I Survived Depression - so can YOU!

Depression, a serious illness that causes a person to feel extremely downtrodden and hopeless about life has seen the number of people getting treated triple in the last ten years. That number is even more alarming when you consider the availability and development of new drugs and a more general acceptance of depression as a “real” illness and something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Depression in its early stages has symptoms that include the loss of energy, apathy and sadness. Other signs of depression are a loss of appetite, a disinterest in friends, family and hobbies and the use of alcohol and drugs to “dull the pain” or self medicate. Depression can lead to suicide in its worst cases. If you don’t personally suffer from depression, you probably know somebody who has or who will. Up to 10% of Americans have a depression related episode in the course of any year.

Although depression can always return to a person, and likely has genetic components that pass it down in families, it can almost always be alleviated with proper treatment and care. Traditional care includes therapy and medication (primarily anti depressants), preferably with a combination of the two. This process may take some trial and error as not all medications and types of therapy are right for every person.

However, there is more that can be done than paying exorbitant bills for therapy and medication. In fact, simple changes in your lifestyle such as getting involved in athletics and exercising can greatly improve your mood, both in the short and long term. Much of this is linked to the fact that exercising causes your body to release endorphins (and other feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine). Endorphins are your body’s natural pain killer and also contribute to feelings of elation and joy.

Many people describe what is known as a “runner’s high” after a period of intense and strenuous exercise. This can be achieved not just by running but through playing other sports as well. While the runner’s high, a very intense feeling of euphoria closely related to an actual drug-high actually occurs only in rare circumstances, endorphins will always be released from playing sports and exercising.

Involvement in athletics will have an affect on your depression in many ways. By participating in sports will get you into better physical condition and physical health. This will get you feeling better about your body and how you look and provide you with more confidence. If you have been sitting in an office or on your couch all day, sports can help prevent depression by simply changing things up a bit, getting you outside and making you active. Additionally, sports may lead to increased socialization and interaction with people. Positive interactions with other people – whether through organized sports or anything else – will lift your spirits.

While medication and therapy are effective, they may not be right for everybody and you may not want to let your depression get that far. Playing sports can help relieve depression as well as preventing depression from occurring in the first place.

Tags: depression

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Depression, Exercise | . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.