RussellSue
Not Active
I've gone through some pretty heavy stints of having no interest in life/hobbies/breathing for long periods of time. Avoiding those stints and eventually becoming unlikely to get there took some real work for me and even took some consistency that I was unable to force myself into but I was lucky enough to have help.
For me, it came down to one very simple thing: my brain does not spit out happy chemicals all on its own -- it's taken too damned much damage to do that. I must force it to, daily, or I will fall in a hole and never get out. Antidepressants were absolutely no help for me, and I must have tried every one over the number of years I was told pills were a solution. Lithium was somewhat helpful, but I did not try it until I was already getting stabilized and it never did a lot -- if I did not do the other things I needed to, I'd go downhill on a therapeutic dose of that, too.
The two things I must do on a daily basis or face a downhill spiral are very simple and scientifically proven: I have to get some physical exercise and I have to make some sort of progress.
For me, daily physical exercise is the key to everything because it will and does create brain good chemicals that my brain has trouble manufacturing. And I exercise more than most because strolling around the block is not enough for me -- I must raise my heart rate for a while. I know that there are things that make this difficult because I have injured myself numerous times over the last few years, not because I was exercising, but because I have some significant physical problems that make me more likely to sustain injuries. I've been forced to use a hand-bike when I was unable to use a regular bike, I've done a lot of swimming when my body couldn't handle much impact, etc. I had little choice: if I do not force myself to exercise, I will go downhill and quickly because exercise will and has increased happy chemicals in my brain. It has felt good in 5-minute intervals, but it has also changed my brain in very positive ways, over time.
Getting the motivation to exercise? I do remember that problem, but I do not have it very often, anymore. My motivation comes from a very simple thing that became very well-illustrated as I forced myself in the beginning: survival. If I do not exercise, I will not do much else and I will not be the least bit productive and the cycle will go and go and go and I will, in a short time, really want to die -- in my sleep at first, but via suicide, eventually.
Early on and during rough patches where I have struggled to keep on track during moves and other major life-changes, though, I had to set alarms, be a part of exercise groups, make public commitments, refuse myself rewards until I did my shit, etc. Early, early on, I was harassed by my boyfriend, who, seeing that I was in a bad way with depression, rode my ass until I would get up and walk the dog, daily. He died and left me with that dog, knowing I would continue to get up and walk him, since I had no fence and he was very small. That man was smart and very helpful -- save my life, really.
As mentioned, seeing progress in my life is also a big deal for me, but I can't do that if I am not exercising because I cannot muster the motivation, so the exercise is progress point #1, in my mind.
That said, I've had people tell me that exercise does not work for them to reduce depression. This is possible, I imagine with some health conditions, but not likely in a healthy body without those conditions given what we know about how the brain works or the number of studies that show that it does help to reduce depression. What I know isn't helpful is a New Year's resolution approach that doesn't last the month of January. I've been there and done that. Like everyone else, I also want a quick fix, and exercise was not that for me. It took at least a year of regular work before I saw major changes to how my brain approached problems in life.
However, I also found ways to use exercise in the short-term to help myself before that happened. For instance, when I was being consistently faced with triggering/difficult situations, I got used to doing 10 minutes of heavy cardio immediately before walking out the door to face the music. It helped me keep my head up and walk through some seriously toxic and abusive audiences without feeling defeated which was a big deal in my personal depression story.
For me, it came down to one very simple thing: my brain does not spit out happy chemicals all on its own -- it's taken too damned much damage to do that. I must force it to, daily, or I will fall in a hole and never get out. Antidepressants were absolutely no help for me, and I must have tried every one over the number of years I was told pills were a solution. Lithium was somewhat helpful, but I did not try it until I was already getting stabilized and it never did a lot -- if I did not do the other things I needed to, I'd go downhill on a therapeutic dose of that, too.
The two things I must do on a daily basis or face a downhill spiral are very simple and scientifically proven: I have to get some physical exercise and I have to make some sort of progress.
For me, daily physical exercise is the key to everything because it will and does create brain good chemicals that my brain has trouble manufacturing. And I exercise more than most because strolling around the block is not enough for me -- I must raise my heart rate for a while. I know that there are things that make this difficult because I have injured myself numerous times over the last few years, not because I was exercising, but because I have some significant physical problems that make me more likely to sustain injuries. I've been forced to use a hand-bike when I was unable to use a regular bike, I've done a lot of swimming when my body couldn't handle much impact, etc. I had little choice: if I do not force myself to exercise, I will go downhill and quickly because exercise will and has increased happy chemicals in my brain. It has felt good in 5-minute intervals, but it has also changed my brain in very positive ways, over time.
Getting the motivation to exercise? I do remember that problem, but I do not have it very often, anymore. My motivation comes from a very simple thing that became very well-illustrated as I forced myself in the beginning: survival. If I do not exercise, I will not do much else and I will not be the least bit productive and the cycle will go and go and go and I will, in a short time, really want to die -- in my sleep at first, but via suicide, eventually.
Early on and during rough patches where I have struggled to keep on track during moves and other major life-changes, though, I had to set alarms, be a part of exercise groups, make public commitments, refuse myself rewards until I did my shit, etc. Early, early on, I was harassed by my boyfriend, who, seeing that I was in a bad way with depression, rode my ass until I would get up and walk the dog, daily. He died and left me with that dog, knowing I would continue to get up and walk him, since I had no fence and he was very small. That man was smart and very helpful -- save my life, really.
As mentioned, seeing progress in my life is also a big deal for me, but I can't do that if I am not exercising because I cannot muster the motivation, so the exercise is progress point #1, in my mind.
That said, I've had people tell me that exercise does not work for them to reduce depression. This is possible, I imagine with some health conditions, but not likely in a healthy body without those conditions given what we know about how the brain works or the number of studies that show that it does help to reduce depression. What I know isn't helpful is a New Year's resolution approach that doesn't last the month of January. I've been there and done that. Like everyone else, I also want a quick fix, and exercise was not that for me. It took at least a year of regular work before I saw major changes to how my brain approached problems in life.
However, I also found ways to use exercise in the short-term to help myself before that happened. For instance, when I was being consistently faced with triggering/difficult situations, I got used to doing 10 minutes of heavy cardio immediately before walking out the door to face the music. It helped me keep my head up and walk through some seriously toxic and abusive audiences without feeling defeated which was a big deal in my personal depression story.