Is It Normal to Feel Loneliness and Depression?
Loneliness and depression can come and go. After all, we all feel lonely sometimes but have you considered it can be due to a chemical imbalance, life circumstances, mineral imbalance, nutritional deficiencies, or even heavy metal toxicities?
Taking the time and effort to find the true cause and solutions will redirect your life to a much happier one. Loneliness is a feeling but not a fact that is set in stone. There are things we can do to get past the feeling.
Our instinct may be to withdraw but what we need is human interaction, touch, and compassion. When we start to feel the lonely feeling creep in, one solution may be to push ourselves to do or be in communication with friends, loved ones, or simply other people.
We all have a need to be cared for and loved by nature so we need to push ourselves to be vulnerable in asking for or seeking help to regain our balance at times.
Should I Ask for Help When I Feel Lonely or Depressed??
YES!! It may not be natural but it is necessary. In a busy world, we tend to miss subtle cues that the people we care about are hurting.
Below are some suggestions and options to start a healing process.
- If you are feeling loneliness or depression, reaching out to others is not only helpful but can be healing mutually. Sharing can build a stronger connection to those who care about you. If you are doing well, reach out to share or pull someone up by showing you care.
There are mental health professionals, counselors, mentors, friends, loved ones, groups, and people who are willing to help.
. - If you have a strong faith-based belief, tap into it for spiritual comfort to start. If you are typically a “people pleaser”, turn it within for a while. Ask your minister, pastor, priest, or spiritual leader for assistance and guidance. If you are experiencing loneliness due to a loved one consider reaching out to a grief counselor or group, friends, and family as well.
. - Say no without explanation or because you are overly booked (with self-care time you block off). It is not selfish to take time to care for your well-being. When you are nurtured you will have more to give.I often think of the Psalm verse referring to “My cup runneth over” when gauging how I am feeling. A wonderful friend asked years ago, “Who fills your cup after you’ve given all you’ve got?”. I had never thought about it not meaning a physical element. Seeing it as love or happiness gave me a whole new perspective on my self-care.
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What practices can I do to help me feel better?
- The easy path our mind tends to find is the negatives but we can fight it with gratitude in what or who we do have, to change our internal perspective and narrative.
. - As uncomfortable or strange as it may feel, try 2-3 positive affirmations to yourself in the mirror throughout the day. Change the software replaying in your mind to a positive program each time a negative one replays. You can use a mental aid such as visualizing a stop sign or a record being scratched (for us older people) or snapping a rubber band “bracelet” to physically reroute your thoughts.
. - Try journaling to purge any negative thoughts, feelings, or false beliefs. Write down what you are most grateful for in a gratitude journal to gain a positive perspective daily.
. - If you are doing something joyful like singing or engaging in a conversation that truly interests you, the internal voice is off as is the negativity. Music has been shown to raise dopamine which makes us feel better.
. - Add probiotics to improve depression. You will learn more information on the benefits and how to choose probiotics.
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Top Activities to Overcome Loneliness and Improve Mental Health?
When we feel down it can make us feel lazy, heavy, or even sad. There are daily things you can change to improve how you feel!
- Taking a walk or a good workout will help to shake those feelings by raising your oxygen levels, and feel-good hormones, and by doing something positive for yourself. Serotonin makes us feel a sense of wellness and happiness. It also aids our sleep and digestion (up to 95% of it is made in our gut) so starting a powerful probiotic can help lift your mood!
. - Pets are a wonderful way to receive unconditional love so if you don’t have your own you can offer to walk a neighbor’s dog, volunteer at a shelter, or carefully consider adoption at a shelter. The responsibility of taking care of an animal can help give you more purpose as they need and love you.
. - Social media has been found to increase depression in teens as they see all of their friends posting how awesome their lives are with filtered pictures of themselves exaggerating every part of their world. It happens with adults as well.The grass may look greener on the other side making us feel like we are failing or should be better but in reality, we all have trials. Social media isn’t all about being social, it includes ads and fluff.
. - Tune off social media or television for a few hours or even days to start experiencing doing things that bring you happiness again. You won’t miss much that you can’t catch up on but can feel better by removing mental stress.
. - Use video or a phone call to connect or reminisce with those who mean the most to you. Get out of your head! We can tend to over-analyze and create a movie-like scenario that is not reality. We need human contact and interactions.
How Helping Others Can Fight Loneliness and Depression to Improve Your Well-Being
You may also consider leaving the house to volunteer at a homeless shelter, nursing home, or church for a few hours. Serving others is not just a distraction. It can show you what to be grateful for and feel terrific while resetting your perspective. Even Vogue backs this modality.
Being alone can be helpful when taking the time to sort out what you want. Maybe what would you like to eliminate from your life? But, if you are feeling isolated, it is time to reach out for help. One of the benefits of our times is that people are speaking out about depression and isolation so you can realize you are not alone.
Healing After Loss: How Volunteering Can Help You Overcome Loneliness and Depression
Remembering the good memories can be healing but also trigger more loneliness. Try to funnel the emotions into a physical action such as volunteering to help with a cause or donating in their memory. You may meet new people who can relate and support you as well. Simply knowing you are not the only one feeling lonely and receiving empathy from someone you can relate to is healing.
Hair Analysis and Loneliness and Depression
There are many causes for feeling lonely or depressed. These emotions should never be dismissed or excused as just feeling down. It can be a biochemical imbalance that requires mineral rebalancing and detoxification. A pharmaceutical may only mask symptoms but I have yet to meet one person cured by them and off of medications.
I often see these heavy metal toxicities exaggerating or driving emotional upsets and traumas in Hair Analysis testing. When detoxified, the emotions resolve to leave the person to their true nature.
Mineral deficiencies and those such as low Vitamin D can affect our moods or outlook. It is worth your time to investigate them as a cause as well.
If you are struggling, LET’s CHAT about your health goals.
We will help you put together a plan of action to feel happy again! Learn more about reducing stress and anxiety.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this blog is intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition or disease, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a medical doctor.
Copyright Scientific Nutrition, LLC 2020
