If you suffer from depression, all this talk about New Year’s resolutions, goals, and aspirations can feel claustrophobic.
It’s hard to get excited about learning a language or picking up a healthy habit when you’re just trying to survive. It’s hard to even get excited on other people’s behalf, when they’re bursting with ambition…and you’re just, well, bursting.
Don’t worry, though. You’re not alone. Nearly 10% of the U.S. population (21 million people, according to the National Institute of Mental Health) suffers from depression, and that number is only increasing. Millions of people, then, cringe at the idea of setting New Year’s resolutions, and the pressure to buy into all of this is purely manufactured. Gyms, yoga studios, banks—even grocery stores!—all have a resolution to sell you.
Ignore them.
Instead, hold steady and make this year’s goal the same as last year’s: to feel better, step by step, and at your own pace. You don’t need to do anything special. You just need to keep going.
3 Ways to Focus Your Energy in the New Year
- Work with What You Can Control
That which you cannot control often becomes the biggest barrier to feeling better. Depression co-opts your thoughts, and leads you to focus only on the negative.
That friend who hasn’t answered your text in three days? Ouch. That impatient driver who honked at you this morning? Awful. Such experiences are hard to shake, and yet acknowledging that they have nothing to do with you is the first step to creating the space you need to truly heal.
- Curate Your Environment
Depression wants to bring you down. Misery loves company, and yet so often the company misery attracts isn’t the kind that lifts your spirits. Are there people in your life who, when you hang out, leave you feeling worse? Are there spaces that harm your mood? Avoid them.
Curate your environment so that it includes only spaces, people, and activities that nourish your spirit, and in doing so, you’ll give yourself a fighting chance to alleviate your depression.
- Seek Help
You already know that getting better isn’t a solo journey. Depression rarely goes away without treatment, and yet not all treatments are equal.
Nearly a third of people who suffer from major depressive disorder fail to find relief from traditional protocols. If you have tried numerous medications and therapeutic approaches to no avail, you may have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However hard this may be to hear, there are solutions.
Ketamine infusion therapy demonstrates incredible promise at relieving TRD. Often, patients feel better after a single session, and remain healthy for weeks or months. Meanwhile, a 2-week cycle of 4-6 infusions plus occasional maintenance infusions is often all that is needed to provide lasting relief.
A new year need not mean another twelve months of suffering, and yet it also doesn’t mean you need to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” New Year’s resolutions can be a symptom of a toxic culture bent on betterment, but they can also be as simple as a commitment to keep going.
This year, keep going.
Contact Vitalitas Denver
Vitalitas Denver can help you with your goal to continue moving forward. Contact Vitalitas Denver—to learn more about ketamine therapy, and determine if you are a candidate.
