DEPRESSION
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability and illness. It's more than just feeling sad or going through a tough time. It is a serious mental health condition that needs medical attention.
SYMPTOMS
- Changes in sleep 🛏️
- Changes in appetite 🍽️
- Lack of concentration 🤔
- Loss of energy 🥱
- Lack of interest in activities
- Hopelessness or guilty thoughts
- Changes in movement (less activity or agitation)
- Physical aches and pains
- Suicidal thoughts
How Physical Activity Can aid Depression
- Research shows that exercising 3-5 times a week shows significant reduction in depression than just exercising.
- Anti-depressing effects are shown more after a 9 week long regime.
Talk to your doctor about applying exercise as another form of treatment. Counseling and medication are still highly recommended and should not be stopped unless doctor says otherwise.
Physical activity intensity
- Moderate intensity is shown to have a correlation with mood enhancer.
- Exercise should be 20-30 minutes long and performed 2-3 times a week.
Scientific literature Review
Sedentary behaviors and risk of depression
- The results found that sedentary behaviors, especially mentally passive behaviors, were positively associated with the risk of depression, and each additional increment of time spent on passively sedentary watching television could increase the risk of depression (Huang, 2020). Mentally active sedentary behaviors, as well as using a computer, were unrelated to the risk of depression (Huang, 2020).
Moderate Intensity workouts
Exercises To Shake of Depression
Depression can oftentimes feel like a cloud looming over your head and a thick metal armor weighing down on your body. Try this 10 minute routine to shake off the heaviness of depression and change your state to being light, happy, and free.
Yoga For Depression
Adriene shares a light 15-minute Yoga session to help balance and restore both the physical and emotional body. With a focus on the breath, this yoga practice invites you to be kind, be accepting, and practice regularly.
#1 Best Exercise For Depression/Anxiety
This video informs you about the effects of exercise with patients who struggle with depression/anxiety.
References
Depression. (2017, August). In National Alliance on Mental Ilness. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Depression
Huang, Y., Li, L., Gan, Y., Wang, C., Jiang, H., Cao, S., & Lu, Z. (2020). Sedentary behaviors and risk of depression: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 26. doi:10.1038/s41398-020-0715-z
Jalene, S. (2018). PA&PSY_2_2018 [Online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAOCotOWV1o
Jalene, S. (2018). PA&PSY_3_2018 [Online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAOCotOWV1o