Deciding to end your marriage or relationship can be one of the most difficult decisions you will ever make in your life. Unfortunately, the end of such an important bond can result in significant feelings of depression and loneliness, even if you expected the breakup to happen from the beginning.
By following some of these tips on how to manage depression through divorce, you’ll be able to better handle your emotions and rebuild your life as you work towards living happily single. How to Manage Depression through Divorce?
Write Down What You Like About Yourself
It’s common for people to have a hard time thinking of positive things about themselves when they’re depressed. While you can’t magically control how you feel, there are steps you can take that will help in managing your depression. One great way is by making a list of everything you like about yourself.
Write down all your strengths, personality traits and accomplishments that make you proud of who you are—and recognize them as your own.
This process might be difficult at first because negative thoughts may seem too loud and powerful; but once it gets going, it can be incredibly therapeutic.
Surround Yourself With Supportive People
Dividing all your time between your children and a partner might be difficult, but if possible, try staying in touch with them. When you\’re feeling sad or unmotivated, their enthusiasm can lighten up your mood—or at least make you smile for a little while.
Maintaining healthy relationships with other people is an important part of managing depression after divorce or breakup; it\’s crucial that you surround yourself with supportive family and friends who will offer a shoulder to cry on or just some encouragement.
Accept That This Is the New Normal
The first step in managing depression is accepting that it\’s normal. Getting a divorce isn\’t easy, but as painful as it may be, there\’s nothing you can do about it. So face reality and move on. And when you\’re able to accept that what happened has happened and will always be part of your past, you\’ll finally be ready for your new life.
Look at What Went Wrong, Separate Yourself From The Situation
The first step in managing depression is looking at what went wrong. In an ideal world, everyone could walk away from a relationship with no ill will toward their ex-partner.
But that’s usually not how it goes down. Instead, you may feel sad about your circumstances, regretful about what went wrong and even bitter about how things played out between you and your ex.
The key to moving forward is separating yourself from those feelings as much as possible so you can start on your path toward healing.
Read More: Top 10 Tips to be Happy After Your Breakup
Know Your Triggers, Anticipate Situations Beforehand
Having a plan for how you\’ll react to certain triggers, like seeing your ex with their new partner or hearing about something that reminds you of them, can help keep your emotions in check.
This way, you\’re not blindsided by your own negative feelings. It\’s a bit of work upfront but it helps pay off when an uncomfortable situation comes along.
If a big event is coming up and you know it might make you sad or angry, try talking to people about it beforehand or journaling about how you think it might make you feel so that if something does come up, you\’ve already thought out what tools and resources will be most helpful for dealing with your feelings.
