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Mastery and Pleasure
Within the domain of nourishing activities, there are 2 different kinds of experiences. Pleasure activities give you a feeling of enjoyment or fun when you do them, and Mastery activities leave you feeling that you are taking care of business and are accomplishing things. For example, taking a shower might give you Pleasure, while finally finishing a load of laundry or returning a phone call contributes to Mastery.
Of course, some activities can have both features. When people are depressed, the amount of Pleasure and Mastery activities in their lives often is reduced. The good news is that Pleasure and Mastery activities can help lift your mood and can help you stay well over time.
Mastery and Pleasure Activities
Take a moment to select those activities that you could schedule in the future. Consider, for example, the nourishing activities that you noted on the previous page, and determine whether any of them give you a sense of mastery or pleasure. Making a list like this while you are well is important. It can be very helpful in reducing lingering symptoms of depression and preventing depression’s return if you find yourself becoming depressed again.
Taking Action When Your Mood is Low
Using activity skillfully can be an important part of caring for yourself when your mood is low. Here is the list of activities you identified as Nourishing, as well as information about whether the activity provides you with a sense of mastery, pleasure, or both. It is valuable to find ways to keep these activities available to you as resources to use when you notice that you are starting to feel down, depleted, or stressed.
Some Tips for Caring for Yourself by Being More Active
Scheduling nourishing activities (pleasure and mastery) as a part of your regular daily routine can be one important way of caring for yourself and staying well over time.
How can you use the activities to care for yourself? Often, it can feel overwhelming to add pleasure and mastery to your daily life when you are feeling down. We invite you to keep four tips in mind as a guide. Relying on these four tips is a helpful guide for adding more pleasure and mastery to your daily life.
When deciding on what to actually do, choose an activity that is manageable and one that you can build on. Your mind may be telling you do it all, but starting small is sometimes the best way to stay engaged when your mood is low.