11-30-2019, 09:53 PM
An aside. A friend of mine, a fellow Vet battling depression, has a little trick I also find helpful. On his wall he keeps a checklist of daily activities that tell him how he is coping each morning. If he has done all of them, he is coping well. More often though, the checklist gives him a reminder TO do these things and helps start his day off better and with a better attitude. What's on the list?
Get out of bed.
Shower.
Shave.
Get dressed in clean clothes.
Eat breakfast.
Simple things like that. Simple, but with depression sometimes they seem impossible. Just doing them anyway even when you really "don't want to" can change your mood drastically.
I use a list like that now. I force myself to check it off each day. My depression is such that I have included things like "Feed & water the dogs" and "Do the barn chores" on it just in case it gets that bad. It never has, but I check it off each day so I know. They're the only reason I do get out of bed some days, but the list gives me security as well as more accomplishments.
I also have a reminder call from my brother every day making sure I'm up and taking care of them, and an employee to call to take care of them if I absolutely cannot. At the very bottom of my list is one item that has never been checked off yet, "Give them stable homes". Just a reminder of what my depression can lead me to, and what I will do before I let the depression effect their well-being. I even have names and numbers.
The list idea is a good one, even in it's simplest form of a few daily goals. We all tell ourselves we're going to do this or that, but having it on paper just makes it easier to actually follow through on day to day.
sw
