How many of you run as a way to limit mental illness?

is there something else going on? do you drink any form of caffeinated beverage? i do. i'm even concerned i might have some form of addiction to it. i'm wondering if it is an issue with the 'funk', the fatigue, the 'brain fog'. i definitely do not want to be prescribed drugs. but the caffeine is a drug. have i burned out my adrenals? sort of like an overtraining hole?

Oh yeah, most definately.

it is real wrote:

Just curious. I find that the edge is taken off my depression quite substantially after a 30 min tempo @ 6:00.

Yes. This is common among literally every serious or habitual runner I've spent time with-- male and female, both fast and not so fast. Missing a few days makes me sluggish and irritable. When I'm in a good regimen my moods are significantly more positive. Not that fake manic type, it's internal. My job is a sedentary one. I rely less on caffeine if I drink coffee at all during those times of good training. Normally I'm emotionally flat/neutral, not depressed. Running improves general outlook. There seems to be an additional spike to the general elevated level after a good race or a fast threshold long run.

I've never been diagnosed, but I have trouble with anxiety in certain parts of my life. Running has definitely helped me deal with it.

When I'm anxious, I usually don't want to run, but it always makes me feel better. I think it might be because anxiety is the result of a sympathetic nervous system (adrenal) response to an inappropriate stimulus. Too much adrenaline is really shitty if you're trying to think, but it is great if you're going out for a run. Exercise must clear the adrenaline out of the system, because I feel much better when I return.

Though I don't have any diagnosed mental illness aside from anxiety, I'm always in a better frame of mind after any kind of run whether it's a 10 min. burn or a 1/2 hr. one.

These days I'm not into any serious training but I feel I have to get in a run if I'm faced later on in the day any kind of appt. dental, Dr., chiro., etc. Even if I'm going out to dinner that evening. I feel something like unfinished business if I don't run.

However I do plan non-running days.

I do concur with this thread.

Should add, I have been a runner for over (wow) 50 years, from HS days.

This is great. For all the time people spend cracking jokes and being snarky on this board, I think we could spend more time talking about the more substantive mental-physical connection in our sport.

I think we often articulate the benefits running's benefits to highlight the physical when there is very much a curative effect for those of us with "the blues." I for one have certainly gone through periods of my life when running was about the only way I could clear my head of dark thoughts. It was and is as, if not more, effective than talk therapy--and also cheaper!

Running provides an outlet for solitary thought. I solve all my problems during my runs and have my best ideas. It's basically the same concept as meditation.

bump

I definitely do. I feel like an entirely different person when I'm not exercising at all, and running is hands down the most potent form of exercise I know of for altering my mood. If I don't run, I get depressed, moody, unmotivated, and struggle with nihilistic views. My writing abilities go in the toilet, I'm less humorous... I could go on. I think I could probably be diagnosed with bipolar type II if I wanted to be, but I don't since I think my case is pretty mild and can be managed with running. People don't understand why I still run even though my college days are over. For me, it's the difference of being a somewhat boring moderately depressed person to being a happy, animated, creative, adventurous person. Running is life-changing for me.

but no others on this thread besides myself have answered the question, "do you drink any form of caffeinated beverage?"

please chime in. is there a common connection to the 'highs and lows'?

funk wrote:

but no others on this thread besides myself have answered the question, "do you drink any form of caffeinated beverage?"

please chime in. is there a common connection to the 'highs and lows'?

It isn't clear what's being asked .. Psychostimulants can't exactly be generalized in the way that you're seeking a "common connection." For example caffeine makes me significantly more nervous, jittery and anxious than ADHD stimulants. These drugs are powerfully calming in my experience, but generally people experience the opposite, AFAIK. People I know take them to party and feel noticeably elevated. I don't know what is meant by "high and low" in this context-- caffeine will get you high. And then wear off and maybe you'll feel low.

When I'm not running well or consistently caffeine is not an adequate substitute. When running is consistent then caffeine is unnecessary. It's more of a crutch with little of the "high/low" turbulence so to speak, but it's different for everyone.

I think the only general consensus is that running naturally affects one's mental state in a positive way that doesn't result in substantial lows when its effects wear off the way that chemicals do.

your opinion was balanced, noncommittal, until you through in that last closing statement which really, if we are to make any headway in this subject, touches upon it.

IMHO wrote:

I think the only general consensus is that running naturally affects one's mental state in a positive way that doesn't result in substantial lows when its effects wear off the way that chemicals do.

yet there have been many threads here, a forum for the running community, on this topic of depression, which may correlate with a higher incidence of depression occurring in the running community. this naturally leads to the question of whether running, though thought of as beneficial treatment, may also be causative. and then, with the mixing of running with further stimulating chemicals (caffeine being the primary one), does it make the 'problem' worse?

*threw

funk wrote:

your opinion was balanced, noncommittal, until you through in that last closing statement which really, if we are to make any headway in this subject, touches upon it.

IMHO wrote:

I think the only general consensus is that running naturally affects one's mental state in a positive way that doesn't result in substantial lows when its effects wear off the way that chemicals do.

yet there have been many threads here, a forum for the running community, on this topic of depression, which may correlate with a higher incidence of depression occurring in the running community. this naturally leads to the question of whether running, though thought of as beneficial treatment, may also be causative. and then, with the mixing of running with further stimulating chemicals (caffeine being the primary one), does it make the 'problem' worse?

Has it occurred to people that "depression" may actually be a natural state of mind and is overdiagnosed? Maybe the desire for its aversion is a powerful motivator from our more primal past. Get up. Do stuff. Feel better. The further out of touch we grow from that environment the greater its perceived effect has on us, and thus we are more aware of it and seek to alleviate that feeling-- whether naturally or unnaturally.

Or it could be a correlation. Many people with depression and anxiety (including me) are recommended to take regular exercise, preferably outdoors - it's just generally sound advice. Hence lots of people with these underlying issues become runners.

My anecdotal, but large, experience set would also indicate a correlation between running and over-achieving A-type personalities (people who put a lot of pressure on themselves and are prone to anxiety/depression). I strongly think it's more likely that running appeals to this kind of person than that running *creates* that kind of person.

Think about the runners you know, particularly on the 'serious' end. They're intense, personality-wise. And they were always going to be intense. (My opinion, of course).

Absolutely! Plus, those non-runners are all cray-cray!

Family members point out I'm a more relaxed person when I've had my run.

Me. It keeps me away from Liberals.

wow