[mcl6136]

Exercise and good diet.
I realize how hard these prescriptions are. I know they take energy which is in short supply. But meds, therapy and ect also have their downsides. Just a thought.

[TishaBuv]

So true! Replace bad habits with good ones. It's the challenge of all the negative influences that keep us from doing the right things...

It isn't merely 'unpopular', it's downright impossible if you're severely depressed.

[unaluna]

We are trying to do this in the habit change forum. I know, mclyoda - there is no try, only do!

I am starting to follow mike matthews diet for women.

[mcl6136]

Originally Posted by unaluna

We are trying to do this in the habit change forum. I know, mclyoda - there is no try, only do!

I am starting to follow mike matthews diet for women.

I am going to check out that forum. I went to exercise class tonight. It was nearly impossible

Um dont your doctors ensure this before putting you on meds??? They should. Medication should not be used for unhealthy lifestyle habits. Diet and exercise is so freaking basic, something that should have been taught as a child.

Its only unpopular because its harder than popping a pill.

Also not an effective treatment for clinical depression... If exerecise and diet cures you, you were never mentally unwell to begin with - you were unwell from not providing for your body.

Originally Posted by Supanova

Um dont your doctors ensure this before putting you on meds??? They should. Medication should not be used for unhealthy lifestyle habits. Diet and exercise is so freaking basic, something that should have been taught as a child.

Its only unpopular because its harder than popping a pill.

Unhealthy lifestyle habits, as you call them, can also be caused by depression. I always ate enough and healthy, but at one point I was so depressed eating was too much effort and I didn't ate for over 3 weeks. I TRIED, but I was too tired.
In that case, you need to treat the depression first.

Originally Posted by Breadfish

Unhealthy lifestyle habits, as you call them, can also be caused by depression. I always ate enough and healthy, but at one point I was so depressed eating was too much effort and I didn't ate for over 3 weeks. I TRIED, but I was too tired.
In that case, you need to treat the depression first.

Cases like that are not as common as the everyday type depression. I havent eaten for months at a time ON meds.... But then again my case is different from the majority. There is an element of pushing yourself to make healthy choices in all aspects of mental health. People who make bad choices arnt necissarily mentally ill - just not looking after themselves.

I wonder if i should do a poll, how many were overweight before meds?

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by Supanova

Um dont your doctors ensure this before putting you on meds??? They should. Medication should not be used for unhealthy lifestyle habits

. Diet and exercise is so freaking basic, something that should have been taught as a child.

I know, right? I tell my t, its like my mother had ONE JOB when i was little - to teach me how to poop, how to be regular - and she failed! So no, not all of us learned good diet and exercising habits when we were young. And then not taking caring of ourselves becomes how we take care of ourselves - ie poorly.

[AncientMelody]

Originally Posted by Supanova

Also not an effective treatment for clinical depression... If exerecise and diet cures you, you were never mentally unwell to begin with - you were unwell from not providing for your body.

Actually there are scientific studies that show that exercise can be an effective treatment up to moderate depression. No it will not treat severe depression, but there is evidence that this works.

[-jimi-]

When I was severely depressed I really tried to "exercise". I actually almost managed to get in a five minute walk every day. It felt like it was going to kill me, I mean for real. I felt like everything in my body was yelling no, like your body would if you were to put your hands into fire.

Still I tried. I hadn't seen any results on the depression whatsoever yet, but in a way I was proud I could be so strong I could do something that was very, very close to impossible. I told my therapist.

She laughed in my face. She said that was NOTHING and I was silly for having any pride in it. So yea I stopped doing it.

Meds fixed my depression eventually.

But who would have made the healthy food while I was depressed? It's not like there is a free service that comes home to you and give you that food plus makes sure you eat it. I could barely eat at all, and I definitely could not cook. I had a friend that gave me food sometimes and sometimes I ate food that didn't need to be cooked or was very "easy" (=extremely hard) to cook. With severe depression you're lucky if the patient can maintain some kind of sane eating habits at all.

I really hate when people confuse mild disturbance of mood with severe depression.

[-jimi-]

Kind of reminds me of someone I knew who was a cancer patient (I am not at all minimizing cancer just so you know). She could not eat. Her cancer had grown right into her intestines so they were blocked. And "all" people told her she could go on some fancy and cancer inhibiting diet and then she would be fine! Like WTH! She could not eat. But people just mangled on about how she should eat her way out of cancer. Two months later she died.

[(JD)]

Add in good sleep? A good sleep routine lasting maybe an hour before bedtime does wonders as well... shutting down ALL electronics (they mezmerize the brain) ...and getting at least 15 minutes of sunlight each day resets your circadian rhythm and allows the brain to work while you sleep on a regular schedule.

Exercise and diet... if you can't exercise, then do deep breathing (aerobic!) and swing those arms! Diet? Yep you're right there too! Cut out sugar (including alcohol) and limit simple carbs. It's easier if you add in good foods first, before removing ones that aren't so good... get nutrition in first and the body stops craving the other...

Vitamin D3 and good fats (omega 3s) are invaluable for health.

