“One of the major causes of depression is high cost of living, loss of jobs, energy crisis and high levels of crime”

Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Since the onset of Covid-19, many of us have had to deal with the loss of our loved ones, we have had to deal with being isolated and our trauma was heightened by the fact that we could not be with them when they died and even mourning them was hard due to the covid-19 restrictions.

Few years later when we were no longer dealing with the pandemic, we had to deal with the aftereffects. One of the major ones is the high cost of living, loss of jobs, energy crisis, rising levels of crime etc. We feel like lots of things are out of our control. Getting of bed, sorting things out, dealing with debt, juggling with load shedding has become an overwhelming task for most of us. Most adults are in debts due to the high cost of living mentioned above and debts can make one feel very uncomfortable, guilty, depressed, hopeless and even helpless.

The respondents of the recent study conducted by the South African Depression & Anxiety Group (SADAG) indicate that along the helplessness the respondents they felt, those employed (74%) were expected to deliver work, despite outages, adding high levels of performance anxiety and work-related stress to heavy financial demands caused by the secondary impacts of load-shedding (eg. food spoilage, appliance breakages, etc.).

The aim is this article is to make you know that if you are feeling depressed and feel like you are in a dark place, you are not alone.

Always stay in touch, don’t withdraw from life, socialising with others can improve your mood. Keeping in touch with colleagues, friends and family means you have someone to talk to when you feel down and out. Try also to be more active, taking up some form of exercise can make you feel better.

There’s enough evidence that proves that exercise can help lift your mood. If you haven't exercised for a while, start gently by walking for 20-30 minutes every day. Try to also face your fears, the mistake we make is to avoid the things we find difficult. In this economic crisis, we even avoid our creditors, and this makes things even worse. If this starts to happen, try not run away from your problems: face them. When people feel low or anxious, they sometimes avoid talking to other people. Some people can lose their confidence in going out, even to an extent of not going to work.

This can lead to high levels of work absenteeism that then adds to more problems. You may also drink more than usual as a way of coping with or hiding your emotions, or just to fill time, but alcohol will not help you solve your problems, but it can worsen things in your personal life, in your family life, at work and also in your finances. Eating a healthy diet is also very important when feeling depressed.

Some people don't feel like eating when they're depressed and are at risk of becoming underweight while others find comfort in food and can get overweight. Trying to have a routine. When you feel down, you can get into poor sleep patterns, staying up late and sleeping during the day. Try to get up at your normal time and stick to your routine as much as possible. Not having a routine can affect your eating habits. Try also to carry on eating regular meals. Seek therapy, get help if you're feeling down or depressed for a lengthened period, opening to a professional can help you find better ways of coping.