Re-regulating a Nervous System: A Guide for Depressed and Anxious Catholics
- Martina DaSilva
- 18 hours ago
- 6 min read
What follows are just a few suggestions that have worked for me as a Catholic formerly struggling with anxiety and depression. Of course, I use "Catholic" in the title not to exclude anyone, but to highlight the fact that certain parts of these strategies are deeply rooted in Catholic identity, and a Catholic worldview would be the most helpful for fully integrating these suggestions and gaining the most from them.
These methods will work for you, regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof, but if you happen to be interested in learning more about the Catholic faith, browse crossculturefl.com for more on the Catholic worldview --or even better, visit your local Catholic Church and ask for the Director of Faith Formation or the pastor.
Let's begin.
Change Your Environment
There are two environments to consider —the external and the internal. The external environment is simply the world you live in with all its relationships, responsibilities, dynamics, and difficulties. The internal environment is your thoughts, feelings, self-esteem, individuality and sense of Self.
What you surround yourself with will have an immediate and lasting effect on how you feel and respond inside you. It will affect your perception of your life and your emotional state and your behaviors.
Here are some examples of external environments and how they affect your internal environment:
A room that is heavily disorganized will make it harder to focus.
An office culture that is inflexible and repressive will rob you of identity.
A relationship that is indifferent or seeks only to use you physically will drive you to loneliness and isolation.
A hometown with little to offer will kill your ambition.
When you are dealing with anxiety and depression, change of environment ought to be step one to healing.
Change of environment is not limited to a mere change of scenery, however. This is related to the people and situations around you too. Hanging out with negative people, draining people, toxic people, people who are only interested in drama, and the like, puts an immense weight on the mind and also clouds your judgment. It's useful to evaluate your relationships as well as your surroundings.
This step doesn’t require becoming a hermit or moving away. On the one hand, if you are in a dangerous or toxic situation —by all means get away. But on the other hand, if you cannot change your living situation, create an oasis for yourself. A small corner of your room will do. Set it apart, use a small desk or table, and have a chair and a lamp readily available. Currently, I'm sitting in a roughly 3'x5' space in the corner of my room. It doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be set apart for this specific purpose.
This part is so important: place beautiful items or religious imagery around it. Nature pictures, a living plant, a picture of your patron saint or a particular devotion you might have ( I have the Divine Mercy, the Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph in various accessible places along with trinkets and books that I have found comfort in). If you're an artist, place your own work around you, too. Whatever things are good, true, and beautiful, surround yourself with them.
The goal is to connect with in your life and to have that as an anchor point where, regardless of what the day holds, you have a serene and totally personal place to retreat to. A sacred space.
Create a Routine (And Stick to It!)
Oddly, discipline can actually be a natural antidepressant. Having self-control and consistent discipline in one's life has been linked to lower rates of depression and anxiety and having a routine is vital to regulating your nervous system. Where dysregulation is caused by a constant or prolonged state of instability, uncertainty, or unpredictability, re-regulating the nervous system relies on just the opposite --predictability and rhythm. Benefit from this reality by creating (and sticking to) a routine.
Remember the sacred space we just made? Now is the time to use it. Dedicate a time (I recommend first thing in the morning) to just sit in your space. You don't have to do anything (yet) if you're just beginning this journey. Just work on the baby steps of making it a habit.
A routine you may consider:
Wake up
Make your bed
Brush your teeth and wash your face
Sit in your space for a few minutes
Put your devices away. Look at the beautiful things you've intentionally placed there. You don't have to pray (not yet). Just allow the wonder of the ordinary to fill your mind. Do this daily or as often as your schedule allows.
As you become more and more used to this physical routine, begin to add in a spiritual routine.
For me, I began praying the rosary every day, same time, same place, same prayers. I still keep this a regular part of my day. It has been so good for me that eventually I felt drawn to incorporate scripture, as well as keeping a prayer journal (just for prayers not for personal musings).
Remember, you are taking baby steps, and it's okay to begin with just a prayer straight from the heart asking God for his presence and blessing throughout the day. I would entreat you, though, to be open to where God wants to grow you, and follow where he leads. The healing will happen in the midst of all these things, not apart from them.
Embrace the Moment
One thing I’ve learned in my journey out of anxiety and depression is that too much emphasis on the future brings anxiety and too much emphasis on the past brings depression. We must make an effort to live in the now.
Building off of routine, make an intentional habit of noticing the moment you are in. There is a very practical reason for this: When your body is fighting against you by making you anxious or depressed, it’s not an easy battle to win --primarily because the battle is not happening in front of you. You can't fight an invisible enemy in the past or the future. Practicing being present when you are already calm is the key to being able to do it when the anxiety sets back in.
Here are some things you can do daily: Look at the closest thing next to you and identify it. What color is it? What shape? How does it feel? Hold it in your hand if you can. The main thing here is to intentionally spend time with it.
As you become better at this, stop using objects altogether. Notice your feelings and thoughts instead. Really pay attention to them. Ask yourself, “how am I feeling right now?” and spend time identifying that feeling and answering that question. Set an alert or reminder on your phone three times throughout the day. It doesn’t need to take more than 5 minutes each time, but these are so important, because in doing this work you are rewiring the hardware inside you to stay in the present.
Consider Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The brain is an amazing organ. While a lifetime of bad or painful experiences may have taught you to be afraid, anxious, depressed, and unhappy with your life, the good news is that God created our brains with the capacity to unlearn those responses and relearn good and healthy coping strategies for when life becomes too much. The term for this incredible ability is neuroplasticity. This is where a good therapist comes in.
Honestly, reading blogs and articles can only do so much. You can get all the pro-tips you want on the internet, but the game-changer for me was finally finding an excellent therapist. The consistent reinforcement in Cognitive Behavioral techniques and, frankly, the accountability in doing the internal work had profound impacts on my life and my mind. I’m happier and emotionally healthier now than I’ve ever been in years past. My anxiety and depression has virtually disappeared.
It can happen for you, too. I promise.
If you’ve been thinking –even fleetingly—about starting therapy, please consider this your sign to pursue that avenue. Not all therapists are a good fit, and you might get discouraged if the first few don’t work out. Keep trying. Come back here for encouragement and support on that journey any time you’re feeling like it will never pan out for you. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve felt that way –and thanks to therapy, I now know that feelings aren’t facts.
Conclusion
God sees you and he loves you. Most importantly, he desires your healing. He sees your struggle with anxiety or depression, and honestly, He has equipped you with everything you need right now to begin to heal from it. Remember you have free will. That can be a hard thing to believe if your situation seems hopeless, but it's true. Use that free will to make the decision today to begin.
Start small. Start imperfectly. Just start. Create your safe, sacred, and beautiful space. Establish a routine for yourself. Make an effort to focus on just this moment, nothing more and really notice your thoughts and emotions throughout the day. Finally, consider walking alongside a professional who can help you learn what strategies work best for you. Taking these baby steps daily will lead you into a future you never had the courage to dream of and will give you the courage to dream even further for yourself. I wish you the very best on your healing journey.