5 DBT Skills for Depression

Kat Schultz
6 hours ago
3 min read

a statue of a person looking down with their arms around their bent knees

Depression is a condition that affects more than 8% (21 million) of Americans every year (Mental Health America). Symptoms can range from bothersome to debilitating. Luckily, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has skills for every situation, including when you're depressed.

DBT is a synthesis of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Zen Buddhism. It incorporates the foundation of CBT with mindfulness skills. It's used to treat emotion dysregulation and self-destructive behaviors, among other mental health struggles.

There are more than 5 DBT skills that may help with depression but here are 5 to try first:

Accumulate Positives

Accumulate Positives is the first A in ABC PLEASE, an Emotion Regulation skill. The general idea is just as it sounds, to increase positive experiences in your life. You can do this both in the short term and in the long term. Depression may make it hard to enjoy things that once brought you pleasure but it's important that you don't give up on doing pleasant things for yourself. One way to start practicing this skill is to do one thing every day that makes you feel good (or that used to, if you need to just go through the motions). Try to be mindful when doing this so you can log the experience in your memory as positive.

PLEASE

The PLEASE acronym is an Emotion Regulation skill that encourages you to take care of your body in order to build a stable emotional foundation. PL stands for manage any PhysicaL symptoms you have. For example, take a painkiller if you have a headache or cold medicine if you're congested. E stands for balance your Eating. Eat what feels good to your body and soul. A stands for Avoid non-prescribed substances as these can affect your mood. S stands for get balanced Sleep, the amount that feels good to you. And the second E stands for get balanced body movEment. Move your body in ways that feel good to you. These all build together to strengthen your emotional resilience.

Check the Facts

Check the Facts is an Emotion Regulation skill that's help in fact-checking your depressive thoughts. It's not designed to immediately change your mood, so using Check the Facts when in active crisis, for example, may not be the most effective choice. We often can't access rational thinking at all in that state. However if your depression is less acute, Check the Facts can help you find Wise Mind and a more balanced state. To use the skill, identify the emotion you want to change, identify the prompting event and your thoughts, interpretations, and assumptions about it, work through and imagine yourself coping with worst-case scenarios, and then ask Wise Mind if your emotion and its intensity fit the facts.

Opposite Action

Opposite Action is an Emotion Regulation skill that can help with the lethargy that depression can bring. Every emotion we have comes with an action urge; an emotion makes us want to act a certain way. Fear makes us want to hide generally, for example. Opposite action encourages us to find the opposite action urge and do that instead. When the feelings associated with depression tell you to isolate or hide, try pushing yourself (within your window of tolerance) to do the opposite. Spend time outside of your room or bed, with a friend, or in a public space.

Build Mastery

Build Mastery is the B in ABC PLEASE, an Emotion Regulation skill. It's a helpful skill for getting things done and feeling confident and accomplished. Try to do something every day that makes you feel like you are competent, are making progress and/or are good at something. This can be doing a hobby, like practicing an instrument, or making the bed every day. It's also helpful to start with one of these tasks when you have something harder to do on your plate so that you build up to the harder task.

Try one or more of these DBT skills when you're feeling depressed to relieve your suffering. If one isn't as effective as you'd like, try another!

We teach these exercises as part of our DBT trainings for mental health providers and you can learn them for yourself in our self-paced DBT skills course.