3 Ways to Cope with Depression When You’re Not Ready to Open Up

As one of the most common and serious mental health disorders, depression can take a toll on a person’s mental and emotional well-being. In most cases, people don’t feel ready to consult a professional and seek help during the initial stages of depression. While this should be your first course of action, you may think you’re not ready to open up.

This blog will offer a closer look at three ways to cope with depression when you don’t feel like you can speak freely and candidly with a professional. As you follow these strategies, give yourself some time and grace. Opening up can be challenging when you’re battling depressive episodes that affect your sense of self and purpose. Instead of beating yourself up about it, practice positive self-talk until you’re ready to seek help and open up about what you’re going through.

Here are some coping strategies you can try in the meantime:

1. Write It Out

As you battle depression, you may feel mentally and emotionally drained and blocked. Depression causes people to carry a lot of pain, hurt, and trauma. If mental and emotional catharsis doesn’t occur, their baggage becomes almost unbearable to carry.

This may sound counterintuitive, but you’re actually seeking a release. While you’re not ready to open up, you still feel a strong urge to let the pain, hurt, and trauma out.

Do just that: let it out. We recommend writing down your thoughts. This is a great way to self-reflect before you see a professional.

2. Process Your Thoughts

In many cases, depression causes one’s thoughts to become a jumble. There’s so much going on in a person’s head that they struggle to understand what’s happening beyond the pain they’re carrying.

You may struggle to perform routine chores and focus on work. While distracting yourself may sound like the best course of action, it can do more harm than good. As you distract yourself from the pain, it’ll gradually accumulate.

Instead, understand what’s happening and try to process your thoughts. This will help you gain more clarity and move towards healing.

3. Do Five Things You Love on a Regular Basis

Self-care doesn’t come easy when a person is depressed. However, it’s the best thing you can do for yourself.

We recommend doing five things you love regularly. This could be as simple as taking a warm bath or watching your favorite comfort movie. It could also be a hobby like painting, playing Scrabble, hiking, etc.

As you focus on yourself, you’ll subconsciously erase the element of self-loathing that usually occurs when a person is depressed.

Coping with depression can be extremely challenging if you’re not ready to open up. As you carry your burden yourself, you may feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and stretched too thin. We strongly recommend reaching out to a professional and attending therapy until you feel comfortable and ready to begin sharing.

At KB Psychotherapy, we don’t believe in pushing people to open up. Our therapists and counselors use an empathetic approach to ensure that you feel safe, comfortable, and content about the process. If you require more space and time, we’ll guide you until you’re ready to begin sharing.

In addition to providing depression therapy, we also offer couples counseling, individual counseling, family counseling, ADHD counseling, phobia treatment, anxiety counseling, and psychotherapy. We’re verified by Psychology Today.