It’s important to seek support from your family, friends and mental health professionals to start your path toward healing. In the meantime, there are things you can do to help manage your negative feelings. The following tips are based on the theories of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a service provided by specialists at Peak Psychological Services.

• Accept
  It’s understandable that you may not want to fully acknowledge your depression. But, unfortunately, ignoring it won’t make it go away. Life can be hard, so it’s better to just accept that reality instead of expending energy trying to pretend that doesn’t exist.
• Focus
  When you’re not feeling your best, it’s easy to dwell on those negative thoughts and feelings. Instead, take the time to assess what your core values are and the things that really matter. Focus on the things you care about most and the kind of person you want to be. Those values will help guide you, even at your lowest points, as long as you can keep reminding yourself of them.
• Act
  It’s not always enough to just think about your values, you also need to act on them. Commit to taking baby steps toward larger life goals. For example, if one of your core values is friendship, schedule a time to sit down and reach out to a friend. Just a simple phone call, even if you’re not in the mood, can bring forward momentum toward larger goals or plans. These tiny, actionable steps can empower you to continue and serve as a reminder of what’s truly important to you.
• Be Present
  Depression can paralyze people, leaving them in limbo as they dwell on the past or worry about the future. Find simple ways to remain present. A mindfulness trick that can be used anywhere includes focusing on your breath and the things around you, what you can currently see, hear or feel right in the moment. Taking a peaceful walk, enjoying a nice meal with no distractions, and mediation are some other ways to center yourself in the present.
• Reframe
  Depression can make you feel lost in a sea of thoughts and feelings. One way to remove yourself from that is to reframe your thinking. ACT encourages the idea of “observing self.” This essentially is the practice of observing your emotions as if you’re standing at a distance, a mere observer. You are separate from those thoughts and feelings, and even if they exist they do not make up the entirety of who you are. Understanding that can help bring you out of a dark thought process.
• Feel
  One truth about life is that you can’t hide from feelings. No matter how hard you try to ignore them or brush them aside, they will find their way back to the surface. Instead of avoiding those feelings, embrace them. Allow yourself to feel the negative feelings, note where it’s showing up in your body, and let it pass through. Fighting those feelings can just make it worse as they fester and grow. Emotions are part of the human experience and deserve to be felt so you can release them and live a more fulfilling life.