There is an unexpected road block but you need to go nevertheless because you have an exam; your heart sinks, your motivation becomes double fold and even the smallest of hurdles seem to have a bigger face than what they usually have. Now that you have lost that one job you had always aspired to have, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, your life seems purposeless and you do not want anything else from life. In the first instance, I was talking about anxiety and in the second instance about depression. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental illness in the world today, affecting 40 million adults in the United States alone aged 18 and older, or 18% of the population.
Mostly because of soaring competition, unhappy and conflicting inter-personal relationships, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy comparisons, anxiety and depression have become quite common today. There is a widespread dissatisfaction among the people with the possessions that they have. There is a thin line between being dissatisfied and being ambitious. You can be ambitious even while being satisfied with what you already have. Somebody very wise has said: “Count your blessings!”
The good news is that both the monsters are easy to spot, to kill and do not haunt us for long. Below are three ways to combat them.
- Use binoculars for your thoughts: Most of the times, it is a particular thought that triggers the emotion of anxiety and hopelessness in us. When we lose a job, we unconsciously tell ourselves that there will not be a better option out there; we also regret and wonder what went amiss; we tell ourselves that our labour has gone to waste which never really happens because you will always have learnt something. The most serious blunder we commit is when we ask ourselves: “Am I worthless? Was I not good enough for the job?” An organization is a structure which has a human being at its head who makes the decisions. This person has his prejudices and subjective preferences. Therefore, an event such as losing a job cannot be taken as sign of ‘something wrong with me’: someone else was more preferable to the person than you. Once you fall into such negative thought patterns, you become an easy target for the anxiety and depression monsters.
- Choose your favourite: Shakespeare said: “The labour we delight in physics the pain.” I cannot emphasize this enough. It is important in red that you should try to choose a profession which you enjoy. The choice of your profession is the decision that will impact your entire life. If you choose something that you dislike, you will be feeling off-colour most of the time and causing the release of bad hormones. Consequently, you will become more prone to the two monsters. Staying upbeat and eager is sure-shot shield against the two.
- The cliches: If you ever feel the blues, contact your friends and family members and spend some time with them. Do not connect with them through whatsapp and facebook but by actually meeting them in person. Research has shown that physical proximity with our loved ones, lowers the stress level in our bodies. Nourish your body with good and healthy food and work out: yoga, jogging or walking. (whatever you like doing.)
Apart from our environment, our thinking patterns influence the emotions that we experience in a great way. Anxiety and depression are two such states of mind. Constantly being in such states of mind is harmful and takes away our ability to enjoy life so it is necessary to face and fight them.
