Wanderlust

I've been doing a lot of introspective thinking lately, mainly on ways to overcome not only the stress and anxiety from my current job, but also the crushing depression that always comes back every two or three weeks. I have a tendency to avoid being active in any capacity outside of work while feeling low, which results in a bubble effect due to having a more limited social experience than usual. During these periods I'm my own worst critic, and I often struggle with feelings of worthlessness and invalidation. Stressors at work exacerbate the problem and make it difficult to climb out of a depressive episode once I'm firmly entrenched in one.

With more exposure to good experiences outside of that bubble, I've realized it's easier to get out of a bad mood when there's more positivity to draw from compared to the negative reinforcement that tends to happen on a regular basis at work. Being outside in good weather seems to be the most effective method so far.

All of this might seem obvious to most     I always knew the best route to learning to live with depression would involve committing to being more physically active, but during my lowest point it feels so futile to even bother trying.