I'm a psychologist professionally, and I'd like to just chime in with some really common-sense tips ... that are all too frequently ignored.
The three pillars of health, psychological and physical, are sleep, exercise and diet. The keys are "what", "when", "how much".
Poor sleep patterns are a major indicator of depression, but they're also a major cause of depression. This naturally creates a spiral when someone becomes depressed, where they can't get to sleep, because they're depressed and all they can think about is how incredibly hopeless things are, and so they don't get enough sleep, which causes fatigue and makes you less able to cope with the depression. Note that if you're waking up multiple times during the night then this is an indicator of anxiety, not depression, although very frequently people have both anxiety and depression, so they can't get to sleep, then when they do get to sleep they wake up again at random intervals during the night... and can't get back to sleep.
Exercise is another big factor. Despite what your "ripped" friends may say you can get too much exercise, and you can also get too little. Over-exercising can lead to brain chemistry imbalances that normally cause anxiety, but can also cause depression (also people often over-exercise because of underlying self-esteem issues). Under-exercising likewise isn't a great idea since endophins are released during exercise and these can help counteract mild depression and anxiety, as well as keeping your brain and body healthy. Likewise the current media emphasis on being "trim" leads to self-esteem issue for those who are viewed as overweight.
Diet is s dirty 4-letter word for many people. I'm not using it in the sense of "Atkins" or whatever the latest insane fad is. Rather I'm using the term to refer to what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat. Our bodies are chemical engines, and what you put in is critical. If you haven't watched "Super Size Me" then I recommend it. What most people don't think about though is how much they're eating and when they're eating. Too much of a certain chemical entering the bloodstream at once can cause psychological problems. Just think about when you were a kid and you'd eat a candy bar, get a huge "sugar rush" and then collapse asleep an hour later, exhausted ater running around like a maniac for 30 minutes.
The three pillars are heavily inter-related, for example eating turkey or chicken (rich in tryptophan) makes you feel sleepy, and while you sleep tryoptophan metabolises into melanin and melatonin, and when you wake up in the morning sunlight helps transforms melatonin into seratonin, creating a sense of well-being.
Here are some very simple tips that anyone can follow to decrease the symptoms of depression (note: decrease the symptoms. No-one is immune to depression, we all have good days and bad days, and the expectation that we should be "happy" all the time is both unrealistic and a big problem with modern society. Aim to be "contented" and you'll be a happier person):
1. Sleep
- Avoid coffee and other stimulants for 2 hours before bed time.
- Do not exercise for 2 hours before bed time.
- Avoid computers, TVs and other bright screens (like iPads) for 1 hour before bed time. The frequency of light emitted by these devices makes our brains think that it is day time, and impairs our ability to get to sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time every night, even on the weekends. A couple of late nights a month is okay, expecting yourself to be okay on Monday when you normally sleep 10pm to 6am, but have been sleeping 6am to 10am on Satuday and Sunday is just ridiculous.
- When in bed lie down and go to sleep. Beds are for two things, sleeping and sex.... and you can have sex lots of other places too, so keep your bed for sleeping.
- Sleep for 7 to 9 hours. Not more, not less. Yes, you can "cope" with less sleep, but it is damaging your mental health slowly but surely. If you're sleeping less than 6 hours a night your risk of major depression doubles to triples.
- Follow the 20/40 rule. If you're not going to sleep in 20 minutes by just lying there with your eyes closed then get up and do something light (washing dishes, reading a book - not watching TV or playing on your computer) for 40 minutes, then get back into bed and try again. This method is somewhat brutal, but it sure beats lying in bed allowing your mind to dwell on everything that you're worried about. Repeat the 20/40 cycle regularly until it works (I've never had a patient that it didn't work for inside of 4 days).
- Meditate while going to sleep. No, I don't mean buy some cheap incense and saying "Om!", I mean when you're in bed try some meditative breathing exercises. The one I suggest most often is to breath in slowly and lightly through the nose (lowering your diaphram as opposed to expanding your chest) for a count of 4, then hold the breath lightly for a count of 2 or 3, then breath out slowly through your nose or mouth (personal preference) for a count of 3 or 4 (allow your lungs to empty normally, don't push). This is known as parasympathetic breathing, and it does a lot of good things, from lowering blood pressure to encouraging voluntary control of automatic body processes... also, on a most simple level, it distracts you from all the stuff you're stressing about. Initially this exercise will seem difficult, but if you practice is regularly then a few breaths will induce a sense of well-being and control after a few months. Initially it will just feel like this irritating exercise this guy on the internet told you to do. Stick with it.
