Title says it all. I'm struggling to get out of bed, stay motivated, and positive about the future. It would be nice to train, but I feel that my depression will hinder me (physically) from reaching my athletic goals.
Title says it all. I'm struggling to get out of bed, stay motivated, and positive about the future. It would be nice to train, but I feel that my depression will hinder me (physically) from reaching my athletic goals.
You know that you will feel a little bit better at least after you force yourself to get up and move your body. Do what you know will help and use your coping skills (running).
If you for instance had an argument and feel bad for what you've said, take a run and when you're back you're thinking "it's not that big of a deal. It'll be allright, we all make mistakes". I've often come back from running nearly as concern as I've sometimes been when going out. I guess the comparing of running and meditation has something to it.
There used to be a guy on the psychology faculty at the U of Wisconsin who also saw patients. He got interested in treating depression and he was also a fairly serious runner. He knew there was a link between inactivity and depression so he began doing his sessions with depressed people by running with them. The sessions lasted three miles. If a prospective patient couldn't run three miles he'd give them a schedule to work up to being able to do it. He found that he rarely needed to "work" on those people's depression because getting fit enough to run three miles pretty well cured them. He's actually written quite a bit about depression and happiness.
HRE wrote:
There used to be a guy on the psychology faculty at the U of Wisconsin who also saw patients. He got interested in treating depression and he was also a fairly serious runner. He knew there was a link between inactivity and depression so he began doing his sessions with depressed people by running with them. The sessions lasted three miles. If a prospective patient couldn't run three miles he'd give them a schedule to work up to being able to do it. He found that he rarely needed to "work" on those people's depression because getting fit enough to run three miles pretty well cured them. He's actually written quite a bit about depression and happiness.
What’s his name? Sounds cool
jhki wrote:
Title says it all. I'm struggling to get out of bed, stay motivated, and positive about the future. It would be nice to train, but I feel that my depression will hinder me (physically) from reaching my athletic goals.
Start running.
Set goals.
Hopefully your daily workout will give you something to look forward to every day.
Turn off all electronics. Go outside! Walk. Run. Play basketball. Read a book.
I think it's worth talking to a doctor or a professional about how you are feeling.
Yes, if possible force yourself to run. You will almost always feel at least somewhat better after a run.
jhki wrote:
Is it worth training when depressed?
Absofrickinlutely, yes. I'm not currently depressed, but in the past, training through tough times, helped. Also, exercise boosts all the same neurotransmitters that antidepressant medications are trying to boost (norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine).
For me, personally, when I run, I feel better physically as does my mood. It's not a cure all. If my mood is a 2/10, a long run isn't going to make it a, 8/10. But it's likely to boost it up a point of two. It bumps it up if I'm happy; it bumps it up when I'm sad. Likewise, when I don't run, it always amazes me how quickly I start to feel anxious, restless and my mood drops. Not dramatically, but a point or two. So I run every day, at least 1 mile (499 days in a row, as of today) and sometimes up to two+ hours.
Even if you feel like total crap, get out there, put on some great music and go for that high, runner's high, that is. You'll get through this and running is likely going to be a part of the solution.
No… don’t “train”. Go for an easy one IF you feel up to it but don’t force it. Don’t let what once gave you joy become a negative experience beciase the workout went bad because you’re trying to train through depression. Take the time to take care of yourself one day, one hour, at a time. Basic things like eating, hydrating, and bathing can be your goals for each day. If you fee inspired to run, do it. But don’t force it.
Ice bathing have been shown to be very well worth doing. And I guess running is something of the same,, here it goes:
When you're about to freeze to death (at least that is how the brain and body sees it, you aren't feeling sorry for yourself and having self-doubt etc.). Your primal instincts take over the system. When you train hard, you're just thinking of getting through the work - and you're not feeling allt he bad depressing thoughts.
So I guess at least hard training should be good to get the bad thoughts away for a little bit, and afterwards you can feel happy about today's effort!
Yes. Running has been a critical tool to pull myself out of 4 downward slides in my mental health. The first was between grade 8 and grade 9 where I had been dealing with depressive rumination and mild OCD. Within a month of high school training and socializing with my teammates, I was back to my old self. The second was during an isolated time in college for me which I eventually rebounded from. The third was after I quit running song working out for two years during a descent into alcohol abuse which exacerbated my latent depressive/anxious with OCD tendencies. Once I started running regularly for about 1-2 months, my mental and emotional health greatly improved, but it wasn't until after I quit drinking where I finally got back to 100%. The 4th was during COVID with all the social restrictions and isolation; running 4-5 times a week kept me functional despite some issues with mild depression and I'm more or less back yet again.
