Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday Fists. Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength exercise that will help fix the thoughts, emotions, and actions that drain you of the

mental strength you need to be your best. Now, let's dive in today's episode. Today, I want to talk

about how to stay mentally strong when you're feeling depressed. But before I jump into talking about

my favorite exercise for combating depression, I want to clear up a common misconception.

People often mistakenly assume that depression is a sign of weakness. It's not.

Anyone can develop depression and it's not due to some sort of character flaw and it's not a

sign that someone is lazy or incompetent. There's a whole bunch of genetic, social,

and emotional factors that contribute to depression. But depression's often misunderstood.

Some people think that you're either depressed or you're not depressed. But the truth is,

there are lots of different kinds of depression, and it can vary greatly in severity. You might have seasonal affective disorder, for example, which is a type of depression that

only strikes during the winter.

Or you could have major depression, which affects almost every area of your life, like

your appetite, your ability to sleep, and even your ability to work.

Showering, getting dressed, and eating sometimes feel too

overwhelming to do. People with mild depression might not necessarily look depressed to the outside

world, but they might be battling in an internal struggle that they keep really well hidden.

Other people appear more irritable than sad when they're depressed. They might have a really

short fuse and little tolerance for people or situations that they find frustrating. And depression

is pretty common. It's estimated that about 7% of the adult population has a depressive episode

in any given year. I predict that that statistic is probably a lot higher during a pandemic.

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