Hi, my name is Hannah.
I suffered with suicidal depression for three years. I didn’t think I’d make it through, honestly. But thankfully, I did, and I made this website to help others.
On my journey, there were three steps that helped me get better, so I wanted to share them with you in hopes that they can help someone.
Step 1– The first thing that saved my life was getting help from a medical professional to see if there was any imbalance in my body that was making my depression worse.
Did you know that things such as a hormonal imbalance, thyroid issue, or blood sugar imbalance can cause your depression to get a lot worse?
Even if you aren’t eating food or getting enough nutrition (or eating too many sugary foods) it can make your depression get so much worse. (In fact, I had this. It’s called hypoglycemia, it’s a temporary condition that one gets from eating too many sugary foods or not eating enough nutrients or calories in the day, and it messes with your blood sugar, which can make your depression way worse and even increase thoughts of suicide.)
More info here:
https://www.amindworthfightingfor.com/2016/10/01/hypoglycemia-low-blood-sugar-low-moods/
There’s also a physical medical condition caused by your hormones that makes you want to sleep all day, called adrenal fatigue. (This is why some people will sleep for many hours and still wake up feeling tired and want to sleep all day: because their adrenal hormones are out of balance.) This condition looks a lot like depression, or if someone has a preexisting mental depression, it can make it a lot worse.
More info on adrenal fatigue here:
So, step 1 is to: see a medical professional. This is a doctor who can take a blood test and tell you if you have any medical conditions (hypoglycemia, adrenal fatigue, etc.) that either have the same symptoms of depression, or make your depression worse.
Also, in regards to balancing brain chemistry, if the doctor thinks you need it, he or she will either prescribe you an antidepressant, or refer you to a psychiatrist.
-A doctor can treat or rule out any medical conditions that make depression worse
-A doctor can help you balance your brain chemistry by prescribing an antidepressant
Why is talking to a doctor so important? Your body’s healthy directly affects your brain’s health.
More info on how to see a medical professional:
Step 2 is to see a mental health professional, such as a psychologist.
Step 2 is to go and talk to a psychologist, which is a professional who can help you improve your mindset, work through stress, and talk about things you are going through.
Talking with a psychologist really helped me think better thoughts about myself, get rid of stress and reduce anxiety, and improve my overall mood.
More info on how to talk to a psychologist:
Step 3 is to create a lifestyle that supports your happiness.
Now, I want to first stress the importance of steps 1 and 2: working with a medical doctor to help heal your body and brain, as well as working with a licensed mental health professional to help improve your mental health.
Honestly, I would have never gotten better if I hadn’t seen a medical professional and mental health professional. (In fact, my suicidal thoughts decreased drastically once I started working with a doctor to help me eat better, heal my body, and balance my blood sugar, since my blood sugar was controlling my moods and making my depression 10x worse.) Also, talking with someone helped a lot as well, which is why I recommend seeing a psychologist as step #2.
The third thing that helped support me in my life was creating a lifestyle I loved. This was the icing on the cake in terms of mental wellness; I had already worked on healing my body and brain as well as improving my thought process, and creating a lifestyle that made me happy and healthy was the final step in supporting my happiness long-term.
What does a happy lifestyle look like?
Some things I did to create happiness in my own life were:
-To develop a more confident mindset
-To start eating healthier
-To let go of toxic relationships
-And many other lifestyle changes to create a life I loved. You’ll find my best tips on how to create a life that supports your happiness and growth in my blog.
Head over to the lifestyle page for some awesome tips on how to create a lifestyle you love:
https://www.amindworthfightingfor.com/step-3-lifestyle/
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**Note: this website not a tool for self-diagnosis, but rather an informative site that gives the facts about each condition and gives you a comprehensive guide on how to get treatment from a professional, as proper diagnosis and treatment are very important to getting better as soon as possible!** I never want anyone to experience what I went through medically, so please, if you think you should seek help, take the first step and make an appointment with a professional!