My Personal Tips for Staying Sane in Everyday Life

Hi, my name is Septian. I’m a 30-year-old ordinary guy writing this blog for fun. So, a disclaimer before you read any further: I’m no expert in psychology. However, I want to share some of my experiences in battling depression. I hope you find it useful!

In this day and age, many of us often feel overwhelmed by life. The always-changing nature of our world can sometimes be tiring for some people. It is no surprise that many young adults develop depression over time. I am no exception. Sometimes, life is just too much, and I need to take a breath but can’t. Not to mention that social media contributes a lot to our mental well-being.

So here I am, writing from my experience on how I can alleviate some of the depression. I’m not saying that I no longer feel depressed or stressed; I still do sometimes, but I want to share how to stay sane in today’s world.

Limit Social Media Usage

Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? As I mentioned before, social media contributes a lot to young adults’ depression. I personally think that social media was intended for a good cause like connecting old friends that are miles away from each other. On top of that, social media can also help a lot of people to earn their living. We see some companies use social media for their business and it helps with their revenue and marketing campaign. 

However, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows when you are scrolling through your favorite social media platform. You might have heard somewhere that excessive use of social media can bring detrimental effects to your mental well-being. Social media can cause anxiety in a number of ways, including: 

Fear of missing out (FOMO) 

FOMO is a psychological phenomenon in which you fear missing out on some events, experiences, or information that are thought to improve one’s life. For example, you just saw one of your friends going on a holiday in that famous well-known beach club in Bali. Even though you are not a big fan of beaches or even beach clubs, you might feel that you’re missing out upon seeing that specific friend’s post. This can sometimes lead to depression and anxiety. 

As you scroll more through your favorite social media platform, you would see your friends’ live events. It could be career achievements, recent happy moments, or even trivial things that are instagram worthy. When you are on your good days, those totally normal and (sometimes) trivial posts may not affect you, but when you are under the weather, those might affect you badly as you would think that you are missing out in life.

Comparison to others

Personally, I experienced this a lot from excessive use of social media. Seeing others’ highlights on their life events and achievements has led to depression. Comparing myself to other people really impacted my self-esteem, leading to me developing anxiety.

Sometimes, when we see other people’s achievements, it sets an unrealistic and unsuitable standard for us. For example, you might have seen one of your friends starting their own business, when you see them with this kind of “achievement” you kind of feel behind in life because you are still working that 9 to 5 job. It is normal for us to compare, but the one thing that we need to be aware of is that sometimes other people’s lives are actually not (nor it should be) aligned with our values in life. 

Starting and owning a business looks cool from the outside, but sometimes we don’t see the hardships and difficulties in running one. In fact, I’ve watched a youtube video that says that about 60% of new restaurants fail in their first year of operation, and 80% fail within 5 years of opening. Now if you look at that statistics, opening a business seems sucks. 

But again, even after learning the statistics, we still compare ourselves to others (me included). While it is silly to compare yourself to others, this behavior is automatically engraved in our system and it is not made better by the presence of social media.

Pressure to present a perfect image

Who doesn’t want tons of likes on their social media posts? I think we can all agree that we all like the “like” button on social media. Well, here’s the problem, you see, social media companies design “like” buttons in a way that is addictive to people. Getting likes from social media can actually trigger our brain by producing dopamine when we see one. This phenomenon can sometimes lead to us, wanting to present the perfect image of ourselves on social media.

If you are struggling with depression, limiting your social media time in a day could be really helpful. I personally limit my social media time during the weekdays for about only 1 hour maximum. Before I mindfully limit my social media time, I would spend more than 2 hours scrolling Instagram and TikTok. If you want to limit your social media time, I can give you some personal tips in the near future.  

Exercise more

What does exercise have something to do with your mental well-being? Well, it’s a lot actually. You could open your browser and search for correlation between them, and you would find tons of studies. In fact, if you are diagnosed with depression, most psychologists will advise you to incorporate regular exercise in your lifestyle. A little bit of science here, when you do your exercise, your body releases a hormone called endorphin. Endorphin is known as the natural hormone that can alleviate pain, lower stress, improve moods, and therefore, increase your sense of well-being. 

It is advised to do more aerobic exercise if you are stressed, though it is okay if you do some resistance training as well. You don’t need to sign up for a gym membership to get your weekly exercise done. A simple jog around your neighborhood, simple strength training, or even a bodyweight workout is enough to maintain your health. I will surely write more tips about simple workouts to maintain your health in the near future, so stay tuned!

In addition to your mental well-being, exercise can also help you maintain your health. You could reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and any other lifestyle-related health problems. It is like killing two birds with one stone, you could reduce your stress and get a healthier body as well. Not to mention, if you start working out regularly, you can also get that beach body you’ve always wanted. 

Journaling

Journaling is an act of recording your thoughts, feelings, or anything that you want to pour out. Some days you might feel a little bit overwhelmed and you really want to swear a lot, but you know swearing is not a good choice to release your stress. You could try journaling instead and write down those words you want to scream out.

I find it helpful to do some journaling at night before bedtime, especially if you are feeling a strong emotion earlier during the day. Besides pouring your frustration, you can also write things you are grateful for in your journal. This can help you practice gratitude as well, and as you all know it, practicing gratitude also helps with depression. 

When writing a journal, It is advisable to do it by handwriting instead of typing, since you can pour your emotions through your handwriting. In my opinion, journaling is a good routine before bedtime as well. Instead of scrolling social media or binging on Netflix shows before bedtime, journaling is a better alternative. As you write down your emotions, you might be able to notice which emotions come out frequently, and maybe you could find out the reasons why you often feel that way. Does the frustration come from your work? Your relationship with others? Or maybe it is because of the unrealistic expectation you put upon yourself? 

To Sum it Up

In this modern day, depression is a common problem for young adults, especially for those living in a fast paced environment. Rapid economic development may bring us great things like more opportunities and stability but, it also brings us a lot of insecurities.

With rapid economic development, it is understandable that others and on many occasions, you, put a lot of expectation on yourself. Not to mention the development of social media negatively impacts a lot of young adults.

Besides the three tips that I outlined in the article earlier, there are actually more ways and methods to deal with depression. I outlined things that worked for me and I really hope my writing can help you deal with yours as well. If you feel that you really need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to your loved ones or professionals as well. I wish you happiness in every second of your life. Cheers!