Feel better soon!

[-jimi-]

I think maybe if depressed people were lined up and then whipped if they didn't run?

We had a similar thing in the 40s 50s in our mental hospitals. The depressed patients had to bicycle. They forced them. They had to bike 15 hours a day. It was noted that they got better but they got worse the moment they stopped biking.

Depression... it's an overused and misunderstood word for sure. I suppose there are degrees of depression but I doubt there could be clear delineations between the degrees.
During the times I've been in what I considered to be a serious state of depression it may have been possible to force me to exercise as in the example Jimi gave... but I doubt if I would have cooperated. Depression is definitely not the same as feeling sad or a little down.

Originally Posted by Supanova

Um dont your doctors ensure this before putting you on meds??? They should. Medication should not be used for unhealthy lifestyle habits. Diet and exercise is so freaking basic, something that should have been taught as a child.

Its only unpopular because its harder than popping a pill.

It's much more complex than you make it sound. Good food is expensive and takes funds to buy that a lot of people don't have. Healthy food also takes time to prepare and requires some cooking skill. A lot of people don't know how to cook at all. While I can cook, I have a lot of food intolerances. For instance, I do not handle the sugar and fiber in fruit well, if at all. Also, I have difficulty digesting dairy and soy / bean products.

It's not easy to exercise if you have public phobia or body image problems. I was a gym member for years and went regularly. Did it help with my depression? No, it did not. I went to the gym but did not speak with anyone there. My gym body did not improve my social or dating life. After a while, I lost interest. I did not feel better even though I was healthier. I did not find the success that I needed.

Please don't oversimplify things. You may be well intended but life is much more complex and eating well and exercise, though beneficial to many, are not cures in and of themselves.

[cloudyn808]

Oh goodness... If one more person even suggests that I'm depressed because I don't exercise ARGGG!

I spent years listening to the psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians and others insisting that exercise will improve my depression. So I berated myself..."get off your fat *** and exercise," "no pain, no gain..." Years passed... I've checked into multiple wellness centers across the US, spent years with personal trainers working my guts out but... I NEVER felt ANY improvement in my depression whatsoever.

What all those years of beating myself up with exercise did accomplish however...was...some severe medical problems due to celiac disease, thyroid issues and malnutrition (and osteoporosis) which is now causing my bones to disintegrate.

Those of us with Endogenous Depression (depression due to a biological issue) can actually be hurt by the well-meaning (but ignorant) medical community insisting we would feel better with exercise.

Yes, of course, it's good to get out and exercise and if you "feel" better GREAT, but I went through hell believing it was my fault that I was depressed due to an "unhealthy lifestyle."

Endogenous Depression does not respond well to psychotherapy or other mainstream treatments. Normally the most effective treatments are medications (if you're lucky) or ECT, but unfortunately, exercise has nothing to do with it.

[Patsfan]

Some of my longest bike rides was when I was suicidal and depressed. I also was reckless. It wasn't till I started taking meds that I started to feel better.

[mcl6136]

As I said, it is unpopular.

[mcl6136]

Originally Posted by Supanova

Also not an effective treatment for clinical depression... If exerecise and diet cures you, you were never mentally unwell to begin with - you were unwell from not providing for your body.

Yeah, but ONE problem is that there are SOME doctors who are more than willing to treat your mentally-unwell-from-not-providing-for-your-body body with pills and electroshock.

It's my job to enact the least invasive techniques, like exercise and better diet to haul myself out of my depression.

I actually kind of resent people assuming that my problem isn't as "great" or "serious" as theirs because I'm making the commitment to do these things and benefiting.

They are unpopular -- with me. They are treatments, not cures, not magic bullets.

But the defensiveness of some of this group only proves that they are indeed....unpopular.

[jacky8807]

Rob Williams was known to be a big jogger and biker........

[AncientMelody]

I don't understand the defensiveness either. Isn't it a GOOD thing to share different treatment strategies with each other and discuss our stories of healing? Why does it have to be viewed as a personal attack? Just because a treatment doesn't work for you does not mean it is an ineffective treatment or "oh they weren't really sick"

I haven't used exercise as a monotherapy per se, in that I do take medication. However it has been an important part of my overall treatment and my psychiatrist would wholeheartedly agree with this.

I get that exercise is terribly difficult when you're depressed. But isn't it also sometimes to make the effort to go to the psychiatrist, then the drugstore, etc. To put the work into therapy? No, it's not going to effectively treat everyone, but it is valid and appropriate for a doctor to discuss with a patient.

[AncientMelody]

Originally Posted by jacky8807

Rob Williams was known to be a big jogger and biker........

And Robin Williams had Lewy-Body DEMENTIA. There is nobody making the ridiculous claim that his exercise should have cured dementia. Educate yourself.

[mcl6136]

Nor am I making the claim that exercise and diet are CURES for anything except lack of exercise and lack of a good diet.

Damn, people! If I got online and condemned ECT as a treatment, there would be a hue and cry.

All I am saying is that exercising and better diet can help treat depression in some individuals, but saying so will prove unpopular.

Which is turning out to be true!