Improving Your Mood
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What is Depression?
Depression is more than just feeling down or being in a low mood.
What Could be Keeping You from Feeling Better?
Feeling low can affect your daily routine and behaviour, which in turn can lead to feeling even lower. A lack of energy or motivation can lead to you doing less, not completing your daily tasks and letting other people make decisions for you. You may notice that you become less and less active, don’t go out much, and neglect your favourite activities. This is the vicious cycle of low mood.
Coping with Changes
We all experience changes in our lives. Learn about how change can affect our wellbeing.
Self-Assess
How do you know if you’re depressed?
- Do you often feel low for most of the day?
- Do you feel less motivated to do things you’d usually enjoy?
- Do you often feel weepy or irritable?
- Do you feel worthless?
If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you might have symptoms of depression. Do you recognise any of the experiences described below?
Things you might do
- Stop doing things you enjoy
- Cry more easily
- Spend more time alone
- Stay in bed a lot
- Wake up very early in the morning and then can’t get back to sleep
How your body might feel
- Can’t concentrate
- Trouble remembering things
- Never hungry, or always hungry
- Exhausted
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Not interested in sex
Feelings you might have
- Sad
- Irritable
- Lonely
- Empty
- No interest
- No pleasure
Thoughts you might have
- “No one likes me”
- “I’m useless”
- “I’m a failure”
- “Things will never change”
- “I just want to die”
- “I can’t go on like this”
Most people experience some of these, some of the time. However, if you’re ticking boxes in each of the areas above (things you do, the way your body feels, feelings you might have and thoughts you might have) and these experiences are getting in the way of your everyday life, you can find out more about depression in the ‘Learn’ section above. You’ll also find some helpful tips on improving your mood in the ‘Manage’ section below.
Manage
Sleepio
Sleepio is a 6 week online program designed by sleep experts and based on cognitive and behavioural techniques.
Depression Self-Help Guide – NHS Inform
This self-help guide is intended for people with mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression.
Increase Your Positive Activities
An exercise in helping you find a balance in life and actively putting those positive activities back into your life.
Keep an Activity Record
A table you can use to schedule your daily activities and plan your week.
Tips on Managing Change in Our Lives
We all have to cope and manage with change in our lives for lots of reasons. Here are some tips and thoughts on navigating through a period of change.
Improving Your Mood Apps
Self-help tools that can help you manage symptoms of depression.
Managing Low Mood – Self Help Guide
If you are in need of some support, this self-help book prepared by Wellbeing-Glasgow covers a wide range of topics related to low mood and depression.
Activities You Can Try at Home
Increasing your activity levels can help improve your mood.
Relaxation
If you feel tense a lot of the time, you can try learning some relaxation skills, as these should be helpful.
Problem Solving
Take a positive step-by-step approach to problem solving in order to reduce your worries and manage those obstacles that crop up every day.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – CBT – is a psychological therapy based on the relationships between what we think, what we do and how we feel. CBT teaches you how to recognise and tackle problems in the here and now, rather than in the past.
Support
With support from the people in your life and maybe with a little help from other sources, such as the resources on this website, it’s likely that you’ll find ways to improve your mood.
Improving your mood can take time, however. If you’re worried about the way that you’re coping, or if you have concerns about your mental health more generally and think you may need further support, please get in touch with your GP in the first instance.
Here are some other sources of support you might want to consider:
The Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership websites are also a good place to look for locally available support:
- The ‘iThrive’ website focuses on support available Edinburgh-wide
- ‘Midspace’ is Midlothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Eastspace’ is East Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Westspace’ is West Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information.
The following National organisations focus specifically on low mood and may also be helpful:
- Breathing Space – 0800 83 85 87 (free to call, Mon-Thur 6pm-2am; Friday-Mon 6pm-6am) Free and confidential phone service if you’re feeling low, anxious or depressed. https://breathingspace.scot/
- The Samaritans – 116 123 (free to call, open 24/7, 365 days per year). Emotional support for anyone in emotional distress. https://www.samaritans.org/
- SAMH – 0344 800 0550 Offers support and information about mental health problems. https://www.samh.org.uk/
The Wellbeing Lothian website has been developed to provide information, self-help resources and links to help you manage your mental health and wellbeing.
We want to help you make changes in your own lives and point you in a direction to start doing so. This is Wellbeing Lothian’s aim.
Learn More about Wellbeing Lothian
This website is not intended in any way to replace the advice of a clinician. Specific advice should be sought in specific situations from a properly qualified health worker.
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East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership
West Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership
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