2023-06-16 10:02:06
“I would be sleeping for days so that they pass faster and not find out. I have moments when getting out of bed is like running 42 km”, Aitana (45 years old) told me. “Everything hurts. it hurts inside Both the psychologist and the psychiatrist have recommended that I start exercising. Here I am,” she added.
It can happen to anyone. “Suffering from depression goes far beyond being sad”, the psychiatrist and professor of personality psychology at the University of Valencia, Elena Ibáñez, explained to me some time ago. Depressive disorder involves a depressed mood, loss of pleasure, or interest in activities for long periods of time. People who have experienced abuse, serious loss, or other stressful events are more likely to develop it. Women suffer from it more than men, according to the OMS (World Health Organization).
Normally, depression is accompanied by a feeling of tiredness and loss of appetite that leads to less performance of pleasurable activities and a decrease in physical activity, which leads to more tiredness and a more depressed mood. The challenge is to break this circle. It would be important to understand that small steps (such as performing everyday actions that involve movement) can be achieved.
You have to give them the importance they deserve when you want to end a sedentary lifestyle. “Reorganizing lifestyles increases the efficiency of treatments at different levels: not only because of the direct impact on symptoms, but also because of the prevention of relapses and the beneficial consequences in other areas of health and psychosocial functioning,” says Laura Hernangómez Criado. , doctor in psychology and one of the authors of the manual Step-by-step treatment of psychological problems in adults.
Currently, recommended treatments include psychotherapy and antidepressant medication (or a combination of both), but more and more mental health professionals and studies, such as the meta-analysis published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine or the one published by The American Journal of Psychiatry that recommend physical exercise within the comprehensive treatment of pathologies. Active men and women have lower rates of depression than sedentary people.
The investigation already suggests that in the case of non-severe depressions there is no difference between exercise and pharmacological interventions to reduce symptoms. “You don’t have to hit big marks to benefit from exercise. Something is better than nothing ”, repeats Dr. Ibáñez in her consultation with patients.
“Something is better than nothing”
Research such as that carried out by the magazine JAMA reinforce this idea of the psychiatrist and point out that benefits can be obtained if patients do exercise just a few minutes a day or a few days a week. The results suggest that most are acquired when going from no activity to some. Accumulating a volume (amount) equivalent to 2.5 hours of brisk walking per week was associated with a 25% lower risk of depression, and half that dose was 18% lower compared with a sedentary lifestyle.
Substantial positive mental health effects can be achieved, even below public health recommendations, with additional benefit if the recommended minimum target is met. According to this study, “assuming causality, one in nine cases of depression might have been prevented if the entire population were active at the level of current health recommendations.”
Getting started is the key. As this publication admits, starting with simple goals should be given due importance – “especially for inactive people who may perceive general recommendations as unrealistic”. The adaptations that exercise can provide range from the neural architecture of the brain to psychosocial, behavioral benefits, including improved physical self-perceptions, body image, and increased social interactions. “In addition, physical activity helps regulate sleep patterns that are also often altered in depression: exercise facilitates a healthy physical fatigue that paradoxically helps to rest, compared to the usual anergy (lack of energy) so characteristic of depression. ”, explains the psychologist Laura Hernángómez.
How much is positive?
Health comes hand in hand with flexibility. The mayo clinic points out that any physical activity that gets you off the couch and involves movement can help you improve. Exercise helps release endorphins (natural brain chemicals that can increase your sense of well-being), as well as breaking the cycle of negative thoughts that fuel depression and anxiety.
The recommended levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention In the United States, include aerobic activity at moderate levels (such as brisk walking) for 2.5 hours per week, along with strength training of major muscle groups twice per week.
For its part, the Mayo Clinic points out that doing 30 minutes or more of exercise a day for three to five days a week can significantly improve symptoms of depression or anxiety. A priori, it may seem like a long time or a complicated goal, but as this methane analysis published by magazine Sports Medicine amounts of physical activity of just 10 to 15 minutes duration spread throughout the day add well-being. Similar benefits can be obtained by training for a daily exercise session or by doing shorter times divided into 24 hours. For example, you can do an activity for 15 minutes in the morning and another 15 at night.
The role of the environment must also be considered. The sea or activities carried out in the natural environment can modulate the symptoms. For example, the use of green areas is associated with a lower risk of depression.
Sleep not to live. That is one of the consequences of depression, a disease from which no one is exempt, which goes beyond being sad. It can happen to anyone. Physical exercise is there as a key piece in the treatment. Which is the best? The one that serves as motivation to stay awake, the one that gets you out of the house, from the sofa, from the bed… Movement is life.
From the theory to the practice
- Get the context and the numbers. depression is a prevalent disorder and disabling associated with a lower quality of life, medical comorbidity and mortality. Depression is regarding 50% more common among women than men, according to the OMS. More of 300 million of people live with a depressive disorder, which is equivalent to approximately 4.4% of the world population. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide with a potentially increasing prevalence since the COVID-19 pandemicyet more than two-thirds of adults diagnosed with depression remain untreated. Depression is also associated with premature mortality from other diseases and suicide
- interdisciplinary work. Get support from a mental health professional (psychologist and/or psychiatrist) and physical activity. These pathologies require a comprehensive approach to address them. Consult with both disciplines, talk regarding how to fit physical activity into your treatment.
- Ask yourself the following question: What do you like to do? It might be a morning walk, listening to a podcast, riding a bike, climbing with a friend, going to the gym for some weight training, playing soccer with your child, or spending some time in the garden tending to the plants. Find that activity. The benefits of exercise are achieved if we manage to maintain it over time and enjoying it will help you maintain it.
- The importance of small steps. Set yourself reasonable goals: it can be leaving the house for 15 minutes to walk your dog (morning and night). You don’t have to start by walking for an hour every day. Think regarding what you can do and gradually increase your goals with the help of professionals.
- Don’t think of exercise as “a must”, but rather as a devotion and a form of self-care. The word “should” can lead to abandonment. Exercise adds to therapy and medication. I did not forget it.
- Avoid the “all or nothing” mentality. Be flexible. Obstacles may appear. Life isn’t flat, neither are your workouts, if you don’t exercise one day, do it the next.
- It all adds up. Use micro workouts (little times throughout the day when you can exercise). For example: going up the stairs at home, doing 10 squats when you get up in the morning, then a few push ups (funds) and some abdominal plates.
- The environment, your ally. Seeing green spaces and doing activities by the sea can reduce your symptoms.
- Social. Sometimes the accompaniment can help to maintain a commitment to carry out that activity. To do this, select trusted people who are supportive and not a demand, such as those with whom you can take walks in silence.
You can follow THE COUNTRY Health and Well-being in Facebook, Twitter e Instagram.
1686919075
#exercise #fight #depression #Health #Wellness
