EPISODE: #164- Breaking Free: How Depression Fuels Worry and What You Can Do

Please share how this podcast is affecting your mental well-being. Please also know that we have a course called the "14 Days To Mental Health Wellness" Type this is your search bar. pensight.com/x/winoverdepression

Depression transforms your mind into a battlefield where worry, stress, and even paranoia can take root and flourish. After hosting 80 episodes over three years, I've learned that understanding this connection is crucial to breaking free from depression's grip.

When you're diagnosed with chronic depression, your brain chemistry physically changes. The lack of serotonin doesn't just cause sadness—it creates a cascade of worry that can feel impossible to escape. You find yourself caught between accepting your diagnosis and dealing with treatment challenges. But there's hope in taking proactive, daily steps to reclaim control.

The most powerful weapons against depression are surprisingly simple: that morning shower that energizes you, 15 minutes of sunlight that boosts your endorphins, 10-15 minutes of daily movement, and accomplishing just two small tasks each day. These aren't just feel-good suggestions—they're evidence-based strategies that directly combat depression at its source. Breaking large, overwhelming tasks into 25-minute segments makes the impossible suddenly manageable.

I practice what I share. Just last week, I struggled with heightened depression symptoms after losing a friend. The techniques I'm sharing pulled me through, as they have countless times before. Depression isn't something we cure—it's something we manage daily with consistent effort and compassion toward ourselves.

If you're listening in the darkness wondering if life is worth continuing, please know that giving up is never an option. Suicide transfers pain rather than eliminating it. Stay in this fight—if not for yourself right now, then for those who love you. Tomorrow brings new possibilities. Listen back to previous episodes for more strategies, connect with us on social media, and consider supporting our mission to reduce suicide rates with an $80 donation to mark our 80th episode. Your life matters, and together, we can win over depression.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello and welcome to Win Over Depression.
I am your host, tamara Trotter.
This podcast is dedicated tothose of us who suffer with a
mental illness but who aretrying every single day to
understand our disease and tolive the best life possible.

(00:30):
This podcast is also dedicatedto those individuals who are
trying to understand thisdisease so that they can be more
supportive to those friends orfamily who suffer with a mental
health condition.
I am excited to share with youthe 80th episode of Win Over

(00:56):
Depression.
We have been in existence forthree years and when I first
started this podcast with myfirst episode, as I researched,
I remembered that mostindividuals who start a podcast,
they lose their inspirationafter seven episodes and they

(01:21):
end up quitting and they end upquitting.
So here I am on my 80th episodeand I am thrilled that you my
listeners have continued toshare this podcast with so many
other people, and it hastraveled to the international

(01:42):
market, so please continue tolisten and to share.
Today we'll be talking about howdepression leads to worry and
stress.
You know, a diagnosis ofchronic depression can really be
devastating, especially whenyou do not know very much about

(02:05):
the condition, but it isextremely important to recognize
that there are many reasonsthat we suffer from depression.
Specifically, some with thediagnosis of chronic depression
have experienced sadness, crying, loss of interest and a poor

(02:27):
appetite, to name a few, for twoor more consecutive weeks.
But you may not experience allof the symptoms noted.
But, as I've shared many times,depression is due in large part
to a chemical imbalance in thebrain and if you have a family

(02:48):
member who has suffered from orbeen diagnosed with a mental
health condition, you aresusceptible to also experience
an episode of depression.
That could be situational or itcould be chronic.
You know, the brain of adepressed individual is

(03:11):
distinctly different than thatof someone who does not suffer
from depression, and anindividual who has depression
tends to worry constantly,almost to the point of paranoia.
But, as I explained to you someof the behaviors that those who

(03:34):
suffer from depression exhibit,it does not mean that every
single person will exhibit thesame symptoms.
Will exhibit the same symptoms.
So people who suffer fromdepression experience anxiety
and they are more likely to behospitalized because the anxiety

(03:58):
can cause severe panic attacksthat require immediate
intervention.
So if you or your loved onesuffers from a mental health
diagnosis, one of the mostimportant things that you can do
is take a proactive stance tofight against the pain that you

(04:23):
are experiencing.
To fight against the pain thatyou are experiencing, and it
will definitely be difficult toaccept the diagnosis.
But once you have acknowledgedthat you need help, the next
step should be to becomeproactive and say to everyone

