 Hey Psyched Goers, welcome back to another video. Thank you so much for all the love and support that you've given us. Our mission is to make mental health and psychology more accessible to everyone. Today, we've invited Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to share her insights on depression and some tips on how to cope with it. Her channel is Therapy in a Nutshell. You can check it out in the link in the description below. With that said, let's get started. History of depression in my family and myself. Just like physical health, you have to maintain it by taking care of your body with exercise and eating the right food and going to the doctor when you're injured or ill. With mental health, you also have to take daily action to be healthy. And when things are stressful, I have to take extra care to manage my mental health. So for example, when I was in grad school or when I'm pregnant or postpartum, and right now when we as a global community are fighting a pandemic, we all have to take a little extra care of our mental health. What I'm going to talk about today is more about maintaining mental health than it is about getting out of the deepest pit of depression. When you're deep in a depressive episode, it can be really hard to see any light. It feels like you're at the bottom of a pit and can't imagine what it feels like to be out of it. At that place, often all you can do is tiny steps and hopefully get some help to get out of there. So don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed by my routine. Just choose one little thing to start with and then take the next step when you can. Number one, morning routine. So the first thing I do every day is getting on my knees and praying. I express gratitude for the day and for my life and the opportunity I have to do good in the world. And that connection with God for me helps me feel loved and purposeful through my day. If you're not religious, you could do some meditation or a breathing exercise here. I try not to look at my phone first thing in the morning because I wanna start my day intentionally the way I want it to be. If I open social media, I'm letting others choose what I take in and that could be positive, negative, stressful, uplifting or critical. And so I just choose to start my day with some quiet time. I do a little reading and then I write out my goals and priorities for the day. And right now with all the news that's frightening, I choose to listen to the news around lunchtime once a day. So that I don't get constantly stressed out and have time to process it during my waking hours. And speaking of waking hours, let's talk about sleep for a minute. I have three kids five and under. So I usually wake up before them to get some quiet time to set my intention for the day. My natural wake up time is around 5 a.m. I don't usually set an alarm. But to wake up then, I often go to bed between nine to 10 p.m. I'm not fighting my natural bio rhythms. I just listen to my body and this is the schedule that works best for me personally. For many people, they might have different sleep needs or a different schedule. Sleep is super important to managing depression. There's a massive correlation between sleep problems and depression. Lack of sleep can cause depression and getting good sleep can actually let your brain heal from depression. So I really value my sleep. I have old friends who nicknamed me 905 because I often go to bed at that time and I miss out on some fun for sure. But it's what keeps me healthy. So it's worth it for me. For each person, your sleep needs are different but getting enough sleep can really make a big difference. One study found that 87% of people with depression who resolved their insomnia significantly decreased their depression symptoms. Number two, get dressed and showered. Okay, so after waking up refreshed and taking quiet time to pray, study and set my intentions for the day, and make sure to get showered and dressed. I found that this can be really hard when you're depressed but being clean and dressed helps me feel more energetic and gets rid of my excuses. I mean, if I have yesterday's makeup all over my face and I'm wearing PJs, it makes it hard for me to want to go out and see friends or be social or get things done. So just get dressed for the day. Then I take my multivitamins and if I remember, I take my Omega-3 supplements and nutrition is an important part of my routine as well. I try to eat a lot of plants and not too much sugar or processed foods but I'm not going to go into that too much right now. Number three, exercise. The other essential part of my mental health maintenance is exercise. There's so much research that proves that exercise is great for mental health. It helps clear brain fog and it helps reduce stress chemicals in your brain. I feel like when I exercise, it just works through a backlog of pent up emotions and I can feel my body relax. I think it also helps me deal with anger and frustration and I just like it. I know a lot of people exercise in the morning but for me, back when I worked full time, I used to always go climbing or for a hike or run after work. That's