Depression sucks, but doubting oneself is absolutely worst.

Depression messes with your head. Now as bunkers as that may sound, it does. Thoughts of what you can't do float through your head. It's almost like, building your own obstacle courses between you and your goals. Could you imagine trying to drive across a bridge to get home from work but getting out the car with caution tape, and barrows to block your way. As senseless as this sounds this is how self-doubt works. It's like your goals are your home while yourself doubt is the barrow and the tapes standing in your way. That is what happens with self-doubt. You start building your own road blocks that stand in your way.

This is how depression and self-doubt work. Depression comes with many symptoms, some being emotional, while others are physical. The word itself can be used in many ways. It's used for momentary sadness within reasonable time limits. Which is different from the clinical concerns of depression. Clinically Depression is a serious medical illness that has negative effects on people's emotions. These emotions have an effect on how they think and act. In layman's terms it can refer to the loss of motivation. It could be the concerns with the mother who never gets out of bed while the children run free taking care of their selves. The uncle who just can't get their lives together. You know the one who lives in the basement and drinks most days. It can also be described as feelings of sadness and moments of tearfulness.

Clinically it could be much more. It could be feelings of sadness or having depressed mood, plus more. More such as loss of interest or pleasure, changes in appetite weight loss or gain, sleeping to much or too little, loss of energy, increase in purposeless movement, feelings of worthlessness, difficulty thinking, and thoughts of death or suicide.

While all these symptoms are a lot to manage, it is important that we learn techniques to manage them. All these symptoms are difficult but self-doubt is the most difficult. This is because it's your own thought tricking you. Writing, simply writing your thoughts can help you organize your thoughts and challenge self-doubt thoughts. When you say things such as, I can't work out and become a better version of myself. You make that your truth but by writing it you can acknowledge it. You than can write an affirmation to empower the truth you would prefer such as I make choices that benefit my goals. Making and writing the positive affirmation a few times changes your thoughts to accomplish your goal.

• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Parekh, R. (2017) What is Depression. Website: