How You Act When You're Feeling Depressed, According To Your Zodiac Sign
Know the symptoms.
Unsplash Depression can take a LOT out of you. One minute you're up, you're happy, you've got a ton of motivation to kick today's butt, and then the next... you're down and all you want to do is go back to bed. I get it, I really do. When you're dealing with depression, it feels like every day is a constant fight.
Not only do you not know if you're going to have a good day or a bad day when you wake up, but you sometimes have to push through your depression's negative thoughts and emotions just to make it through the day making to bed just isn't in your schedule.
And, look, I know that I am not the greatest person to be giving you advice on how to deal with your depression when I’m still getting the hang of it every day myself, but I do know some simple techniques that work, whether you've been dealing with depression for a few months or a few years. One of the most important things to have is a support system. A support system is a group of friends and family that are always there when you need them.
Whether that means someone to pick up the phone when you can't sleep because your mind keeps racing or someone to remind you just how resilient you are when it feels like you could fall apart any moment, your support system is your backbone; your strength when you have none. Lots of people have been successful despite their depression, too.
Breaking out of your routine is another technique you should have in your arsenal when dealing with depression. I know that some of my own worst days are the ones where I get up, go to work, go home, and go to bed, just like every day. But the days when I am able to break out of my routine and do something new, like go to a coffee shop in the afternoon or take a walk while I listen to music after work, I feel better.
Straying from your daily routine is a breath of fresh air and it helps get your mind out of the rut that it gets stuck in when you're depressed. But even if you have all of these tips and tricks tucked away for later use, it can still be hard to get yourself to a point where you feel like a functioning human being. And while you may be feeling differently when you're depressed, the outward signs can be harder to detect.
Everyone deals with depression differently, which means if you don't reach out to your support group or a trusted professional, you could be battling it all alone. But depending on what your zodiac sign is, you might be able to tell when someone you love, or even you, might be depressed. You already read your daily horoscope, so this is just another way for you to get more acquainted with yourself through astrology.
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ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 19)
When Aries gets depressed, you never see the crying and helplessness that many other people exhibit. Instead, you see anger and a lot of it. Aries doesn’t want you to ask her how she’s doing when she gets this way because chances are pretty good that she’ll end up ripping your head off. She doesn’t intentionally take her bad mood out on you, but if you’re the closest person at the time, you’ll end up being her punching bag.
Aries might want to spend some time with her friends or she might just want to stay at home, but let that be her decision and hers alone. The worst thing you can do is try to plan things for her to make her feel better. Not only will buying her ice cream or taking her out for a pedicure make her feel worse, but it’ll make her feel like she isn’t capable of taking care of herself, even when she’s depressed.
RELATED: 13 Brutal Truths About Loving An Aries (As Written By An Aries)
TAURUS (Apr 20 - May 20)
Taurus isn’t very good at dealing with big emotions because she is often the one handling the emotions of others. So when she feels sad and downright terrible, she doesn’t really know what else to do. She might eat until she feels better or stay in bed all day, but she knows that can only help for so long. She knows that eventually, she will have to get out of bed.
Because Taurus is so used to being there for her friends when they are feeling depressed, she will often go back to this caretaker personality because it makes her feel good to help someone. She might treat you with more kindness than usual or ask if you’re doing okay, but in reality, she needs someone to say these things to her. She might not always want to share what’s making her so down, but she appreciates the sentiment.
GEMINI (May 21 - June 20)
Gemini hates looking like she’s losing control over her emotions, so when she’s feeling depressed, she tries to stomp those feelings down as far as she can inside herself. Depression is not synonymous with weakness, but to her, it is. She would rather just go about her day and hope everything that she’s feeling passes instead of having to address it.
Gemini is good at making her friends feel better when they are depressed because she always knows exactly what to say to help them ease some of those feelings. However, she can’t seem to do the same for herself. She has a dual-sided monologue going on her head when she’s depressed: the side that tells her it’s okay to feel down and the side telling her to just suck it up already. She often doesn’t know which side to listen to.
CANCER (June 21 - July 22)
Cancer has a pretty good grasp on her emotions and isn’t afraid to let her friends and family know that she’s feeling depressed. She would rather put it all out in the open, so she can stop worrying about it and start coping, instead of hiding it away.
Plus, sometimes being depressed is nothing more than just having an off day. And nothing fixes a crappy day like all of your favorite things, right?
Being in touch with her emotions means Cancer knows the healing powers of a really good cry. She’ll bundle up in her bed with comfort food and a good movie, and just let herself be sad. Of course, if this persists for a while, she might need her support system to check in on her (to make sure it’s nothing more serious), but a day or two of being down usually helps her feel better.
LEO (July 23 - Aug 22)
Leo does every emotion big and depression is no different. She can sometimes be a drama queen about it, but she really just doesn’t want anyone to forget that she’s feeling crappy. She might ignore all of your calls or blow your phone up with texts and sad-face emojis, but however she does it, she just wants you to know that she isn’t feeling like herself and wants a friend.
Retail therapy is always one of Leo’s favorite ways to get rid of depression, but it’s not the only thing that helps her. Anything that gets her mind off of what she’s feeling is really important. The more she thinks about what is making her depressed, the more depressed she’ll get. And the only she hates more than not feeling like herself is not being in control of her emotions.
VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sep 22)
It’s common for Virgo to overthink things and when she’s depressed, that is exactly what she does. She tries to pull apart every thought and feeling she has when she’s down in the dumps, hoping she can wrap her head around what she’s feeling. Of course, there isn’t always a reason for feeling depressed, which only makes it worse for her.
Virgo will criticize herself for getting too caught up in things that don’t matter (even though being depressed does matter) if she can’t find an answer to it. She’ll try to convince herself that she’s overreacting instead of seeking help. She feels like being depressed makes her look weak and having to ask for help from family and friends doesn’t help. This constant criticism and conflict within her will end up making it more serious.
LIBRA (Sept 23 - Oct 22)
Libra always tries to keep herself in balance, which not only includes having a balanced life, but also balanced emotions. She’s never been one to have big emotional outbursts because to her, it means there’s something wrong. But no one can help being depressed, so when she starts feeling sad and can’t control it, she goes to her (metaphorical) First Aid kit to heal herself.
Even though she’s all about balance, sometimes the best thing for a Libra to get out of her funk is to ride this unfamiliar emotion out ‘til the end. Getting out of the house, changing her scenery, spending time with friends doing what they want are all ways she helps fight depression. This tipping of the scales helps stop her from worrying so much about what she’s feeling and just enjoying something new for a while.
SCORPIO (Oct 23 - Nov 21)
Scorpio believes that the only way to get out of the hell that is depression is to go straight through hell. There’s none of this “ignore it, it’ll only make you feel worse” crap. When she’s depressed, she faces it head on because she knows that sometimes, you need to just get through the crappy days for the good days to show up again.
For Scorpio, this means listening to sad music, watching depressing movies, and letting the depression eat away at her. This seems like a terrible idea, but it somehow works for her. She lets herself feel sad for about a week and then she shakes herself off and goes back to being her old self. This method is meant to make her stronger, so that she learns from the experience.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 - Dec 19)
Sagittarius absolutely hates feeling upset in any way because it makes her feel like a totally different person. She’s usually so carefree and happy – and her happiness is contagious – that whenever she’s feeling depressed, she feels like she’s just sucking all the good out of the room. Of course, her depression isn’t as obvious as other signs’ so it might only be obvious to her when she’s feeling this way.
She might do little things to make herself feel better, like treating herself to a slice of coffee cake with her coffee or sleeping in on the weekend, but that’s pretty much the extent. Any time spent wallowing or crying isn’t going to do Sagittarius any good, so why should she do it? She likes to remind herself that life is way too short to be sad all the time, so she just wants to get back to her old self ASAP.
CAPRICORN (Dec 20 - Jan 19)
Capricorn and depression are a very volatile pair. Capricorn believes that she should be able to manage anything life throws at her, even if it’s something as crippling as depression. She might try to shake it off or tell herself that she’s just embarrassing herself by being sad, but however she does it, she does not tolerate depressive episodes.
Of course, Capricorn’s staunch denial means nothing to depression. She can refuse to succumb all she wants, but that only makes her feel worse. Eventually, she’ll realize that she’s hit rock bottom and that she ignored some pretty big signs that her depression was getting worse. This might make her feel even MORE depressed, but only when she’s hit her lowest low will she consider asking for help.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
When Aquarius faces depression, it feels like a toxin in her body that she just wants to get out. It can not only mess with her mind, but it can also make her feel sick to her stomach, give her terrible headaches, and make her whole body feel achy. This combination of side effects makes her temper very short and it’s not uncommon for her to take it out on her friends and family.
She tries to be there as best she can when her friends are depressed, but when she’s feeling depressed, she feels totally helpless and lost. You can tell she’s depressed when she isolates herself more than usual and when she stops caring about eating or her appearance. She can exhibit classic outward signs of depression, but it’s the inner signs that are hardest to see and hardest on her.
PISCES (Feb 19 - Mar 20)
When Pisces is depressed, she desperately wants someone to comfort her and relate to her. She wants someone to tell her that they totally understand what she’s going through and have a game plan to kick her depression in the butt all laid out. Of course, not everyone deals with depression the same way so when she doesn’t get exactly what she needs, it makes her feel worse.
She tries not to blame others for how she’s feeling, since she knows it’s not anyone’s fault, but depression can make Pisces feel like she’s going crazy. She might have dark thoughts or act like a completely different person, but if she’s not herself in even the smallest way, you know something big is up. She might deny it at first, or try to play off her depression as no big deal, but that’s her just putting up walls to ignore it.
Emily Ratay is a full-time writer living in Pittsburgh. She's passionate about the environment and feminism, and knows that anything is possible in the right pair of shoes. She plans on writing a book in the future.