Personal First Aid Kit

In Daryle Hoole's book, one of her daughters who suffered from severe depression, said that she made a personal first aid kit for her "down days." In the kit she included scriptures, her journal, favorite talks, quotes, phone numbers of people who she knew could cheer her up or of people she knew might need some cheering up, and she included good music.

I thought this was a really good idea because on those days that you are down it is so hard to remember any good and it would be nice to have it all right there to remind you. You could also include a gratitude journal. My husband would always ask me on the days I was down what I was grateful for. It would take me a while to come up with something other than the standard answers but I could eventually get going (if I wasn't being too stubborn that is). It is very helpful to have reminders of what you are grateful for when you are in such a fog that you can't see clearly.

Elder Maxwell

I just had to add this from my sister-in-law's blog http://spirituallythinking.blogspot.com/. It is so great. The thoughts at the bottom are hers, not mine.

Elder Neal A Maxwell:

"The heaviest load we feel is often from the weight of our unkept promises and our unresolved sins, which press down relentlessly upon us".

I love this quote because it is so true! We can feel so much more happiness than we do, so much more quickly, if we put off that natural man. The atonement can take an immediate effect upon our hearts if our desires are sincere.
The Saviour loves us and is eager to take the weight from us, I really know this is true.

Obtaining Help from the Lord

My mother printed this talk out from me a little while ago and yes, it is from Elder Scott again. :) I guess he just has a lot to say on the subject of listening to the Lord in order to gain Joy.

"Help from the Lord generally comes in increments. He can immediately cure serious illnesses or disabilities or even allow the dead to be raised. But the general pattern is that improvement comes in sequential steps. That plan gives us an opportunity to discover what the Lord expects us to lean. It requires our patience to recognize His timetable. It provides growth from our efforts and trust in Him and the opportunity to express gratitude for the help given.

Often we have difficulty mastering lessons the Lord want us to learn when things are going too well in our lives. When there is suffering or pain, we ask ourselves a lot of questions. Some of them ought to be: What does the Lord want me to learn from this experience? What do I need to do? m What do I need to change? Whom do I need to serve? Or what characteristic must I improve? Pondering and prayer will help us understand what we are to lean from the challenges we are asked to overcome."

Short and Simple

"The more closely you follow the current of divine guidance, the greater will be your happiness here and for eternity."

Elder Scott, "Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy"

I know I quote from this book a lot but it is such a simple book with simple truths that bring everlasting joy. The things Elder Scott talks about really are the most basic, yet profound ways in which we can overcome the obstacles in our lives.

Humility, one of the ESSENTIALS

I know I have talked about humility so much on the "My Lady" blog, I really believe that humility is so essential to acquiring joy in this life as well as gaining eternal life. We can all talk ourselves into believing we are humble or acting humble, but we each need to learn what humility really is and we as "natural men" don't know what that is. We must pray that we will be shown our weaknesses (Ether 12:27) and as we do this we will be shown what they are; remember that often times our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. As we pray to Heavenly Father about what our weaknesses are, He WILL show us, then help us change, and then they truly will be our greatest strengths. Sometimes it can be a shock to find that we have pride in a certain area but as we gain greater humility we will be so grateful that the Lord revealed it to us so that we can weed it out of our lives and become closer to him. These are also HUGE steps in overcoming depression. Ammon says,

"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
-Alma 26:10-12

(Scripture taken from Elder Scott's book, "Finding, Peace, Happiness, and Joy")

Karynn wrote this comment about what helped her during her postpartum depression. She said that eating healthy foods and exercising were key in helping her get through and overcome. Karynn also recommended a book that she said was wonderful and really helped her, Deliverance from Depression by G.G. Vandagriff. -Thank you Karen

I would also like to add that I found when I ate mostly fruits, veggies, nuts and whole grains that the depression faded. I don't eat sugar because if I did my mood would immediately decline.

IT TAKES FAITH AND EFFORT

During my battle with depression I came to the conclusion that the only help I could get to truly overcome this was from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I started getting priesthood blessings from my husband very often and I wrote each blessing down after it was given. After the first blessing I thought my depression would end and I would somehow instantly be happy... not the case.

It took me a few more years to learn how to be happy again. I do believe that had I been better at applying the things I learned right off, that it would have been a quicker process. However, I can be very stubborn so it took me longer than needed. Once I figured out that I need to DO what I learned it has become a great blessing in my life because I now realize the importance of instant application of inspiration.

As I have re-read those blessings I can now see how things have fallen into place and the Lord kept his promises as I kept mine.

I have found so much peace, happiness and joy in hearing inspiration and obeying immediately. I am not always good at this but I am trying harder all of the time. Elder Faust said, "Lehi, teaching his son Jacob, declared: "Men are, that they might have joy..." To achieve this objective, we much "give ear to the living God..." I wish to testify as a living witness that joy does come through listening to the Spirit, for I have experienced it." (Faust, "Voice of the Spirit,"7)

I know that the Lord will help anyone who will come to him with a humble, sincere heart. I do know that we MUST act on what the Lord tells us to do. He won't just change us, we must do our part and then he CAN CHANGE us! This is such an amazing thing! So simple yet it takes a lot of effort.

Please feel free to leave comments. I would love to be there for anyone who needs help with this illness. Have faith in the Lord that he will guide you in the right direction and have faith in yourself that you can do what is needed to overcome depression and live a life full of joy. We are each capable of living the great "Plan of Happiness" but we must put forth the effort, faith, desire and diligence to do so.

One of the reasons why I thought of doing this blog was because I was reading in Daryl Hoole's book and she had an entire chapter dedicated to helping women with depression. I will start by putting some of her daughters tips on this blog. The daughter that Daryl is talking about in her book had sever depression for 15 years (I think). She has done a lot of research on it and as put a lot of techniques to the test. I hope some of that might help. I will then put a few of the techniques that helped me. Please feel free to add to this blog by emailing me at drennanbakerblog@yahoo.com or by leaving a comment. Thank you.