5 Therapist Approved coping skills for teenagers who struggle with depression

Coping with Depression doesn’t have to be a struggle for teens.

Knowing how to cope with depression can make all the difference for teenagers.

Whether you feel depressed, or struggle with a Major Depressive Disorder, these 5 therapist-approved coping strategies can help teenagers who struggle with depression.

If you prefer to watch the video, click this image here:

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If you prefer to read, here’s what you need to know about these 5 Therapist Approved coping skills for teenagers who struggle with depression:

MOVE

Yep. Actually moving about and taking some action can really help improve your depressed mood because when you move your body, you move your mind.

You can do this in a few different ways:

🛋 Change where you're sitting

💃 Put on your favorite music and dance around

🙆‍♀️ Get up and stretch a little bit or even shake it out.

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CONNECT

Loneliness and isolation feed depression. So when you make connections to other people, it helps you feel included and not so lonely.

You can connect to other people in a variety of ways:

🌎 in your community

🧑‍🏫 in your school

👩‍🍳 in your job

👩‍👧 in your family

👬 with your friends

It's one of the reasons why my Teen Growth Therapy Groups are so helpful and successful for these kids. These kiddos end up finding the connections with others that they're not able to find in other areas of their lives, which helps them connect deeper with themselves too (BONUS!)

CONTRIBUTE

When we connect and give something of ourselves towards someone else or something bigger than ourselves, it helps us feel really great. It really puts a boost in our mood and our energy and our effort.

When we put effort into others or into our communities or the world at large, we know that our presence and effort make an impact on other people's lives.

How cool is it to know that what we do, what we say, what we feel, what we change, can have a positive impact on somebody else? It's probably why I do what I do.

FEEL

You gotta feel your feelings. I know it feels a little cringy to think about. After all, isn't feeling this way what got you here in the first place? Maybe, maybe not.

But the thing is is that if you don't actually acknowledge and let yourself feel your feelings, they will pop up and creep out in some other way and it will never be convenient.

How many of y'all have been just managing fine or fine enough and suddenly you burst out into tears over something that really doesn't even feel that significant or important to you. Guilty as charged.

That's because you haven't given yourself enough time to process and to feel your feelings.

Here some ways that you can allow yourself time and space and energy to feel the way you feel:

⏲ Setting a timer and saying I'm gonna let myself feel whatever I need to feel for these X number of minutes. You might wanna start small with like three minutes, five minutes, maybe 20, 30 minutes. I don't know, whatever feels good for you.

🧘‍♀️ Meditation is a great way to just feel and sit with however you're feeling, whatever your experience is, by just noticing it and not trying to make any effort to change it.

📝 You can also try journaling or reflecting with others. Just be careful that feeling your feelings doesn't turn into rumination, which can keep you stuck in your feelings.

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If you don't notice any positive impact over time, then you might wanna change that one up a little bit or double it up with another coping strategy, like movement.

REFLECT

You've got to pause and reflect on what's working and not working for you. So just because a coping skill worked before in a situation, doesn't mean it will work in another situation even if they seem really similar.

Every new experience is its own unique experience in and of itself.

So we can't over-rely or over depend on just one type of coping strategy. It's important to take notice of what else helps and what doesn't help so you can adapt and make adjustments as you move forward.

Now, if you are still feeling depressed and you're thinking that you might wanna go and see a therapist, I highly recommend that you check the video here: https://youtu.be/LQmpqLUjM2I

And if you found this video helpful and useful, please share it.

You never know who YOU could be helping when you do!

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