How Practicing Gratitude Can Help You Fight Depression

If you are going through a phase in your life where you feel sad, depressed, and anxious, you might not need medication to help you feel better. In fact, there are many natural ways to fight depression, and many of these methods are highly effective when used properly. Practicing gratitude is one method people use to help them feel better during bouts of depression. While this may seem too simple, it actually can be extremely effective.

What is gratitude?

In life, you have choices, and one of the choices you have is to be grateful for what you have or sad about what you don't have. Gratitude is something you can choose to have, and it involves recognizing the good things in life. It is something you can have during good times and bad, but it will require developing the right mindset. Gratitude is also seeing things with optimism instead of pessimism. It is an attitude or mentality towards life, your situations, and your thoughts.

What are some ways you can practice gratitude?

Showing and feeling gratitude is not something you may naturally experience, but it is something you can learn by doing it. Here are some simple steps to help you practice gratitude in your life:

• Write down three things you are thankful for at the end of each day.
• Send a letter to someone you are grateful for to brighten their day.
• Keep a list on your wall of kind things people have done for you.
• Offer yourself one compliment each day.
• Celebrate accomplishments, even if they are really small.
• Seek to find at least one good thing in all events and situations, especially if you are going through a tough situation.

How does practicing gratitude help you fight depression?

If you can develop a state of gratitude in your life, you may feel happier, joyful, and grateful for what you have. You will learn to focus on the good in life and not the bad, and you may start feeling better simply from this new way of thinking. Research on this subject shows too that when you think positive, happy thoughts, your brain releases dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that makes you feel good and happy, and this is the chemical you need when you feel depressed.

In addition, practicing gratitude regularly might also make you healthier. People who are grateful feel better, have stronger immune systems, and tend to take care of themselves in ways that are healthier.

Practicing gratitude in your life may help you beat the depression and anxiety you are dealing with. To learn more about natural treatment options, visit a holistic health practitioner today.