Use exercise to help depression – WebMD

I have done a number of posts on depression – a mood disorder very common and often misunderstood. One of the first things you need to know about depression is that it is a disorder of cognition not just mood, according to Robert D. Edger, M.D. speaking before Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Healthy Transitions Program® . You don’t just buck  up or keep smiling to get rid of it. You usually need a medical intervention. Statistics show that possibly 75 percent of sufferers do not get medical help.

Here are my pup and me several years ago riding in Chicago’s annual Bike the Drive up Lake Shore Drive. A bike is a super tool for fighting depression.

Here are a few suggestions from WebMD that at least offer some relief from depression. Needless to say, I was happy to see that, once more, exercise casts some light into the darkness of this situation.  Click on the link to read them all.

Walk or run –  “You don’t have to run a marathon or be a speed demon. You don’t even have to run. Start with walking, and you can decide if you want to go faster as you get stronger. It’s not just the exercise that helps — the great outdoors can lift your mood, too.”

I am a giant fan of walking. Check out my Page – Why you should walk more for lots more information.

Garden – “Touching soil may boost a key brain chemical called serotonin, and that can help lift depression. You’ll also be active and outside. If you don’t have a patch of dirt of your own, call a local community garden to see if you could work a plot there.”

I have never done much gardening being a city kid, but everyone I have ever known who did it told me how very much they enjoyed it.