Exercise: How to Thrive with Depression Series (Part 8)

Welcome back to the Thriving with Depression Series! Thank you for joining me on my adventure! 

To view the full series, check out our archive! As a reminder to new readers, you can start anywhere, even here as articles do not need to be read in any particular order. 

So glad you’re here! I am continuing to discuss the importance of self-care as you’re learning how to thrive. This week, I discuss exercise. Wait, please, let me explain before you slam down your computer and curse my name! Pour a nice cup of herbal tea, sit down, and read my article before you decide to say unholy things about me (or exercise). Ahh, thank you, much better!

Now, let’s begin…once upon a upon a time in a restaurant not too far away..

Enjoying lunch with a relative of mine, we were discussing mental health treatment and psychologists when she tells me about a psychologist she knows. The psychologist has a rule. She does not treat anyone for mental health issues who does not exercise. That is how strongly she feels about the importance of exercise to mental health. I had to stop and think about that for a moment. On the one hand, I thought, who is she to tell people what to do or not to do? But on the one hand, the longer I thought about it, the more sensical it seemed. After all, if I am going to spend my time and hard-earned money to see a professional, don’t I want her (or him) to help me to the best of their ability? I mean, if I go to see an orthopedic surgeon, do I want him or her to just read my MRI, tell me whether or not I need surgery, and then leave the exam room? No, I want the doctor to give me all of the available options for my condition and answer all of my questions before I leave his/her office. I want to feel the professional does the best to his or her ability to help me; even if that means making suggestions I don’t want to hear (like I need to exercise, lol).  

There is strong information that exercise helps us feel better, albeit the exact details of how it does this are still under review. Exercise may be one way of increasing the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin, in the brain without the use of drugs. Serotonin is known to help with feelings of happiness and allay anxiety. (1) Other studies indicate that it helps via a different mechanism; by lowering the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine. (2)

More research is needed on this topic, but it is fairly clear exercise helps mood and mental health issues. Maybe we don’t know exactly all of the ways it helps; but we do know it helps. 

Honestly, though, does it really matter if it works by lowering your stress hormones or by affecting a neurotransmitter to make you happy? Either way sounds great to me. That’s like asking me if I want my favorite meal prepared by a famous chef and served to me in the south dining room or the north dining room.  Uhh…does it matter? I don’t care, I’ll take my chef prepared cuisine in the garage if I need to.  

We often think of exercise like going to work. We like parts of it, dislike other parts, but often force ourselves to do it because of the benefits. When we were kids, we moved around and went out to play BY CHOICE. But not always when we get older. We spend a good part of our time working and doing chores. Add to this, our bodies are not as flexible as they once were. It is a catch 22, the time we really need the extra energy provided by a physical work out is the exact time we are too tired to do it. 

So, the debate. Is it right that this psychologist will only accept clients who agree to exercise? Well, is it right that she is asks clients to engage in an activity that improves your mood, your health and life span without any negative side effects? 

The problem is, when we think of exercising, many times we visualize Arnold Schwarzenegger working out for hours in the gym each day. Or we visualize spending hours on the stair master while watching the clock on the gym wall.

But that is not what exercise is. Exercise is defined as bodily exertion for the sake of developing and maintaining physical fitness. It doesn’t say anything about torture, pain, or misery. (3)

So, let’s rethink of what exercise is based on the definition. It is basically moving. It is anything that gets you off your chair, couch, or bed. It can be walking with the dog, golf, sightseeing, hiking, walking around the mall, consignment shopping, etc. If you are moving, you are exercising. Over the past couple of years, I have noticed myself feeling weaker. I knew that starting a sedentary job would decrease my physical activity level, but I didn’t realize how much until I took a week off work. Even though I was fairly weak and could not do as much as I normally could, I noticed how much more I moved than on a typical day. I was really surprised at all of the little chores I did throughout the day which involved my going somewhere, getting out of the car, and moving around even if it was just at a grocery store or the pharmacy. So, before shelling out lots of money for gym memberships or fancy work-out clothes, start slowly by just increasing your activity per day. Perhaps get a pedometer just to get an idea of how much you move or keep track of how far you go each day. In order to get stronger and better, aim for a few extra steps, or for an extra lap around the house. The point is to increase your activity a little bit at a time. After all, the point is to decrease your stress, not add to it. How many times do we join a gym, start working out several days a week only to quit two months later? Even though you may feel great after exercising, drastically changing or adding to your schedule may cause stress- which negates some of the positive feelings derived from exercising. Getting in shape is a marathon not a sprint; literally! 

So, back to the debate. If a professional asks me to engage in an activity which will improve my health, improve her ability to help me, and help me enjoy life more- I guess it sounds like a great idea! I won’t be spending hours in the gym alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger but a moderate walk after work with my dog sounds doable.