A blue scaled image of a woman curled up in an arm chair to represent being depressed, aka the blues with the title of the article in the top right corner - The Blues: Post "Making Plans" Depression

The Blues: Post “Making Plans” Depression

I’ve noticed that since the events that took part in the article “Making Plans” I’ve actually sunk into a depressive state; I have post “Making Plans” blues. I’ve really hit the blues hard. Whereas before, I’d been in a more high-functioning, depressive state. I’m not sure why I’ve sunk into a more depressed state and nothing seems to be working to take me back to a higher-functioning, depressive state.

 

It seems to be at its worst between 14.00-17.00, and it causes me to stop caring about eating healthier food, which I’d been doing with a fair amount of success for the last month or so. I went and bought southern fried chicken and chips and some chocolate in the hopes that would make me feel a tiny bit better, but it didn’t. It just made me feel worse. I couldn’t bring myself to cook any of the food I had because it was all healthy, no/low carb stuff, and I’m tired of eating that.

 

With each chip I ate, the worse I felt, eating each chip slower than the chip before it, as each chip brought me closer to tears. My sense of the blues got darker. I felt a deep sadness and emptiness that was dragging me closer to the edge of despair.

 

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I’m trying to eat healthy in order to lose some of the weight my comfort eating has caused me to gain (Did Poor Mental Health Cause My Unhealthy Relationship With Food?) because I’ve put on quite a bit. This is due to my appearance always being a source of depression for me, from the racial abuse (Suicidal Child) that caused me to have a racial identity problem, to issues with my body image, and the problems I have with my very dry skin and blocked pores, which, as a result, often causes outbreaks of disgusting spots. All of which means I hate seeing myself in the mirror.

 

So it didn’t help that while I was struggling to hold myself together as I was slowly eating these chips that seemed to be chipping away at my soul with each one consumed when I went to clean my teeth and wash my face as I get ready for bed, and I’m greeted by the return of a horrible yellow spot and a new yellow spot as well. Just what I needed, to feel worse just before I tried to sleep. But my issues with my appearance I’ll address at a later date.

 

I was and still am, stuck feeling miserable for no obvious reason, and nothing seems to be able to lift my mood for more than a couple of seconds. When I get into states like this, theirs not much I can do because my motivation to try to do anything just disappears. I just have to ride it out and wait to come out the other side of it all.

 

The image is split into two with both images being in a blue hue. The top image is of a man pushing his glass back up his nose and the bottom image is of a woman looking away from camera. The two images are separated by the article title - The Blues: Post "Making Plans" Depression

 

What Can You Do When You Feel The Blues?

 

Although I wasn’t able to get out of my blues at the time, maybe there are a few things I could do that might help me next time. Hey, they might even work for you too. So check out my list of ideas for tackling the blues below.

 

Don’t force your way out of the blues

The problem with trying to force your way out of feeling the blues is that you’re telling yourself it’s wrong to feel that way, but that’s not always the case (Psychology Today). We’re all going to feel the blues at some point. It’s unavoidable. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just let the blues run their course.

 

Self-care

Forcing the blues away might be a bad idea, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do something to help ease them away. For example, if you have a go-to list of self-care ideas, now would be the time to use it. If you don’t have one, maybe it’s time to make one. If you do make a self-care list, you could add things like having a warm bath or watching funny videos on YouTube. You could even turn the self-care list into a crafting activity by creating a self-care jar.

 

Contact a loved one

Reach out to a friend, lover(s), or family member to talk to or to arrange meeting up so you can do something fun. Humans are social creatures, so being around others, even just doing something simple like popping around for a cuppa, can change the way we feel. Even talking to people on social media can have its uses for managing your blues.

 

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Change your routine

Routines can give us stability, but they can also become boring and predictable after a while. Switching things up could make things a little more interesting and help reduce the feelings of being sad (Healthline).

 

Blast some tunes

Music is amazing at tapping into our emotions. They’re also good at changing emotions we don’t want or reflecting them to help us get them out (Woman’s Weekly). So crank up the music and dance like no one is watching. I love a bit of metalcore to get me energised again.

 

As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, feel free to share your experiences with feeling the blues in the comments section below as well. If you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, then sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, get push notifications for new articles by clicking the red bell icon in the bottom right corner.

 

Lastly, if you’d like to support my blog, then you can make a donation of any size below as well. Until next time, Unwanted Life readers.

 

 

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22 thoughts on “The Blues: Post “Making Plans” Depression”

  1. I love your tips for staving off the blues. While I don’t suffer with any kind of depression, I’m naturally quite an anxious person. Worrying is in my DNA so it’s hard to shake those dark feelings.

    Rosie

  2. Thank you for your transparency. That is a strength. I like to listen to music. I really don’t know what I’d do without music. It literally changes my state of mind. This morning I woke up feeling like I didn’t want to do anything. I freshened up and put my music on loud! Now I am here. I agreed with your first point of not forcing your way out of the blues. It’s instinctive to want to escape it but it always leaves. Yes it may return at a another time but it will not last forever. Thank you for your post. I do look forward to reading your posts whenever I come across them!

    • Music is great with it’s abilities to affect us. I’m actually working on an article about music at the moment.

      If you don’t want to miss my articles, don’t forget that you have several ways of signing up to be notified of new published content

  3. This was so relatable! I don’t think I have suffered from depression but had a moment a couple of years ago were anxiety and days were i couldn’t feel anything past negative thoughts were normal, so music helped a whole lot and still does! Speaking to someone helped so much, mostly someone i didn’t know as it used to be difficult to share it with people close to me. Self care is a must and came to understand it just lately, thanks for sharing these tips x

      • I’m hoping that by being able to translate your thoughts and feelings into words on paper by some means is an avenue to lift the blues.
        You mentioned 2 things I like to turn to, to help lift the spirit although one didn’t quite do the job this time.
        The other is music. Music is one of those vehicles that takes you on sentimental journeys, happy journeys, feel good journeys. Simply put, with all the right music, it’ll lift any blues.

  4. Thank you for sharing this insight, I think during the first lockdown I used to hit a wall at a certain time in the evening- and it can be hard especially when you don’t have anything to do. These tips are very helpful 🙂

  5. I am not depressed but I experience anxiety from time to time. I found a short myofascial release yoga program that I started to release tension on my neck and upper back. I did it twice a day and it helped quite fast. Then I realized that it also reduced anxiety because I was sleeping better. I also ate less junk because I didn’t have to self-soothe. This might work on someone else too.

  6. Depression was hitting me harder too. Then, I remembered that our bodies have been busy keeping us alive during a global pandemic. All emotional reserves have been depleted and everyone is struggling. Remember to give yourself grace.

  7. I like taking to someone when I am feeling anxious about something and listening to music really does help come down my anxiety. I created a playlist on my phone for my anxiety.

  8. I think it’s admirable that you post about your experience with depression and I think posts like these are super helpful for anyone else going through it!

  9. This is such a positive post for anyone feeling blue. I hugely benefited from regular exercise and reflexology. I loved reading about your benefits from music.

    • Thank you. That’s awesome that you benefit from exercise and reflexology, I’ve been trying to install a yoga habit myself for the same reason

  10. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I read your post with a lot of empathy. I hope that you’re feeling better by now. Having the blues is challenging and finding ways to manage it is imperative to soften its impact. The ideas you shared are helpful. I think that self-love is also important and we need to practice loving ourselves a little more.

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