so happy i just had to share!!!!

BeautyFromPain

okay so over the past year i have stopped taking all antidepressants due to running and weight training making me so happy

a friend of mine casually mentioned to facebook the other day that he was depressed and does anyone have any ideas?
i told him you know... this is what has worked for me, won't necessarily work for everyone.. but you should try it out.
well today he went for a run and told me he can finally feel emotions again, is not numb anymore and happier he has been in a long time! i'm just so happy for him!

5Btieden

That is awesome! I noticed the same thing when I decided to clean up my act Woo hoo!

Dudagarcia

I can relate working out does wonders so happy for u and ur friend

jworb

That's fantastic! there have been some scientific studies that show regular exercise can actually change your brain chemistry and can be as effective in reducing depression as traditional therapy or antidepressant drugs. So happy that's worked out for you!

loudvoice1

AWESOME!!!! I'm on a stack of anti-depressants and some anti-anxiety meds at the moment, but I want to get out walking more, work my way up to running. I reckon it's the best thing...and have no doubts it'd work for me too!! Also, it's great exercise... but I really could do with getting off some of my meds...I'm on TONS and I mean TONS. Take what about 20 prescription pills at night, 10 in the morning and 2 at mid-day - like WOW!

JanetLM73

That is great news. I've also found that exercising has helped me.

jillcwhite

My daughter suffers from depression but doesn't have the motivation to work out. Any suggestions to get her moving? Overweight too.

Glad to hear it is working for you and your friend.

I know after I work out in the mornings I am a happier better person.

bridgie101

My daughter suffers from depression but doesn't have the motivation to work out. Any suggestions to get her moving? Overweight too.

Glad to hear it is working for you and your friend.

I know after I work out in the mornings I am a happier better person.

I was always so anti this, but it has actually worked:

I have taken antidepressants, and over about six months got cheerful enough to want to do physical things. Then the physical things have kicked in and I am sort of on a roll. The woman who suggested the antidepressants said that I had depleted seratonin levels (like what you get from sunlight) and if I raised those levels, gave it a helping hand, then that would take some pressure off me and I would start to pick up my own momentum again. This appears to be working. I'm a new person and I wish I'd done it ten years ago.

Aleara2012

Bump

mummma

i was on a combination of medication including anti depressants for post traumatic stress disorder following domestic abuse...... i soon dropped the tablets when i discovered yoga...... now ive started cardio i know ill never need those meds again x

Molly_Pitcher

I love this thread! Running totally helped pull me out of a 2 year funk! Best therapy EVER!

XXXMinnieXXX

I was terribly terribly depressed to the point I was suicidal. I eventually started exercising and it changed my life. My mood totally lifted. I felt amazing and would do Zumba 5 days and walking 7 days. I decreased my antidepressants ready to come off them. I then became very ill, my blood pressure was dropping and I was told I had to have complete rest. Eventually they found I had liver tumours and they were removed which is very major surgery. Depression and anxiety has set in big time, I've had to increase my antidepressants again and go on anxiety meds. I've just started getting on walks again this week and I can feel my mood lifting. I know exercise needs to become part of my everyday life again. At the moment I have to go slow and take one day at a time, but I can't wait to be back to daily Zumba and reducing my meds again! X

renkath

My daughter suffers from depression but doesn't have the motivation to work out. Any suggestions to get her moving? Overweight too.

Here are some links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043
http://fwd4.me/0z1l
http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=exercise

One thing (maybe the most important thing for a depressed person to hear) is that it is NOT about "attitude" or thinking positively. It is about changing the physiology. The last thing a clinically depressed person needs to hear, the least motivating, and most infuriating thing is: "if you just get up and move you will feel better" - as though depression is a choice, and a matter of changing one's attitude. When a person who is not depressed "feels better" after a work out, that is not the same thing as what happens when a person exercises regularly over time and changes their chemistry. If a depressed person goes to an aerobic class, they might not feel better afterward. They may feel worse for being under even more pressure.

Taking *one* pill doesn't solve anything either.

I had a lot of personal info here and deleted it after thinking better of it. However, I prefer to run all by myself and really have no desire to run with people or exercise with a bunch of smiling, bouncing friends. I like the peace and quiet and balance I get when I do it on my own. Maybe your daughter just needs to find her thing.

I wish your daughter the best.