21 Ways to a Happier Depression: A Creative Guide to Getting Unstuck from Anxiety, Setbacks, and Stress (Mental Health Gift for Loved Ones)
By Seth Swirsky
4/5
()
About this ebook
Say goodbye to dreary shades of black and white and start seeing the world for the prism of color it is with this refreshing and creative guide! In a unique combination of art, activities, and uplifting anecdotes, 21 Ways to a Happier Depression leads you on a hands-on journey to personal growth. Getting you out of one of "those moods" can be as simple as:
- Making the bed
- Nurturing a plant
- Painting shapes in loops and colors
- Breaking down your work into a to-do list
- Getting a fresh new look with some different décor, or even a haircut!
Inspired by his own life experience, Clinical Psychologist Seth Swirsky gently encourages positive introspection through honest and practical advice. With this book, a happier depression is literally in your hands!
Seth Swirsky
Seth Swirsky is an accomplished songwriter, mixed media artist and Clinical Psychologist who lives and practices in California where he has successfully merged his passion for art with his practice. As a songwriter, Seth Swirsky has written hits for Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Al Green, Rufus Wainwright and many others, but his current passion is using his creativity in his practice to help give his patients the tools to alleviate and eventually overcome depression, anxiety, helping them achieve their personal goals.
Related to 21 Ways to a Happier Depression
Related ebooks
Hack Your Anxiety: How to Make Anxiety Work for You in Life, Love, and All That You Do (A Mental Health Self Help Book for Women and Men) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don't Want to Talk About Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoping Skills: Tools & Techniques for Every Stressful Situation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hilarious World of Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Feels: Discover Why Emotions Are (Mostly) Awesome and How to Untangle Them When They’re Not Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxiety: Panicking about Panic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Is Depression: A Comprehensive, Compassionate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Understand Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anxiety Getaway: How to Outsmart Your Brain's False Fear Messages and Claim Your Calm Using CBT Techniques Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnfuck Your Anxiety: Using Science to Rewire Your Anxious Brain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The No-Bullshit Guide to Depression Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wise Mind Living: Master Your Emotions, Transform Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fighting Forward: Your Nitty-Gritty Guide to Beating the Lies That Hold You Back Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Heal Yourself from Depression When No One Else Can: A Self-Guided Program to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Are Not Your Illness: Seven Principles for Meeting the Challenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetox Your Thoughts: Quit Negative Self-Talk for Good and Discover the Life You've Always Wanted Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stopping the Noise in Your Head: The New Way to Overcome Anxiety and Worry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tame Your Emotions: Understand Your Fears, Handle Your Insecurities, Get Stress-Proof, And Become Adaptable Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Ways to Stop Anxiety: Practical Exercises to Find Peace and Free Yourself from Fears, Phobias, Panic Attacks, and Freak-Outs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFind Your F*ckyeah: Stop Censoring Who You Are and Discover What You Really Want Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Taking It Easy: How to Cope with Bears, Traffic, and the Rest of Life's Stressors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mental Health For You
Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Codependency: Help and Guidance for Today's Generation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Ichiro Kishimi's and Fumitake Koga's book: The Courage to Be Disliked: Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Highly Sensitive Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Organizing for the Rest of Us: 100 Realistic Strategies to Keep Any House Under Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unbroken: The Trauma Response Is Never Wrong: And Other Things You Need to Know to Take Back Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Smart People Hurt: A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfuck Your Anxiety: Using Science to Rewire Your Anxious Brain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anti-Anxiety Diet: A Whole Body Program to Stop Racing Thoughts, Banish Worry and Live Panic-Free Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealing Childhood Trauma: Transforming Pain into Purpose with Post-Traumatic Growth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overwhelmed Brain: Personal Growth for Critical Thinkers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for 21 Ways to a Happier Depression
5 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
21 Ways to a Happier Depression - Seth Swirsky
You’re depressed. I get it. I’ve been there. Almost everyone I know has been there, to varying degrees. For relief from the oftentimes horrific feelings that can accompany depression and anxiety, some of us take medication. Many of us see or have seen therapists. Some of us participate in the latest psychological treatments with important-sounding acronyms: EMDR, CBT, SE. We do these things in an attempt to make our depression lift. And yet, more often than not, that hazy, miserable, I’ll-never-beat-this-terrible-feeling persists.
Instead of fighting it, I’ve come up with twenty-one small, simple, specific tasks that I’ve used over the years to help alleviate my own depression and anxiety-filled moments. I present them to you in this book. While they cannot cure depression, these tasks can help make the worst feelings a little less bad—and a little less bad, when it comes to depression, can be significant.
During my darkest times, using the tasks I outline here gave me needed respites, which gave me the confidence to face those feelings when they returned—and knowing that these tasks worked made me not fear the future. As a clinical psychotherapist, I now share the suggestions in this book with my own patients, who have been helped by them to a significant degree.
Depression and anxiety are very tough foes. If even one or two of the ideas contained within these pages can help alleviate your depression, then great—that’s one or two more coping strategies than you had before. And as those of us who have battled the behemoth of depression or anxiety know, you can use any and all the help you can get.
Finally, one might ask why, in this day of easy access to information, we need this book when a person can just search online for depression, help!
When you are feeling depressed, it’s very comforting to have an actual, physical book around to flip through for a new idea or two, a reminder of all the little victories you can have. It’s comforting and reassuring, like an old, trusted friend.
So let’s get started. With this book, a happier depression is now, literally, in your hands.
Seth Swirsky, MA
Sometimes I feel stuck. Like I’m in a box and can’t get out. And I don’t mean that literally—although sometimes I do find it hard to leave my apartment. What I mean is I get stuck in my own patterns and ways of doing things, stuck in communicating the same way about the same things with the same people. Don’t get me wrong; patterns can be comforting and grounding, but they also keep me from having new thoughts and seeing and experiencing new things, which in turn keep me from moving forward in life.
During one of the times I was feeling boxed in, I thought I’d buy an inexpensive paint set, two brushes, and two small canvases. I didn’t know what I would paint, since I’m not particularly visually artistic and I didn’t feel like