(04:46):
that you are going to fight thecondition and not allow it to
get the best of you.
Because those who suffer fromdepression also feel as if
they're between a rock and ahard place, and the rock and the
hard place is, number one,accepting that you suffer with a

(05:08):
mental illness.
But then, number two, seekingthe treatment that is necessary
can also cause stress and worry,because oftentimes the
treatment can cause a physicalmanifestation of symptoms.
So it can be, and it is, a verychallenging disease, but I want

(05:35):
you to keep the faith and be ofgood courage, because I will
share with you some veryimportant techniques that I use
to help defeat my symptoms andfeel better.
So if you or your loved onesuffers from a mental illness,

(05:59):
you have to push yourself andwork harder every single day to
make it through.
You cannot let your guard downbecause you will risk having a
mental health setback.
So the first step is toacknowledge that you cannot lay

(06:21):
in your bed in a dark room andbecome proactive when it comes
to your depression.
You have to make a concertedeffort every single day to get
out of bed and meet the day.
That morning shower isessential because it will

(06:45):
energize you and it will helpyou to get to a good place.
Now you cannot produce moreserotonin, because that is the
reason why we suffer withdepression is due to a lack of

(07:07):
serotonin.
But there are things that youcan do to help increase and
expand your endorphins, whichhas a direct effect on your mood
.
So you should be getting atleast 15 minutes of sunlight
every single day, and recently Italked about if there is no sun

(07:31):
.
Turn on all the lights in yourhome and make note of the fact
that there are different levelsof brightness and leave them on
for 30 minutes.
That is going to also help yourmood.
In addition to that, you wantto get at least 10 to 15 minutes

(07:56):
of exercise every single day,and when you're not feeling up
to it, do your best to pushthrough, but do not beat
yourself up if you just can't doit, because oftentimes that is

(08:16):
the reality you just don't feelup to it.
However, it is essential thatevery single day, you accomplish
at least two goals that you setfor yourself.
They can be as simple as takingout the trash, washing the
dishes, walking your dog,reading your emails and

(08:40):
responding listening to music.
All of that counts Because whenyou do that, you feel a sense
of accomplishment and it givesyou energy to do more.
But when we are sedentary andwe are not moving around, our

(09:01):
mind begins to travel to theplace that reminds us that we
are sad.
That reminds us that, whateverit is that we are wanting to
accomplish, we have so manysteps to get there that we don't
know where to start.
So someone who suffers withdepression needs to do small

(09:25):
tasks around the house 30minutes an hour and take a break
, and then you will see that youare still getting something
done.
If there is a task that's goingto take you two hours and you
focus on those two hours, youwill never get up to start.

(09:47):
But if you divide that intofour tasks that are 25 minutes
each, then it's more likely thatyou can get that done.
So when we worry, worry is theenemy of all of us, but it can

(10:07):
have a catastrophic effect,specifically on someone who
suffers with depression.
So here are three steps todefeat worry.
Number one do not worry aboutsituations that you did not
create.
Try to not get involved.

(10:31):
I know it's easier said thandone, but you cannot afford to
be worried about other peopleand expect to defeat your mental
illness.
Number two stay ahead of yourdisease by exercising, sleeping
six to eight hours per day andexpecting that every day you

(10:58):
will accomplish something andthat your life is worth living.
Number three channel yourenergies in such a way that you
begin to recreate who you are.
There will always be something,but we have to learn not to

(11:20):
make mountains out of mole hills.
We have to pick our battles sothat we do not let situations
and circumstances, often that wehave no control over, get the
best of us, because, remember,you are valuable, important and

(11:41):
your life is worth living.
There are so many opportunitiesthat will come your way when you
are able to clear the clutterin your mind.
That we believe are true.

(12:07):
It is our mind playing gameswith us and trying to trick us.
Your mind is the worst enemythat you can possibly have when
you suffer with a mental illness, because you begin to believe

(12:28):
situations and things thataren't there, that they're not
true.
You start to second guess yourfriends, you start to act
paranoid and you want to getsome relief from what's
happening.
But you can't seem to be ableto do that.

(12:49):
But I want you to be encouragedbecause I was not always in the
place that I am now and becauseI like to be transparent with
my listeners.
The last four or five days Ihave struggled.
Five days I have struggled.