[Note: There is some personal variation in all of the above. For example some people favour a 15/30 pattern, and some people hold their breath on the breathing exercise for just 1 second. Human bodies aren't all the same, find what you're comfortable with)
Exercise
- Exercise at the same time every day, for the same amount of time. This establishes a pattern and helps to regulate your metabolism, allowing your body to know what to expect and when. Make changes to your exercise routine slowly and progressively rather than dramatically. I started with 3 sets of 15 push-ups, then 15 sit-ups as my morning routine, now my regular routine is 3 sets of 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups, slowly increasing with 1 extra push-up and sit-up a week over 2 years. Initially 3 sets of 15 push-ups was hard work, now I get a light sweat from 100.
- Exercise lightly and consistently. The goal is to get a light sweat doing. Cycling, hiking/walking, moderate weight lifting, tai chi, yoga, or just push-ups and sit-ups in your room... these are all good choices. Heavy weight lifting or sitting behind your desk lifting a can of mountain dew are bad choices.
- No pain, no pain. I hear the idiotic phrase, "no pain, no gain" repeated endlessly. Pain is your body's way of warning you that you're damaging things. Exercising until you begin to feel a "burn" is good. Continuing to exercise when you're in pain is idiotic. Don't do it. It has extremely negative effects on brain chemistry.
- Meditate while you exercise. This is a good way to tell if you're doing too much. If you're panting and can't maintain an even breathing pattern then the odds are good that you're overdoing it. Stop, take a breather and dial it back a notch.
Diet
- Eat at the same time every day, and roughly the same amount. Again, this is critical in allowing your body and brain to know what to expect.
- Eat half. When we're hungry our brains tend to flash warning signals and demand FOOD... LOTS of FOOD! Normally when you're hungry your assessment of how much you need to eat is off by about 50%. When you're hungry bear this in mind. Eat half your food slowly (try to take more than 15 minutes) and then take a break. If you're still hungry 30 minutes later (the time it takes for your brain to send the "I'm full" signal) then eat the rest. If you're not then put it in a tupperware for your next meal. Remember that different foods have different calorie values, so the "eat half" rule is a guideline.
- Eat a variety of things and don't stress too much about what you're eating unless you have an allergy/intolerance. The key here is "moderation in all things". A cola every now and again (maybe small 200ml cola once or twice a week) isn't going to hurt. Drinking a liter/quart of cola every day will seriously damage your health. Likewise a beer a couple of times a week isn't a problem, but if you're drinking until you get drunk every day then you definitely need to get help. There's a lot of fuss made about butter vs margarine, etc. Mostly if you're only eating small amounts occassionally then it isn't going to make a huge impact on your lifespan or general health. One of my personal bugbears (warning, personal prejudice ahead) is MSG (monosodium glutemate), because it interferes with the brains' "I'm full" signal, causing you to eat more than you should, so I avoid MSG like the plague. Generally though I'd simply advise people to avoid being "extreme" in their diet. If you want to be a vegetarian then I'd say fine, but try to eat a little chicken/fish/eggs once in a while if you can do so without feeling too bad about it. If you want to be a carnivore then fine, but try to regularly include some nice leafy vegetables in your diet, and experiment with some vegetarian dishes a couple of nights a week (a couple of nights a week without meat won't kill you... although the expression on many meat-eaters' faces when I tell them this suggests that they think it might).
There are lots of other hints and tips that I could share, but this post is already approaching TL;DR territory, so I'll leave it there. If you just remember one thing them remember that establishing a regular, consistent pattern is probably the most critical thing, and the most frequent mistake. Most people treat their weekends as "responsibility-free" zones, going out and boozing all night, eating junk, not exercising, and sleeping strange hours... and then wonder why Mondays and Tuesdays are hell. It takes a little self-discipline, but keeping a regular pattern is totally worth the sense of balance and contentment it will bring to your life.