Get It Done When You're Depressed (20 page)

The main problem is that people are often preoccupied with inner thoughts and worries. If they can reduce these, their thinking skills can improve. Plus, it takes energy to keep themselves thinking clearly, and people with depression often lack this energy. Thinking problems can especially spiral out of control if people constantly think and talk about how they can’t remember anything. This just perpetuates the problem by making them more frustrated.

People with ADHD have very distinctive symptoms: hyperactivity, poor ability to maintain sustained attention (especially to boring or tedious tasks), being easily distracted, difficulty planning ahead, and a tendency to act impulsively. With depression, a person might have difficulty concentrating, but it’s due more to preoccupation with negative inner thinking and worries.

A second difference is in the neurobiology of the brain. With depression, there’s marked decrease in brain activity in many different areas of the brain. This isn’t the case with ADHD. With ADHD, there’s a problem with the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine activity in the frontal lobes is significantly reduced. All drugs that successfully treat ADHD work to increase dopamine activity. This is not the case with depression medications. So people with depression can have ADHD-style thinking problems while not technically having ADHD at all.

It’s very common for thinking problems to take over without your awareness, and your tasks can significantly suffer. Be aware of what it feels like when your brain is not operating optimally and go into strategy mode immediately.

Here are some other thoughts to consider:

Remember:
Think of your mind as an old-style clicking watch. See it go through each rung. When the clicking gets stuck, you have to get the click back on track. Visualize it, and make your brain work optimally again.

Ah, caffeine and sugar. For many people who are depressed, these can feel like a gift from heaven in an otherwise dark and dismal life. They can also create a sense of increased energy and an ease in getting started on projects. Unfortunately, many of these supposed benefits are illusions. Like many pleasurable things, the aftereffects are the problem, not the actual imbibing!

Caffeine is a mind-altering substance that affects your brain chemicals and your body. Many people use caffeine as a treatment for depression. You might say, “It gives me energy when I’m depressed” or “I’m so tired when I wake up in the morning, I have to have coffee to get going!” But caffeine can significantly affect anxiety as well as your ability to get a good night’s sleep, and the negative effects can by far outweigh the positive.

And then there’s sugar. Mood fluctuations and energy levels are strongly impacted by the ups and downs of blood sugar levels. It’s essential that you maintain even blood sugar levels in order to manage depression. When the sugar high from a pint of chocolate ice cream wears off, your blood sugar level dips and you want to get that high feeling back, so you eat more! You can probably see how this stresses your body and isn’t exactly a great way to treat your mood. A donut and a soft drink might feel good at 4 P.M. when your energy lags, but an apple is a far better choice. Put some peanut butter on it and pretend it’s a peanut butter cup!

Do you recognize any of these signs you use caffeine and sugar to treat depression?

It’s natural that you’d want to use a substance that makes you feel better in the moment. When this happens, ask yourself how you will feel in three to four hours and go from there.

I once felt really stressed at work. I was restoring an old building to make it look like its original interior, which meant a lot of woodwork. One day, I tried to fit a drawer into a desk and it wouldn’t go. I was having a bad day already—depression makes me irritable and angry. When the drawer problem happened, I said out loud, “I need some candy!” and went straight to the convenience shop next door. I had peanut M&M’s, ice cream, and a Snapple. When I went back to work, my painting partner laughed and laughed. He said, “I’ve heard a lot of people say ‘I need a drink!’ but you’re the first person I’ve heard say ‘I need candy!’”

He’s right. I use candy to feel better. I don’t have a weight problem at all. In fact, I have trouble keeping weight on due to my antidepressant. The candy makes me feel better. My mom keeps telling me to stop. I don’t see myself replacing it with a banana or anything, but I do see that I crave it a lot more when I’m in an irritated, depressed mood. I know I need to cut down.

As I sit here writing, I’m thinking of the amazing iced coffee I can buy at a restaurant across the street. It’s very, very bad for me. Unfortunately, it’s the best iced coffee I’ve had in many years. It’s made with a special cold-water process that creates a smooth and heavenly taste. The problem is that this method doubles the caffeine in a glass. I switched to decaf years ago. It tastes okay and doesn’t affect me too strongly, but compared to that iced coffee, it’s not exactly satisfying.

I have the caffeinated coffee once in a while. I then shake and get nervous for a few hours. If I have it on depressed or anxious days, I get so agitated I have trouble working. I have a friend who has anxiety problems, and it does the same thing to her. As you can tell, this coffee isn’t in my best interests. I don’t drink it for the energy; I just love the taste.