(13:13):
My symptoms of depression havebeen higher.
I know that part of it isbecause a good friend of mine
passed away and I didn't knowabout it.
So that situation andcircumstance caused me to suffer
an episode of depression and Iam just now starting to feel
better.
So I am with you.

(13:34):
I experience it the same waythat you do.
But if you go back and listen tomany of the episodes of when
Over Depression, you will findso many nuggets that will help
you to better understand yourcondition and find ways to get

(13:57):
past and get through how you'refeeling, because nothing lasts
forever and sometimes we justneed to close our eyes and go to
sleep, believing that the nextday will get better.
Some of the previous episodes15 symptoms about your mental

(14:25):
illness.
Three ways to make betterdecisions and improve your
mental health.
Five reasons to push ourselvesevery single day.
So when you go back and listento the episodes I give you
homework on many of the episodesand I'd like for you to get a
pen and a paper Just take yourtime, spend an hour a day and

(14:50):
listen to the episode the onesthat resonate with you and you
will find many solutions andmany answers to the questions
that you have.
As long as you are willing todo the work, to put in the time,

(15:11):
to not give up, to stay thecourse, to keep going, to fight,
to believe that you are worthit, you can improve your life.
While you are suffering from amental health condition, you
cannot let this disease takecharge of your life, because

(15:38):
when you do that, you are givingin to a situation that you have
not taken control over.
Now is it hard?
Absolutely.
Does it get tiring?
Definitely, but this is thecard that we have been dealt and

(16:04):
we have to do our best to liveour best life.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone of us and we do not want to
have regrets when it gets to usliving out our lives and
feeling like we did not give itour best.
We all deserve to be happy.

(16:28):
We all deserve to achieve thedesires of our heart, and that
includes you.
If you are listening to this80th episode and it's in the
middle of the night and you arecontemplating suicide, I want
you to rewind this episode againand listen to it.

(16:48):
I want you to decide that youare not going to take your life,
but you are going to take ashower and go to bed, because
tomorrow will be a new day.
One of the things that keeps mesteady and really working

(17:09):
through my symptoms is our mottois giving up is never an option
, and what that means is suicideis off the table.
It is not a part of myvocabulary because it is not an

(17:29):
option, and I would like for youto make that commitment to
yourself that suicide is not anoption, because when we leave
this earth and we commit suicide, we are passing that pain onto
our families and they will notunderstand why you committed

(17:54):
suicide.
They will blame themselves andsome of them may not make it
without you and they may end uptaking their life as well.
If you cannot live for yourselfat this point in time in your
life.
Then stay in the game of lifefor your loved ones, because

(18:19):
they need you.
Regardless of whether or notyou feel needed, I guarantee
that you will be sorely missedand it is not a situation or a
circumstance that I want to seeyou in.
So please do not take your life, and I never want to end my

(18:43):
podcast without thanking you sovery much for listening.
Thanking you so very much forlistening.
We are growing by leaps andbounds and I appreciate all that
you have done for WIN overdepression.
We are asking for donations of$80 in support of our 80th

(19:07):
episode.
You can actually go to www WOD,which stands for win over
depression podcast, dot buzz,b-u-z-z, sprout, s-p-r-o-u-t.
Wodpodcastbuzzsproutcom and itwill be listed in the show notes

(19:29):
, and you can make an $80donation, which will help us to
hire a publicist and expand ourwebsite and be able to reach
more and more people.
As you know, over 800,000 peoplecommit suicide every single

(19:49):
year and we are dedicated toreducing that number, but we
cannot do it without thefinances in which to make it
come true.
So I encourage you to go to myFacebook page, also called Win
Over Depression.
You can also find my YouTubechannel over depression.

(20:12):
You can also find my YouTubechannel, when Over Depression
under Tamara Trotter.
That's T-A-M-E-R-A, last nameTrotter T-R-O-T-T-E-R.
You can also find us onPinterest at TT Mental Health
Expert.
We have a lot of great pins onPinterest.
You can also find us onLinkedIn at Tamara Trotter, as

(20:32):
well as Instagram and Tumblr andTwitter.
Thank you so much for listeningand we will see you next time
on when Over Depression.
Take care.