The key is to stick to the 5 pillars of self care, no matter what. Good nutrition, quality and sufficient sleep, good social connection, a rewarding job function/career and regular exercise. Keep up with these things and you will eventually pull out of this in all likelihood.
Yes.
It's important to get out there on the days you feel least like training (unless physically ill)
Herman Cain (haha yo super serial) wrote:
HRE wrote:
There used to be a guy on the psychology faculty at the U of Wisconsin who also saw patients. He got interested in treating depression and he was also a fairly serious runner. He knew there was a link between inactivity and depression so he began doing his sessions with depressed people by running with them. The sessions lasted three miles. If a prospective patient couldn't run three miles he'd give them a schedule to work up to being able to do it. He found that he rarely needed to "work" on those people's depression because getting fit enough to run three miles pretty well cured them. He's actually written quite a bit about depression and happiness.
What’s his name? Sounds cool
Marty Seligman. He could well be retired now. He was best known for the idea of "learned helplessness." I thought about this thread a bit more after I posted and think I should add this.
Inactivity is not good for depressed people and for most people something like getting fitter can help. But most people are not serious competitive athletes. They're not athletes, or they're casual ones, or hobbyists . They probably don't take their results really seriously, e.g. they want to get a new PB in their Four on the Fourth race but if they don't they feel maybe a little disappointment and head for their cookout. For lack of a better description, their sense of self worth isn't involved with their sport.
But for really serious athletes that's not true and failing to perform as well as they want to, as they NEED to, can be very hard on their ideas about how good and successful a person they really are. A depressed person capable of running thirty miles is probably not going to feel better just from running three with a counselor or psychiatrist. And I think a depressed runner who's feeling bad partly because his/her running performances are far from what they want or have worked hard for could well make things worse by training. If you're really down because of some poor races and you decide you need to crush a 6 x 800 session to reassure yourself that you're fit and then flame out in that session you may feel even more depressed when you're done. On the other hand, maybe you do crush the session and begin feeling a little more optimistic. In general I think running when you're depressed is good but if part of the reason for feeling bad is that you've been spinning your wheels in races and training you might want to let it go for a while and just run.
Whatever you do, try to be intentional about it. I mean be fully aware that you're choosing what you do. A big part of depression is feeling like you have no control in your life and it doesn't matter what you do. If you can at least hold on to the knowledge that you do in fact have control over some things and you're making choices, it goes a long way.
jhki wrote:
Title says it all. I'm struggling to get out of bed, stay motivated, and positive about the future. It would be nice to train, but I feel that my depression will hinder me (physically) from reaching my athletic goals.
Seems like not running would hinder you (physically) even more from reaching your athletic goals. I know I'm more likely to get depressed when I'm not active. Like others have said, it doesn't have to be "training" (a hard workout) if your goals are giving you stress, but some activity is much better than none.
Im just gonna be blunt. If I didn’t keep running and training when things got sh!tty, I would’ve offed myself more than a year ago. There was a point in my life where my only sense of purpose or meaning in life was running. For that I’m eternally grateful. Don’t give up, and most definitely keep training.
jhki wrote:
Title says it all. I'm struggling to get out of bed, stay motivated, and positive about the future. It would be nice to train, but I feel that my depression will hinder me (physically) from reaching my athletic goals.
Yes…. Even if the training is not all out.
One of the first things a therapist will suggest for depression is to exercise.
Go for a nice run….. no pressure. Guaranteed you feel better once you’re done :)
Good luck on your recovery.
Whatever helps your mental health now is the most important thing. If running stresses you out, then hike, lift, cycle etc. If there’s something that bothers you, then eliminate it. There’s a lot of people here that are way off the mark and have no idea what they’re talking about. I agree that activity is good and helpful for depression, but if a particular thing adds to it because you’re competitive or self-conscious about it then don’t do that for a bit. A few weeks off won’t hurt you so long as you seek help. If you need meds or intensive therapy then get on with it. Take back your life.