The way I overcome my depression

 

Have you ever experienced a depression after you came to Toronto? 

Living in a different country, such as a new environment, new people, and cultural differences, may give you psychological stress somehow.

This time, I'm going to talk about the depression I've felt since I came to
 Canada and how I've dealt with it.

The first time I felt a deep depression was last December. This is my fourth month in Toronto and there have been many changes. The probable cause is,

·Changed school

·A close friend I met in Toronto has returned to her country

·It became cold, and the weather continued to be bad.

·Lived in Basement

In particular, I didn't expect Toronto's climate to affect my mental health so much. In Japan, there are many sunny days even in cold winters, and basements are not common.

the way I dealt with them

·Move to new house with windows in the sun

In addition to these sunshine problems, low greenness and air pollution can also cause depression.

In my case, as the sun rises and sets, I became to able to see how time goes by through window, and my life cycle has been adjusted, so I don't fall asleep until noon on weekends now.

·Tell my family and friends about my feelings.

This is the easiest way to deal with it, probably the first thing everyone does. I knew that taking time was the only way to get used to the new school and to accept the absence of my best friend. I think telling someone about my feelings at that time helped me accept them. I don't usually like to talk on the phone with anyone other than my mother, and it was not easy for me to contact them because of the time difference and most of my friends studying in other countries like me. However, sharing the difficulty of living in another country with my friends gave me a sense of security.

･Add positive moments to my day

At that time, I always told myself that I have to study or at least do something good for improving my English. So, I felt even more depressed because I couldn't do it at all, and it was a negative loop.

To get out of this loop, I made it a habit to go out on either weekend. I made time only for myself, such as going to restaurants and cafes that I was interested in or just taking a walk. This was a very good initiative both for my mental condition and for my experience of Toronto.

·Find fulfilling activities

I've liked to exercise since I was in Japan, but I didn't do any exercise here except for a walk. I also realized that changes in body shape due to food and lifestyle changes also affected my mood decline.

In order to incorporate some exercise into my daily life, I started going to Pilates class that I've always wanted to do. Pilates is a kind of exercise between yoga and muscle training that provides physical training and mental stability.

It has been academically proven that there are many connections between physical activity and mental health. Feeling the changes in my body day by day brings a sense of fulfillment to my daily life.

These efforts have greatly changed my life and improved the lifestyle problems of sleeping, eating and exercising that have been caused by depression. 

But the most important thing is to acknowledge that your mind is not as healthy as it used to be. And separate what you can solve from what you have to face. In my case, changing the living environment, talking to my family, and starting exercise were things I could do on my own, but I had to take time to get used to the changes in the environment and relationships caused by the school change.

This experience was a painful period of time, but it wasn't just bad results, it gave me the opportunity to look at myself at the same time. I was able to find out what was hard and what I needed to accept in the new environment and what made my life richer.

Not everyone experienced the same kind of depression as me, but the way I took it made a positive difference in my life, both mentally and physically.

What kind of depression have you experienced and how did you deal with it?

Or What do you do when you don't feel well? please tell me on comment～

Reference

How to Beat Depression: 8 Things to Do Every Day | Psych Central

Living environment and its relationship to depressive mood: A systematic review - Nina Rautio, Svetlana Filatova, Heli Lehtiniemi, Jouko Miettunen, 2018 (sagepub.com)

"Depression: let’s talk" says WHO, as depression tops list of causes of ill health