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OK don't shoot the messenger just yet. I'm about to tell you depression may not actually be real.
Let me add some more clarity to this seemingly ridiculous statement. Being depressed is real and is detrimental to anyone. But, having depression isn't real. This paradigm is also really helpful if you are dealing with times of depression.
From a Psychological point of view have a think about the difference between, feeling depressed and having depression? If you have depression it somehow seems more fixed and something that you own, but being depressed has an element of temporary to it. You can be too cold, you can be too hot and we all know that its not a permanent thing.
If you are have depression, how do you not have it? We are wired to understand how to gain and lose things. If we want to not have something, how do we rid ourselves of it? We have to sell it, lose it, transfer the rights to it and so on. And I bet my bottom dollar you'd struggle to find a buyer for your depression!
So, the first and most important step of depression is the right label. From now on you don't have depression, you simply feel depressed. And you most definitely don't label it as yours. Its not your depression, you just feel depressed.
Exercise: The thought of getting up and exercising when you're feeling depressed and down seems like a bridge too far. But the science is simple and there is no conflicting studies that show exercise to be detrimental. It's a clear winner, exercising and moving your body dramatically changes the way you feel. Is not some mystical magical way that it just makes you feel better, chemically you change wherever you exercise, sweat, endorphins, movement, motion and exertion all allow your body to chemically change for the better. After all this is what we're trying to do when taking antidepressant type drugs. Were looking to alter a chemical in balance. The thing is, your body is a factory which creates chemicals but sometimes that factory to shake up, and exercise is exactly what needs to be done.
Don't panic and think you need to start running marathons every week, because that certainly won't help. But walking 2 to 3 times a day if you normally sedentary, and like exercise to 3 times a week we move your entire body workup a sweat have your heart• rate pumping and push muscles to create that chemical shift.
Spend a few moments to do research on how exercising your body will dramatically change the way you feel and also the way you look.
Contrast showers! I case you're feeling down and feeling depressed sometimes all we need is a warm blanket, a warm cuddle and somewhere cosy to sit. But the science tells us opposite. Contrast showers are a method whereby you have a warm shower as normal, and then you'll switch that warm water to cold, cool your body down for a minute or two, and just when you become used to it increased tempter back to warm again for a few minutes and then back down cold.
This seems like absolute torture and this doesn't work because comparatively is the worst thing that ever happened to you so whatever you are depressed about seems insignificant, it works in the same way as exercise. Cold bursts have the ability to optimise our hormones and chemicals very quickly. It also changes fat composition and allows body to burn more fat as fuel and increase our metabolism.
Pop over to Dr Google lol and have a hunt around about the benefits of contract showers and you may be surprised to find that the things you feel you don't want actually could help you in so many ways.
Diet and water! There's a pattern emerging here I keep talking about hormones, and chemicals. And the fact that your body is a factory that can create those hormones and chemicals to balance the environment that its in. Means that you need to provide it with all of the tools and materials it needs to do the job in hand.
Foods that are inflammatory, foods that cause insulin spikes, foods that dramatically change moods are certainly not something that we beneficial if you're feeling depressed. But isn't it strange that we seem to dive for those foods whenever we do feel low the foods that make us feel the worst tend to have the strongest impact on the chemical imbalance within our body, they can dramatically spike our emotions and feelings albeit temporarily which is why we strive for them whenever we are feeling low and depressed.
Again, it's all about breaking the cycle, providing your body with all the foods nutrients and vitamins that it needs from wholefood sources is a proven scientific way to help begin the battle the feelings of depression.
Water, your body is pretty much made of the stuff, the grey matter that we talk about is nearly all water. So which thing happens when the dehydrated? Studies have shown that even dehydration can dramatically affect the way we function cognitively. Need to make sure that you get in the right amount of water every single day if you do feel depressed and low. Let's face it, water is around us and its abundant. We're pretty much made of the stuff, and without it we would perish. However most of us don't realise the effects that simply drinking not enough has.
The sunshine vitamin D3 the body needs vitamin D3 in order to function. We pretty much only get the desired amounts of vitamin D3 when we have some exposure and light exposure directly onto our skin. Vitamin D3 is actually a hormone, it's made when the sun hits the skin and that's converted to vitamin D3 which body needs so many functions especially cognitive functions and growth. Vitamin D3 is also responsible for a number of hormonal interactions and therefore, if you're staying indoors because you're feeling low, there is a chance you're feeling low because you're staying indoors. Thankfully, supplementation of vitamin D3 has become very simple due to the studies and growth in knowledge and understanding about D3 over the past 10 or so years. During the winter months I personally take 2500 IU per day, and then during the summer months I'd make sure I get plenty of sun and plenty of daylight on my skin on my body. It's by no coincidence that we do feel better while we are on holiday basking in the sun. Have a chat to your doctor about supplementation with vitamin D3, the effects can be noticed very quickly and it said that in cooler countries, D3 supplementation is essential.
Have you ever had a gut feeling? so, if you know about depression and being depressed, your problem of heard the word serotonin. Serotonin is known as the happy hormone. And as this post seems to be largely about hormones and chemicals in the brain where do you think serotonin lives largely within the body? What actually I've got a gut feeling you don't know the answer to this. Serotonin largely resides and is made within the gut. That's right, not the brain, your happy hormone is made within your digestive tract. Now they can see the importance of consuming the right water and foods moving your body because we know that movement helps the digestive tract too. So if your gut is healthy and happy you are a great path to ensuring that depression is a thing of the past for you!
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