Depression and exercise!

latinlore21

Please look into anti depression medication. My father has struggled with depression for my whole life. I don't think he fully realizes the impact it had on my brother and I growing up. As kids, we honestly felt like we had done something wrong, or that he just wasn't interested in playing with us or going to our activities. He was rarely excited about anything and even though he was a loving father, he spent an inordinate amount of time in his room in bed. We will never get that time back. Now that I am an adult, I recognize the pattern of him taking anti depressants and getting better; then he thinks he's better and doesn't need them anymore and spiraled into depression again. It would often be years of depression before he finally got back on the meds and the pattern repeated itself. Finally at nearly 70 years old he's back on the meds (this time for good I hope).

He has also tried every lifestyle thing you could think of to "naturally" alleviate his symptoms including exercise, herbs, vitamins, diet, etc. Those things may have helped slightly, but his depression is chemical and chronic. Anyway, this may not apply to you at all, but just wanted to share my experience since you have children. Like I said, my dad didn't think at the time that his depression would affect my brother and I like it did.

Thank you so much! you brought tears to my eyes! I know exactly what you mean, I do feel like i'm hurting my family! my kids notice it more and more and i've notice my 9 yr old son is slowly pushing me away I don't want them to feel the way you felt about your father, I'm pretty much the only person that they have! I see the same pattern that you are talking about, I feel better after a year or two on meds then i come off, then i feel bad again and start the meds again. I thought that exercising was really helping me, but having a new job brought me right into depression again.
I will take everyone's advice and see my Dr. again. If not for me, for my children!
Thank you so much!!

Jesmoko

I've been diagnosed with severe depression, social anxiety, schizoid personality disorder and all that good stuff. Just two years back I was massively overweight and I couldn't bring myself to care about exercising or eating well at all. I had pretty much reached the end of my ropes far as treatments go as well, all I had left was...ECT or sectioned off somewhere.

What changed my situation? I got a dog. It's strange that an animal made me reconnect with society, when my own family or anyone else couldn't...but that's what happened. I go out for walks for couple hours a day and I've lost 35 lbs doing it. My quality/enjoyment of life has greatly improved, and I'm seeing something resembling hope in the future.

All that said, the effectiveness of different treatments vary by the individual basis. There's nothing wrong with being on some kind of medication, I know a great deal of people who've gained a lot of help from that. There's various forms of therapy and support groups available too these days, you just need to try stuff out to see what works for you.

latinlore21

I've been diagnosed with severe depression, social anxiety, schizoid personality disorder and all that good stuff. Just two years back I was massively overweight and I couldn't bring myself to care about exercising or eating well at all. I had pretty much reached the end of my ropes far as treatments go as well, all I had left was...ECT or sectioned off somewhere.

What changed my situation? I got a dog. It's strange that an animal made me reconnect with society, when my own family or anyone else couldn't...but that's what happened. I go out for walks for couple hours a day and I've lost 35 lbs doing it. My quality/enjoyment of life has greatly improved, and I'm seeing something resembling hope in the future.

All that said, the effectiveness of different treatments vary by the individual basis. There's nothing wrong with being on some kind of medication, I know a great deal of people who've gained a lot of help from that. There's various forms of therapy and support groups available too these days, you just need to try stuff out to see what works for you.

Wow, thank you for sharing your experience! That's great that having a dog helped you overcome your problems! I have thought about getting a dog, I had one one I was little and she was pretty much part of the family. Dogs can truly become your best friend, they make you feel needed, you can talk to them about anything, and best of all they won't judge you or get mad at you! The only concerns that I have is that I work full time and may not be able to spend as much time with it as I should, I don't want to be selfish and just get a dog and then have it sitting at home alone all day, I want to make sure that is the right time when I do decide to adopt a dog.

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I'm going to look into counseling again, I had a few sessions a couple of years ago and found that it really helped me

MisFitMom219

You've had a ton of great replies but I couldn't help it because I know how hard it can be, I too battle with depression..and social anxiety disorder --boo. The gym has become my home away from home & it is now a part of my daily life, can't imagine how I ever did without!

That being said, it is also a huge part of my daughters life. She sees me being so active and dedicated that it's part of her life as well. Recently she has become interested in yoga & loves doing it with me...she also ran her first 5k race in October (chose the color run, kids love that one!) , her goal is to complete a 10k! Training for that was super fun, kids love sprints and fun competitive things. She even likes to do push ups/situps ---wants to beat the boys in gym class like mommy lol

latinlore21

You've had a ton of great replies but I couldn't help it because I know how hard it can be, I too battle with depression..and social anxiety disorder --boo. The gym has become my home away from home & it is now a part of my daily life, can't imagine how I ever did without!

That being said, it is also a huge part of my daughters life. She sees me being so active and dedicated that it's part of her life as well. Recently she has become interested in yoga & loves doing it with me...she also ran her first 5k race in October (chose the color run, kids love that one!) , her goal is to complete a 10k! Training for that was super fun, kids love sprints and fun competitive things. She even likes to do push ups/situps ---wants to beat the boys in gym class like mommy lol

How awesome! It makes it easier to have someone to exercise with, and what could be better than with your own kids! I'll have to find out if my son is old enough to go with me to the gym...he loves sports! And maybe I can work out a couple of days a week at home and have my daughter join me. Thank you for the encouragement! I need all the suggestions I can get! You are absolutely right..it's so hard getting out of the hole