Anxiety and depression. Some advice.

You seem to still worry. Don't stop the medicines take the guidance of your doctor.

Identify your negative thoughts. Some might immediately spring to mind, but if you have trouble pinpointing them, consider journaling. Write down a sentence or two describing the negative thoughts whenever you have them. • Look for thoughts that make you feel sad or discouraged, such as: blaming or shaming yourself for things that are not your fault, interpreting simple mistakes as indicative of personal failings, or imagining small problems are bigger than they are ("making a mountain out of a molehill"). Stop the negative thought immediately. Once you've identified your negative thought, counteract it by saying something positive to yourself. For example, instead of saying, "I'm having a really bad morning," try saying something like, "This morning is rough, but my day will get better." Keep your mind on the positive. If you're struggling with this, keep this one trick in mind: never say something to yourself that you wouldn't say to someone else. Remind yourself to stay positive and it may just become a habit. Pay attention to your vocabulary. Do you find yourself frequently using absolute terms? For example, "I'll never be able to do this," or "I always mess this up." Absolute terms are often exaggerated and leave no room for explanation or understanding. • Your vocabulary includes what you speak out loud to others, as well as how you talk to yourself, whether verbally or mentally. Remove overly negative words from your vocabulary. Extreme terms like "terrible" and "disaster" shouldn't apply to minor annoyances and inconveniences. Toning down your language can help you put negative experiences into a healthier perspective. Replace these words with encouraging thoughts or praise. • When you do catch yourself using one of those words, immediately replace it in your thoughts with a less extreme term. "Terrible" can become "unfortunate" or "not as good as I had hoped." "Disaster" can become "inconvenience" or "challenge Turn the bad into good. Few situations are totally good or totally bad. Finding the good in an upsetting situation helps bad experiences seem less stark. If you find yourself starting to think a negative thought, immediately stop and consider a positive aspect. • For example: Imagine your computer stopped working, forcing you to replace an internal component. While inconvenient, the experience also gave you the opportunity to learn a new skill or reaffirm an existing skill. Start your day by thinking of 5 good things. They don't have to be lofty or ambitious things. They can be as simple as the smell of a good cup of coffee or the sound of your favorite song. Thinking of these things and saying them out loud means you start each day focusing on the positive. This creates an uplifting foundation for the rest of the day, making it more difficult for negativity to grow. • While you may feel silly verbalizing positive statements or affirmations, studies have shown that saying positive things out loud will actually make you more likely to believe what you're saying.  This can make you happier and more focused if you're vocalizing positive thoughts. Enjoy your day. Though you may be busy, little things can keep your spirits high and give your mind fewer reasons to stray into negative habits. Don't take things so seriously. Allow yourself to relax, laugh, and smile. Take opportunities to socialize and surround yourself with supportive positive people. • If you find yourself feeling stressed, take a short break and think of something other than the source of your stress. Practice healthy habits. Negative thinking and stress both reinforce one another. While negative thinking can create stress, other unhealthy living habits can contribute to the problem as well. Make an effort to eat fresh, nutritious food whenever possible, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep. • You may find that exercise is actually a good way to distract your mind from negative thoughts. • Avoid smoking, excessive drinking, or any other substance habits that put strain on your body. Control your environment. You are not helpless to your thoughts. If you're unhappy with something, change it. Playing music, layering clothes so you are never too warm or too cold, and adjusting lighting are just a few ways you can empower yourself against the feelings of helplessness associated with stress. • After making the changes, congratulate yourself on the improvement to your mood. Actively adjusting your mindset will make it easier to remove negative thoughts in the first place. Decompress and relax in the evening. Find a quiet, comfortable place and set aside time to relax. Mentally review your day and identify five positive things you experienced. Say each positive thing out loud or write them down in a journal. • You might also consider writing down things you're thankful for. In doing so, you're more likely to begin seeing the positive in things.

Find a counselor or therapist. If you feel overwhelmed by your negative experiences, you may benefit greatly from speaking to a counselor, in addition to practicing positive thinking exercises. Look for a therapist trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. He or she will be able to help you train your mind to think positively.

Dear Ms You seem be wondering if you are fully cured from your anxiety and depression. In these conditions, the important thing is not to get desperate about getting cured. The more desperate you get to rid of anxiety and depression, the harder it becomes. That's the paradox. The focus has to be on treatment and managing symptoms so effectively that it doesn't affect you in anyway. Hence it is important not to focus too much on medication. Although, it helps, it's not the cure. It's only part of the solution. Treatment has to be holistic, addressing your coping techniques, lifestyle modifications like relaxation, addressing any underlying family, relationship or any other stresses including any physical health problems. I would recommend you cognitive behavior therapy, wherein you will understand the symptoms in a different context and start to get alternative ways of thinking, which will bring about positive and long standing changes in your coping, thinking, feelings, emotions, behavior and even relationships.

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Consult a counselor or therapist. If you feel overwhelmed by your negative experiences, you may benefit greatly from speaking to a counselor, in addition to practicing positive thinking exercises. Look for a therapist trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.