Stay well

إضغط هنا للإطـلاع باللغـه العربيـه

Want to get on with your life?

Once you're completely better you'll be impatient to get on with your life and will want to do things at the same speed as before your illness.

Are you recovering?

It's understandable that you want to get better quickly. After all, your illness has left no obvious damage and you don't seem to have been weakened in any way externally. However, compare your depression with a physical illness and it will perhaps be easier for you to understand that:

• You must look after yourself during this critical phase

Imagine that you've broken your thighbone and that your leg has been in a cast for three months. The muscles will be weak when the cast comes off as they haven't been active for three months. Only once the thigh muscles have been exercised will you be able to use your leg again.

The broken leg can be compared with depression. After depression you will need to do some exercise and you will need time to recover.

You are still fragile:

• Tears may come easily
• You tolerate less stress than in the past
• You get more tired than before when carrying out your normal physical and mental activities

If you've been admitted to the hospital you may be going home now. Although it's a happy event, you may be worried about it. Perhaps you're wondering about things like:

• Will I cope?
• Am I really better?
• Can I function normally again?

Remember that you're still vulnerable and that it's extremely important that you look after yourself:

• You will need approximately a month off work after going home from the hospital. Starting from the date you and your doctor decide that all the symptoms of depression have disappeared.

This period will give you time to get back to normal gradually. It is best to slowly step up those activities that make you happy - both physically and mentally.