Weekly Depression Rating Scale

To see if you might be clinically depressed, please read through the following list and rate how frequently you’ve experienced each symptom over the past week by placing a check mark in the appropriate column.

Are You Depressed?

During the past week	None or a little of the time (0-2 days)	Some of the time (3-5 days)	Most of the time (6-7 days)
Waking up at night or in the early morning, unable to return to sleep
Very restless sleep
Loss of energy; fatigue
Decreased sex drive
Unable to enjoy life; loss of zest for life
Withdrawing from others
Strong thoughts of suicide
Loss of appetite
Memory problems, forgetfulness, or poor concentration
Feeling irritable or easily frustrated
Feeling of sadness, hopelessness, or unhappiness
Sleeping a lot
Feeling of low self-esteem
Apathy or low motivation

If you checked more than five of the items in the “some of the time” or “most of the time” columns, you may be struggling with clinical depression and, would probably be helped by seeking a diagnosis from a health care professional.

Chest Expander

While standing, widen your stance and stretch your arms up and to the side, making the figure of an X, while breathing in deeply. Exhale as you bring your arms back down to your sides.

Neck Roll

While sitting or standing, drop your chin to you chest, then slowly roll you head around 360 degrees. Then roll it in the opposite direction.

Chest Shrug

While Sitting or standing, raise your shoulders back. Imagine your shoulders blades touching. Next, drop your shoulders. Do this exercise slowly, several times.

Affirmations 1

• I value everything about me
• I deserve respect and happiness
• I am unique
• I am free to be me
• I am worth it
• I love who I am
• I am attractive to others
• It is easy to love me
• Love is all around me
• Love is always flowing through my life
• I love expressing myself
• I always speak what I feel
• I love my sexuality
• I know my feeling and I know myself
• I believe in me
• I need only my own approval
• my achievements get better and better
• I deal with everything well
• I love new experiences
• I speak my truth
• It is safe for me to speak my feelings
• What I say is worth hearing
• My voice is head
• There is much of life to explore
• I am free to move forward
• I am at peace with myself

Your Childhood Kitchen

You don't need to start writing about hugh issues like freedom or the history of the word. Instead, start with a more concrete topic and really explore it.

Describe the kitchen in your childhood home. Consider, for example, what the refrigerator looked like, was there linoleum on the floor? Were there always dirty dishes on the counter, or did every surface shine? Who cooked there, and what else went on in that room.

Gratitude

Next, using the same kind of descriptions, let's take on a broader subject: what are you grateful for? Remember, you can go in any direction you want – just write continuously.

Beyond Words

1.      Set aside the next few minutes. Find a comfortable, quiet place where you will feel safe and are not likely to be disturbed. Take the phone off the hook, take off your shoes. Begin to relax.

2.      Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Gently close your eyes but remain alert.

3.      Tell yourself that you would like to begin to remember certain life experiences, those particular times when your senses were so deeply involved in an activity or event that:

·        It seems timeless. There was only the present time.

·        You felt unencumbered by the past memories and future anticipation.

·        You were being instead of doing.

You may call them peak experiences. Your experiences could be visual ones – that unforgettable sunset at Yosemite, the time a pod of dolphins skirted your fishing boat, your child first step. Your experiences might have been auditory – that incredible performance by Pavarotti, the sound of wind in a downhill ski run at Sun Valley, your child’s first word.

4.      As you mind sifts, sorts and categorizes these peak memories, one in particular will assert itself strongly. Focus on it. Now, holding that memory in your mind, begin to examine it closely, minutely. Let the memory resonate throughout your entire body and being. Can you sense the overall feeling of being present in that experience? Can you recall the timeless quality of just being in an event that you were not trying to control, shape, fiddle with, or judge?

5.      Let yourself go and once again relive this timeless moment of presentness. Do not interfere with it. Do not edit it into something more than it was. Gently stop and open your eyes. Take a pause to feel the experience of the body and mind.

And when you have finish reliving the moment, gently stop and open your eyes. Take a pause to feel the experience of the body mind.