Coping with rejection is difficult for most people, but it can be especially painful for those of us who have depression. We tend to internalize things so rejection often leaves us feeling as if we've done something wrong or plagues us with incessant negative thoughts. So, how can we accept the experience and begin coping with rejection in a healthier way?

While it can be difficult, there are times when we should talk about depression. We may feel embarrassed or ashamed to admit our depressed feelings to ourselves or others, but there are times when talking about depression is urgent, critical, and needed. 

Those of us with depression will often experience situations that can trigger depressive episodes. Since we can expect these events to occur, we need to have some effective coping strategies in place. What effective strategies can we use to cope with these triggers?

Depression is a treatable mental illness. Yet for many of us who deal with depression, we will experience depression relapse. While there are things we can do to help prevent depression relapse, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we will still relapse with depression. If that time comes, here’s how to cope with depression relapse.

The depression battle is fierce, as those of us with depression know. How can we win this battle and conquer depression? I have discovered three effective strategies that are helping me win the depression battle.

We can do things to help prevent depression relapse. I’ve relapsed with my depression more times than I can even count. I was first hospitalized for depression when I was 12. The second time I was 25. My last hospitalization was a little over five years ago, and I have had a few episodes of major relapse in between those hospitalizations. There’s a good chance that I could relapse into a major episode, even one requiring hospitalization, again. While this might sound depressing and discouraging, I choose to believe that this awareness allows me to safeguard against future major relapses.

Expressing ourselves through poetry helps depression, and, at the same time, it can help eradicate the stigma surrounding depression. Many of us find that it is easier to express our feelings, experiences, and struggles through creative expression than it is to express these things through dialogue or even direct writing. Also, writers have a way of conveying messages through poems that people are able to understand; through poetry, the reader often feels empathy for the writer. 

Distraction from depression is a great way to cope with the mental illness. Yes, distraction can be considered a bad thing. It can keep us from focusing on the right things and from achieving our goals. But, I’ve found that distraction from depression is one of my best coping tools. Here is how distraction helps with depression.

We should fight depression stigma now because May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the spotlight is on mental health and depression stigma. That means there is a greater opportunity to reach a wider audience about how we can work together to fight the stigma surrounding depression and other mental illnesses. With this in mind, how can we best use the time that we have during the month of May to fight depression stigma?