Coping with Depression
Understanding what you feel is a core skill in coping with depression. Often when we’re down, emotions feel blurry or “just bad,” and it’s hard to say what’s actually going on inside. Learning to notice and name emotions gives you clarity, choice, and a way forward instead of being overwhelmed by a fog of feelings.
Why Identifying Emotions Matters
Emotions influence how we think, behave, and respond to life’s ups and downs. With depression, emotions can feel flat, confusing, or heavy; but they still carry meaning. When you learn to identify and name what you’re feeling:
You gain self-awareness and insight into your inner experience.
You can respond intentionally rather than react automatically.
You build emotional vocabulary, which supports communication and self-care.
You create a foundation for changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns.
Step 1: Notice the Feeling
Start by pausing and asking yourself: “What am I feeling right now?”
Depression can make feelings feel numb or unclear, so begin with broad categories like “sad,” “frustrated,” “anxious,” or “empty.” Once you’ve chosen a general feeling, you can zoom in for more precision.
Step 2: Use an Emotion Wheel
A feelings/emotion wheel is a chart that helps you move from general emotional states to more specific ones. You begin with broad emotions at the center—like sad, angry, fearful, joyful, calm—and then explore outward to find more precise words that match your experience.
Here’s how to use it effectively:
Look at the center to identify the broad emotion you feel.
Move outward to find more specific words that fit how it feels.
Notice if more than one emotion appears to help with identifying complex feelings.
Circle or write down the words you choose.
Using an emotion wheel helps expand your emotional vocabulary and makes your feelings easier to notice, understand, and talk about.
Step 3: Tune Into Your Body
Emotions don’t just live in the mind, they show up physically.
Ask yourself: “Where do I feel this in my body?” “Is it tightness, heaviness, warmth, or tension?”
Body sensations offer clues that help confirm what you’re feeling emotionally. This connection deepens awareness and brings feelings into clearer focus. To start focus your attention on different parts of your body, from head to toe. As you guide your attention through your body, try to identify what sensations are present. These sensations can act as road signs, guiding you toward naming your emotional state.
Step 4: Reflect on the “Why”
Once you’ve named a feeling, gently ask: “Why do I feel this right now?”
This isn’t about finding the one perfect reason. It’s about noticing what might be contributing—situations, thoughts, memories, or physical experiences. Reflection creates understanding and reduces emotional overload.
Emotion Logging: A Simple Journal Tool
An emotion log is a structured way to track your feelings over time. It’s a form of journaling that helps you notice patterns, triggers, and how your emotions shift across the day or week.
Here’s what an emotion log typically includes:
Date & Time
Emotion(s) you felt
What happened before you felt that way
Intensity (e.g., 1–10)
Thoughts that came with the emotion
What you did next
By writing this down regularly, you begin to see connections between situations, thoughts, and your emotional responses and that insight gives you more control over your experience instead of feeling stuck inside it.
Daily Check-Ins With Tools
In addition to paper or digital journaling, emotional awareness apps like How We Feel, let you regularly check in with your emotions using prompts and tracking. These tools make it easy to notice patterns over weeks and months so you can see change over time and share insights with a clinician or support person if you want.
How to Feel Feelings Video
In this video, we talk about what it really means to feel your feelings instead of pushing them away or judging them. You’ll learn why emotions show up, how to notice them in your body, and simple ways to sit with them without feeling overwhelmed. This is a gentle guide to building emotional awareness, self-compassion, and healthier ways to move through difficult moments.
Practice Tips
✔ Use the emotion wheel first thing in the morning or last thing at night to ground your day in awareness.
✔ Track at least one emotional moment each day on your emotion log; small consistency beats big occasional efforts.
✔ Name without judgment: words like “I feel lonely” or “I feel discouraged” are not “good” or “bad”; they’re information.
✔ Notice patterns over time especially what situations reliably lead to certain emotions.
Final Conclusion
Emotional awareness isn’t about having perfect control over how you feel. It’s about learning the language of your inner experience so that emotions feel less confusing and more manageable. With clear labels and a place to record them, you gain insight that builds resilience and supports recovery from depression.