1. Remind yourself of your positive qualities. take a few minutes to write down your positive qualities, a self-portrait of you at your best.
You should start by remembering your positive qualities, strengths, skills, interests, preferences, likes, and dislikes relating to everything around you. Try to recall what makes you you. Start to paint an internal picture of yourself when you are well and at your baseline self. Then, using these qualities, construct a statement for yourself (only) that describes who you are, what you are about. Keep that in the back of your mind and use it to boost yourself at times when you are down or overwhelmed by your circumstances.
2. Learn to accept compliments and praise. Many of us reflexively respond to compliments with a polite rebuttal — “it was nothing” or “you’re just saying that to be nice”. Depression makes this process more vicious. Praise conflicts with our negative self-image, and depression urges us to reject it automatically because we couldn’t possibly deserve it.
3. Take pride in your accomplishments. Take a few minutes to remind yourself of good things you’ve accomplished, things that you’re justifiably proud of. Look at your past and present, brainstorm a bit.
You might feel a nagging negative impulse urging you to dismiss accomplishments (“that wasn’t a big deal”) and deny yourself pride. Resist that impulse. Allow yourself to feel pride.
Be totally honest. These should be things that you truly consider accomplishments, things that matter to you. Some might be very small things. Include grand public triumphs, but also include times that you were kind and supportive to someone in need. This isn’t a job interview, it’s just you being honest with yourself.
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