Trials give us strength, sadness gives understanding andwisdom. (Solomon) Depression has become an unchangeable companion of modern humanity. It implies sadness, pessimism, fixation on personal problems and a feeling of acute self-pity, pain and hopelessness. Falling into depression, a person loses interest in any kind of activity and in contact with other people. He becomes apathetic and socially isolated. Chronic fatigue, excessive sleep or insomnia suffer a depressed person. Other possible symptoms include decreased appetite, loss, or rapid weight gain; a feeling of inferiority, of the meaninglessness of his life, of the thought of death or of suicide is dominated by man. And here it is very important to know how to overcome depression and return to normal life, because the consequences of such a state can be very serious. Four out of five cases of severe depression are due to the efforts of the person himself, who consciously struggles to return to normal life, and only one case out of five requires serious treatment. So you can quite cope with your state yourself, you just need to. The main thing is to know what needs to be done and understand what is happening to you in general. 
Why there is depression
People often fall into depression because of problems inrelationships with loved ones. So, one of the scientific studies showed that an unhappy marriage increases the risk of depression by twenty-five times compared to strong family ties. Severe depression can also be caused by personal loss - divorce, loss of employment, loss of health due to an accident or as a result of aging, death of a loved one and much more. Many cardinal changes in life can also lead to stress and depression. It can be a change of residence, admission to an educational institution or marriage and moving to a husband from his home. Even the birth of a child, no matter how much you want to have it, can cause a so-called postpartum depression because of the acute awareness of the loss of one's freedom. When children grow up and leave their parents, the latter also causes great suffering. Depression is often caused by personal problems. Chronic use of alcohol or drugs causes mood swings, which eventually end with depression. The use of alcohol and other means to "improve" the mood is especially risky, because addictive substances often increase already existing depression. Even some medications prescribed by a doctor with uncontrolled admission can lead to severe depression. These can be tranquilizers or sleeping pills, many of the drugs that regulate blood pressure, hormonal drugs, such as oral contraceptives, some anti-inflammatory or antibacterial drugs and so on. Sometimes it is enough to replace a medicine to get rid of depression. In other cases, you have to work on yourself. 
Ways to overcome depression
There are many effective ways to overcomedepression. Fortunately, we can control our thoughts and feelings much more efficiently than most of you may think. If you make enough effort, then you can completely change your usual thoughts and feelings. And if you are thinking about how to overcome depression, as soon as you feel the first symptoms of this unpleasant condition, then it will be much easier to cope with it. And most importantly, what you need to do is to train yourself to active rest and reconsider your vital interests. Working out of interests Perhaps, one of the most widespread reasons of depression is absence of sufficient quantity of interests at the person. Too many people live a boring, routine life. The presence of interests and an active life position are very important for psychological health, as they promote self-esteem and a sense of joy and happiness. Hobbies and interests give us a sense of satisfaction, allow us to feel good and keep our mind closed to negative thoughts and emotions. Cultivating interests can cure depression, ease grief, significantly reduce anxiety, excessive excitement or guilt. They also give you new social skills, because you have new topics for conversation and an expanded circle of communication. There are three main types of useful interests and activities: pleasant, constructive and altruistic. Pleasant activities, of course, help us to enjoy what we do, we act simply for entertainment and recreation. This can be reading books, collecting, handicrafts, hiking - yes, you never know what else! Constructive activity allows you to create or do something that benefits. It can be a detail of the interior, made by own hands, learning a foreign language, sewing carnival costumes for your children and similar hobbies. And altruistic interests are to help other people. You can teach someone to knit, or in their spare time to do volunteer work, helping elderly or sick people. Such activities give communication, gratitude from other people, instills a sense of pride and self-confidence. Helping others is one of the best ways to be healed of one's own heartache. Your personal problems may seem trivial after just a day of work, for example, with children dying of cancer. Of course, in a depressed state, people find it difficult to motivate themselves to find new interests, and very often they refuse even to try to take a step in this direction. But do not reject any new activities before you give yourself a chance. You may need to learn to relax in a new situation or develop some new skills and knowledge before you start to enjoy the new hobby. But patience and the ability to exert some effort will help you greatly shorten this path. Otherwise, how to overcome depression without making any effort? Without effort - in any way, you understand this? Keep positive attitude Negative habits in thinking play a very important role in the occurrence and course of depression. Studies show that people who are depressed tend to minimize their qualities, talents and achievements. They, as a rule, consider themselves incompetent and inferior. Their habit of focusing their thoughts only on problems and their own mistakes minimizes all the good that is happening around them. They tend to perceive negative things more clearly than positive ones. Such people are constantly concerned about personal problems and feel acute pity for themselves. Happy people, just like pessimistic "sufferers", are capable of experiencing negative emotions, disappointment, pain or grief. But optimists remain positive and try to solve their problems, rather than suffer from what they are. This feature makes them more enjoyable in communication, and it is much easier for them to find friends. Pessimists foresee only discontent and frustration, and therefore very easily surrender in case of failure. Optimists understand that every failure is a new grain of experience, which ultimately can lead to success. Pessimists can passively reconcile themselves with problematic situations, and the problems will grow. And where there are problems, there is a depression of your tentacles ... Work on your problems It is not worth trying to solve all problems at once and in one day. Do small but consistent steps, working to resolve problems. Break up large and complex tasks into smaller ones that will be easily overcome. Create yourself a support group from close people and friends. They can always cheer you up, help with advice and praise for achievements. What negative or stressful situations exist in your life? What can you do with them? Do not give up and solve problems without accumulating them. Conduct brainstorming, ask others to help you with ideas. Do not let negative thoughts interfere with problem solving. Keep your mind open to find all possible solutions. 
Defeating depression is possible!
Do not think about how happy you are orunhappy. Find new interests, build friendly relations with people, be kind, help other people, improve your thinking habits - all this will lead you to the fact that you will become free from depression and become happy. The fight against depression can take you a few months or even years; and the less you allowed yourself to be negative, the more you made efforts to overcome depression, the shorter will be your path to happiness! We advise you to read:
