小佛爷说
心情抑郁时，人的精力、能动性和情绪都会陷入恶性循环。精力越差，完成的事情就会越少，导致情绪更差，如此循环往复。富有成效的工作可以帮助你打破并逆转这一循环。本文给出了具体做法。
过去两年里，为了怀上二胎我经历了数轮不成功的生育治疗，其中的压力和伤痛对我的情绪产生了无尽负面影响，导致我陷入极度失落中。有一段时间，我一直感觉很压抑。但我还是坚持让自己正常工作，并通过下面列出的心理学训练技巧，保持着一定的工作效率。
情绪低落时，首要任务是照顾好自己。工作效率并不比心理健康更重要，不过，学会如何在心情低落时有效工作，可以帮助你摆脱抑郁。如果你看到这个话题的第一反应是格外有压力，那么请耐心听我解释，富有成效的工作会如何，以及为何有助于应对低落。
在人类进化过程中，所有情感都有其目的。悲伤、抑郁和冷漠会让我们停下来，后退一步并深度反省，从而保护自我。我们有时需要躲开危险，质疑看似有意义的事，不在一件事上纠缠。但身陷抑郁时，我们会难以摆脱这种自我保护的低迷状态，情绪无法起到保护作用。这时的低落情绪不再是提醒我们质疑生活意义的信号，反而会让一切都变得毫无意义。情绪是一套信号系统，让人感受周围环境，判断前进的方向。但如果情绪持久不散，便失去了作为信号的指示功能。
心情抑郁时，人的精力、能动性和情绪都会陷入恶性循环。精力越差，完成的事情就会越少，导致情绪更差，如此循环往复。富有成效的工作可以帮助你打破并逆转这一循环。具体做法如下。
1、规划每天的成就与快乐来源
两类活动可以保证我们的情绪健康：带来成就感，和带来快乐的活动。一种经过大量研究的抑郁症治疗方法——“行为激活”，就是基于这一原则。
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英文原文
Over the past two years, I’ve slogged through many, many unsuccessful rounds of fertility treatments trying to have a second child. To say the stress and grief from this has affected my mood and anxiety levels would be an understatement. It’s been hard not to plunge into a deep depression, and I’ve felt depressed for periods. Yet I’ve managed to stay reasonably functional and productive. How? Using tips from my psychology training that I’ve outlined here.
If you’re depressed, your number one job is to look after yourself. Productivity is secondary to your mental health. However, learning how to be productive when you’re feeling down can help with depression recovery. If your first reaction to this topic is that it feels like extra pressure, stick with me while I explain how and why being productive can help with depression.
All emotions have an evolved purpose. Sad, depressed, apathetic emotions cause us to pause, withdraw, and reflect deeply. This has self-protective aspects. Sometimes it’s wise to cocoon away from danger. Sometimes it’s wise to question what we find meaning in and not to keep plowing ahead doing the same things. But in depression, this self-protective, withdrawn, low-energy mode essentially gets stuck “on,” and becomes unhelpful. Instead of depressed feelings signaling the need to question whether what we’re doing with our lives is meaningful enough, everything starts to feel meaningless. Emotions are a signaling system. They help let you know when you’re safe versus in danger or heading in the right or the wrong direction. However, when they become prolonged, they lose their effectiveness as signals.
When people are depressed their energy, activity, and mood levels decrease in a spiral. The lower energy you feel, the less you do, the worse you feel emotionally, and the cycle continues. Being productive can help interrupt that negative spiral and turn it around. Here’s where to start.
1. Schedule daily sources of accomplishment and pleasure.
For mood health, we need two types of activities: those that provide a sense of accomplishment and those that provide pleasure. A well-researched therapy for depression called “Behavioral Activation” is based on this principle.
艾丽斯·博伊斯（Alice Boyes）| 文
艾丽斯·博伊斯博士曾是临床心理学医生，如今专事写作，是《健康心理工具箱》（The Anxiety Toolkit）和《焦虑工具箱》（The Anxiety Toolkit）等书的作者。
孙莉莉 | 译 蒋荟蓉 | 校 孙燕 | 编辑
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