when I needed it the most and it was hard for me to get motivated in the morning but by afternoon, I was looking forward to it. Now that I'm a full time mom, I have to be more creative in how I get my exercise in. I often just work out in the yard, gardening, digging in the dirt and running around the yard with my wheelbarrow or I'll do some yoga on TV or go for a walk with my kids or pull them behind my bike. Now that we're stuck in our homes with the coronavirus pandemic, I'm doing more inside workouts. I like the seven minute workouts on my phone or the fitness martial on YouTube. Number four, nature time. This takes me back to another aspect of my mental health routine that is really important for me. Outside time, I need nature. I need to see the sky and soak in some sun. I'm fortunate to live in a beautiful place and I take advantage of that by getting outside. There is some research showing that sunshine and nature and being outside changes our physiology. It slows our heart rate and decreases stress chemicals and stuff. But regardless of the research, I can just feel the difference for me. If you can't get outside, open your windows, sit on your porch or if you can't do any of that, then you could spend some time looking at beautiful landscape photography or a nature film. Your brain has the ability to bring to mind the feelings of nature just by imagining it. Number five, my evening routine. My evening routine looks like getting my kids to bed and then taking some quiet time for myself. I usually take a hot bath and read a book or an archeology journal. I'm kind of nerdy, but that's what I like. Even though I have very few hours to work on my passion project, these videos, I don't usually work in the evenings because it would just stress me out a little and I need the downtime to stay healthy. So then before bed, I write in my journal. I often take the time to write about my wins and accomplishments of the day so that I can remember them because it's my natural habit to dwell on my mistakes and shortcomings. So I write about my wins and then I pray a prayer of gratitude and talk with my heavenly father about my day. Again, gratitude practice is an essential habit of mental health and it's been shown to be an effective treatment for depression. So you can pray about it like me, express gratitude as a family which we do at dinnertime or write about it, whatever works for you. And then I go to bed. I try not to spend too much time looking at screens before bed, but if I do, I choose some calming documentary or a mudlarking channel like Nicola White's. If you don't know what mudlarking is, it's just finding historical bits of treasures on themes in London. Anyways, I find it relaxing. I encourage people not to be on TV because it's just not super great for your brain, but if you do, choose a short and calming show. Lastly, other self-care. For me, that includes scheduling and some time for my hobby. I have tons of hobbies, but because I'm so busy with kids, I really don't have time to do most of them but I make sure to carve out about two hours a week to do at least one of them. Right now, that's metal detecting, which is something fun and relaxing for me. I put it on the calendar so that I make sure it happens. I also take the Sabbath off, no work, no housework. I don't check my work email. I let my brain completely focus on other things, mostly my family, which is also exhausting, but it's a day that is different from the others. And I make sure to have social time as well. Having social interactions is really essential for mental health. Our brains are inherently social. We are social creatures. So right now, this is going to be an extra challenge with the coronavirus. I'm taking the time to call up old friends. I have some groups I'm hanging out with on Zoom and when we're not on lockdown, I meet up with friends to let the kids play or to go out to lunch or whatever. So there you have it. My daily routine to maintain mental health. I have a careful morning routine. I make sure to get enough sleep. I get dressed every day. I exercise and get some outside time. I carve out time to relax each evening, practice gratitude and acknowledge my successes of the day. And once a week, I make sure to get out and do something just for me. Stress, anxiety and social isolation can all contribute to depression, but you can prevent depression during stressful times like the pandemic and social distancing by using daily habits that promote mental health. Depression is treatable and there are some simple things you can do every day to prevent depression and stay mentally healthy. I hope you can find some things from this list that help you figure out a way to maintain your mental health. Today, this week, and during the crazy pandemic that we're going through. And remember, you're braver than you know and stronger than you think. Thanks for watching and take care. If you enjoyed this video and would like to learn more about therapy, mental health and what you can do to improve depression, anxiety or other mental illness, check out Emma's channel, Therapy in a Nutshell. The link will be in the description.