Over the years, a lot of studies and research data have established that women tend to have more mental health problems than men. In India itself, the rate of depressive episodes for men is 1.9% while the same for women is 3.2%.
Women are also at a greater risk of suicide than men. In this day and age, when the female gender has progressed so much in each area of life and industry, why should we let ourselves suffer in the area of our mental health?
Women are proven multitaskers and while managing these multiple roles, they might become vulnerable to feeling depressed or having a perpetual low mood. Here are some strategies which can help women when they are feeling depressed, to cope with their emotional problems in a better manner.
1. Taking small steps to do what makes your mood better
It is quite normal to feel overwhelmed when you have so many responsibilities at home, at work or with children. Amid all this, women sometimes tend to feel out of the mood and a constant low mood all the time. They might also be feeling not motivated at all to do anything.
Daily tasks might seem difficult to do and the things which you previously enjoyed, might also not interest you anymore. In this case, it is advised by psychologists, that you start small, and push yourself to do one activity that you liked on a daily basis. You can progressively increase the time of this activity and see the change in your mood after doing it.
You can also take some time out, and practice mindfulness meditation daily. It is advised to take some time out for yourself amidst the busy schedule, and pay attention to your emotional needs.
2. Share your story with other women
Women have so many responsibilities on their head and so many people to look after, which might stop them from sharing their vulnerabilities with their family, from the fear of their family becoming weaker because of seeing them like this.
In this case, you can share your problems or feelings with other women. Discussing the problems with other people who might be struggling with the same situations as you, will make you realize that you are not the only one going through this. This realization gives a lot of strength and motivation to a person to fight the problem.
3. Changing your perception
Changing the way you look at your problem or yourself, makes a lot of difference. Many women, especially in the Indian context, tend to blame themselves for something bad that might have happened to their family, they feel responsible for that and curse themselves for it. They are often conditioned to think in this manner. In this case, they should try to change their perception from looking at the one thing that went wrong, and focusing on the other things that have gone right in their family’s life because of them.
They should not blame themselves, rather try to realize that they are doing their best and they should not beat themself up for this one mistake. Trying to see all that is going good in your life, or the things which you have done best increases your self-esteem and changes your thought process towards yourself. This contributes in a big way to lead you out of depression.
4. Feel sorry for the situation but not for yourself
Women might sometimes fall into depression because of a major incident that might have happened in their life. It is very sad that incidents like these happen at work or even in homes with women, where women are still not considered equal to men and not respected enough in some places.
It is valid for you to feel treated unfairly and feel sad about it. But women should always keep in mind that they do not see themselves as the victim in that situation, rather someone who was able to survive that situation and come out of it. It changes the way you look at yourself and it also changes the story that you want to tell about yourself to others. This gives you a lot of strength to fight with the problem, or cope with it in a better manner.
Lastly, we should always remember that it is not easy to be a woman. We juggle a lot of roles, expectations and responsibilities every day. And it might make us feel weak sometimes. But we have the strength required to get back up from that and heal ourselves like we always do.
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