There was an interesting article today on the growing awareness of depression in China, Black cloud over China. I found one bit particularly weird and funny:
Prozac is among the most popular antidepressants in China. Its name in Chinese, Bai You Jie, means “free of a hundred worries.”
I have a theory that the reality of depression is very different from the popular conception of it as a strictly medical / neurochemical problem. It seems like the psychiatric field possesses a biased view of the mind as a chemical / organic machine, in the sense that mental health issues are caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain. To me this is myopic. Obviously I am not a scientist, so I have only my own anecdotal and limited experience to go on. I think the symptoms of depression may contain their own cure. What if the treatment for depression is right under our noses? Here are the nine classic symptoms of depression:
- Depressed mood for most of the day
- Disturbed appetite or change in weight
- Disturbed sleep
- Psychomotor retardation or agitation
- Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities; inability to enjoy usual hobbies or activities
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness; excessive and/or inappropriate guilt
- Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly
- Morbid or suicidal thoughts or actions
Amazingly, almost all of these classic symptoms of depression can be acutely and positively affected by attention to the body; that conglomeration of muscle, bone, and blood most of us use primarily as a vehicle for our mind. Balanced exercise and activity stimulates mood. It increases appetite. It makes you more healthy resulting in more energy. The more active you are the better sleep you will get. Exercise has also been show to stimulate the brain, even areas that seem to have little to do with exercise.
Along with this idea of treating the body, I believe there are a few simple habits and strategies that could help people fight depression:
- Adequate sleep. Go to bed a few hours after dark and get up at dawn. After dark refrain from turning on too many lights so your body will wind down. Don’t start watching a movie at 10:00pm. Get eight hours of sleep, no more, no less. Too little sleep will make you feel exhausted, too much sleep will make you feel sluggish. I say get up at dawn because I imagine that as diurnal creatures (active during the day) we need to experience sunlight. I know that staying up late when no one else is around and everything is dark is a recipe for feeling bad. The sun feels good as long as it is not too hot outside.
- Physical activity. It’s hard for me to suggest exercise since I have a difficult time doing it myself. I need to have more of a goal than just “exercising”. That’s why I’m using the word “activity” instead. I had this experience recently where I had to help Jody move into her apartment. It was a lot of work, as anyone who has moved before knows. It pushed my physical limits. I was hot, sweaty, sore, and exhausted when it was all said and done. However, I remember sitting in a chair afterward and feeling blissfully worn out. I was exhausted and shaky but I also felt great. I noticed that I had this very pleasant and unfamiliar feeling of absolute mental stillness, as if the vibrating, warm sensations coming from my tired muscles were lowering the volume and intensity of my inner voice. I remember the same thing from working in the fast-paced warehouse at Fedex. If I showed up to work feeling blah, a few hours loading shipping containers would really get the blood flowing. If you have trouble getting enough exercise, you can do little things to fit it in. Try using the stairs at work, or walk to lunch. Go bowling, or dancing. Do something physical. If you’ve been feeling depressed, how much exercise have you really been getting? Even if you don’t feel like it, exercise will help you feel better.
- Balanced social interaction. Depression can often result in social withdrawal, but too much social interaction can being overstimulating. Good relationships go a long way to improving your outlook and emotional state, but it is also important to spend quiet time by yourself. As important as it is to have a support network of friends and family, you should also develop a friendship with yourself. Do things by yourself that you like to do. One thing I do is try to remember what I used to enjoy as a kid. Many of those activities have a calming effect. For example, lately I’ve been reading a lot more than I have for a long time and it helps me focus on something other than what’s going on in my little bubble.
- Stay busy and get out of your head. Is it denial to try to work through a bad spell? It might be, but I often feel better the more productive I am. When I get things done I feel like I’m doing something useful and productive. More importantly, I feel more active in my own life and affairs. One of the best experiences I had recently was when I took an hour or so to clean and wash my car. It felt so good to power spray all the dirt and bird crap away leaving something that shined. I got in and vacuumed out all the trash and gunk in the floor and wiped down the dashboard and windows. I even sprayed in some of that cheesy cherry air-freshener with that gun they have hanging next to the vacuum. It was satisfying to take my car and spruce it up with a little elbow grease, even an old car like mine. Cleaning can truly be a creative activity, and it seems to tap into that same motivation I have for building or making things.To clean is to restore, and that’s not much different from creation itself.
There’s a good article today from the Mayo Clinic I haven’t had much time to read about how exercise can ease symptoms of depression and anxiety:
Before you think, “Yeah, right,” and move on, consider this: Exercise doesn’t have to come in large doses to offer psychological benefits. Even as little as 10 minutes of low-intensity walking helps. Your goal doesn’t have to be losing 20 pounds, being able to run five miles nonstop or hitting the gym at 6 a.m. three days a week for a sweat-drenched workout.Rather, the idea is to do something active in order to trigger the mechanisms that reduce negative moods and improve positive moods. And with a little planning and some practical tips – after all, it’s not a matter of sheer willpower – adding exercise to your treatment program won’t seem so daunting, even if you experience severe symptoms of depression or anxiety.
Despite ongoing research, just how exercise reduces symptoms isn’t clear. There are plenty of theories, though, about both the physiological and psychological pathways that can improve symptoms related to depression and anxiety disorders, including sadness, anxiety, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness.
One of the physiological mechanisms that may be at work is an increase in levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. In addition, exercise may boost feel-good endorphins, release tension in muscles, diminish sleep abnormalities, reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and even increase body temperature, which has calming effects.
Maybe depression is such a modern problem because of how much our lifestyles have changed. Think about it, fifty years ago most families had one car, one television at best, and no computers or Internet. A lot of people walked to work or school. Most families cooked their own food and ate every meal at home. If you owned one major appliance you were doing pretty well. One thing I notice when I go to Oklahoma with Jody to visit her folks is that my normal daily life is very fast-paced and overstimulating compared to the quiet and slowness of being out of my normal routine. When I’m out in the country, sometimes I’m just sitting around on the porch watching the barn swallows catch bugs or I’m just eating lunch and having a nice quiet conversation. You don’t realize how wired up you are until you get away from yourself.
Yoga pretty much cured my bad feelings, for the most part. Hardly anything bad can be said of exercise…it’s just too bad that people can’t commit themselves to doing it.