Does anyone else here suffer from depression? How has exercise helped you with it?

[Barbara P]

In reading the posts it sounds like you believe (bob) there to be one cause of depression. I do not believe that is the case.

I have been depressed for many years. almost as long as you have been alive. I am 58, and the first time I remember being depressed was when I was probably 18 or 19.

It isn't all the time, but it is everpresent, lurking.

I have been exercising daily (a day off maybe every 2-3 weeks) for over 30 years. The ONLY time in all that time I have ever had a "break" is 3 weeks after I had a C-section. Interestingly enough - I did not have post-partum depression.

Anyway...exercise helps me...alot. But it is not enough.

I believe that one of the causes of depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Not everyone who is depressed has this. There can be what I call "situational depression" like the death of a loved one or something like that. My MIL became very depressed after my FIL passed away...but after a while...she was sad, but not "depressed."

I had a very happy childhood. I do not think that therapy helps me because what the cause is of my depression isn't something that talking about "it" whatever IT is (I have no idea!) because IT doesn't exist....

I have been taking antidepressants for maybe 3 years. I tried many different ones.

What it does for me is take out the deep edge of depression. I still get depressed, but I don't "fall into the abyss" as I have always thought of it....or not very deeply anyway.

It's great that exercise has given you relief from depression but don't assume that everyone gets that result...because we are all different. Exercise most definitely helps me and I work out regardless of my current state of depression...but it isn't enough.

[jloewe]

Depression runs in my family, on my father's side. I've had many tiny bouts of it, leading up to a huge bout with it in 1999. I fell into a deep depression during my Walt Disney World vacation, which told me that it wasn't situational, there was a chemical imbalance in my brain.

I became a devout reader on the disease, and the role of exercise as a natural anti-depressant. The combination of my anti-depressant therapy, along with exercise has allowed me a normal life, with all of its ups and downs.

I discovered that when I was stricken with the severe bout in 1999, I wasn't exercising at all, my weight was at its highest, and I had a desk job where I sat for long periods on the phone, all factors in bringing about depression.

I now work out 6 days a week, yoga and fitness walking are my workout staples, I've been on meds for 10+ years, and have to be for life, due to my family history.

Counseling never helped me, I knew more than the person who was supposed to be the expert. The expert is the one who goes through the daily hell, not the one who reads about it.

Whatever works for the individual is the best therapy.

[devadiva]

Originally Posted by pumptmuscle

Ah ok, I completely can relate to that. I'm very lucky in that exercising now is automatic. It's hard to describe but I just know I have to do it. It took me over 15 years to get it so ingrained. I realize that, I may not have control over everything, but I can control my exercise. Getting an adrenaline rush when I work out is a key factor, too.

If this helps you, maybe when you're in the depressive state, try doing something, no matter how insignificant it may feel. That might mean exercising for as little as 3 or 4 minutes. Sometimes if I don't feel like working out, that's what I do. I say to myself "I'll just do 5 (or 10) minutes then stop." When I do that, I almost never only do that amount of time and usually finish a full, or mostly full, workout.

I've also learned that action tends to come before motivation. A lot of people say I'll do X when I get motivated. The problem is that motivation often never comes. If I'm able to start something (exercising, an overdue task, etc), I tend to find that my motivation increases after I start. As I get more into the task, the motivation builds and it becomes a spiral where I feel better and better as time goes on. I know this process isn't easy but I've learned it the hard way over time.

I too worked myself out of a very dark time in my life... doctors tried anti deppessent...with me they have the oppisite effect and yes more than one . I will NEVER try again... I decided to try execise and eating good.... It really worked for me. And as I quoted BOB I could not word it better. I may not always eat right but EXERCISE is nessesary for my mental health and I love it!
I still get deppressed and have dark times but it does help to lift me at least for the time I am doing it.Which is better than NOT.