercises. See our pages on physical activity and your mental health for more ideas.
• Try to avoid recreational drugs and alcohol. You might feel like using recreational drugs or alcohol to cope with difficult feelings about yourself. But in the long run, these might make you feel worse. And they could prevent you from dealing with underlying problems.

Information taken from mind.org.uk