Tuesday, February 21, 2012

DSMA February Blog Carnival

What can we do to help stop depression from hitting our community during the winter months?


Ok, I'll be honest. Depression is something I have personally struggled with for many years. And, it's true, it tends to hit its hardest during the colder months of the year, like winter. Many times, I notice that, for myself, it seems to start creeping up slowly the cooler the weather gets.

For Lenny, my son with diabetes, I know that depression/anxiety can go hand in hand with Diabetes. I often worry about him getting depressed, if for no other reason, than because he is now in grade school, and we all know how mean some kids can be!

I think he is pretty lucky though! He seems to fit in real well with the kids at school, has lots of friends (and we even tease him a bit about having a girl friend since he now has girls calling our house from time to time LOL!) He also gets along real well with all his teachers, nurses, even the principal! In fact, I had a meeting with some of the staff and the principal just a few weeks ago (not related to diabetes chatter lol), and the principal made the statement "Lenny is notorious at school... in a GOOD way!

That said, I think some of the best suggestions I could give for ways to stop depression from creeping up would be...


  • Find a hobby- Find something you enjoy doing. Find some time for yourself to relax every day. Whether its to read a book, tinker around with some indoor gardening, sew, crochet, cross-stitch, whatever! Find something you love, and set aside some time each day to do it!
  • Take a walk- Yes, yes, I realize winter can be bitterly cold outside... but take a 5 minute walk. Walking has been proven to be a stress releiver! The cool air can also help you to clear your mind a bit, and relax.
  • VENT!- Oh yeah, us girlies know how to vent... don't we?! LOL! Don't lounge around, bottling up all this stress and aggravation! Get it out! Even if you vent to a friend, and that friend just doesn't quite know what to say or how to react to your vent session... just getting it out will help relieve some stress... and maybe just enough to allow you to think straight and figure out a logical way to approach the problem at hand!
Those are pretty much the ways I find help me manage stress and depression... while I may not take a 5 minute walk outside every day in the wintertime... I do normally do one or more of the things above to help me de-stress and ward off depression as much as I can. 

So, what do you do to help ward off depression in the winter months?

This post is my February entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival.  If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/february-dsma-blog-carnival/

3 comments:

Karen said...

These are terrific tips, Dawn. I know when I'm feeling at my worst, if I can at least get myself to do some exercise and then take some time to knit things do seem much better.

Cherise said...

Great tips! this year I started getting out and reading a little more than usually. I'm glad this winter was mild because I am able to enjoy running. great tips.

Unknown said...

Thanks ladies! Yeah, I've definitely started picking up on reading a lot more (averaging a good 5, 500+ page books a month now LOL!). I like that it acts as my "release" of sorts, a way for me to escape to another world, away from the daily stressors we all live with, but envelope myself in the character's daily life, thrills, mysteries, etc. Does that make sense?