Since winter is when I tend to become depressed, especially around the holidays...I'm interested in learning how to avoid it! There were years I tried not celebrating...which made me depressed in doing so.
And there is a definite difference between being sad and being depressed. What do you think of that? For me I have sadness which can pass, an emotion often brought on by learning of a sad event, a death, a catastrophe, or even potential bad news. Depression happens more gradually and I lose energy, have different sleep patterns, appetite changes, and general loss of interest in the things/people in my life. I will realize it sometimes after weeks, that I'm really depressed again.
So I read things about how to avoid depression in the first place. And hope by doing 5 of the things listed below, I might make it through the winter this year.
SOURCE: NPR Health News
Serious depression should be treated with medication and/or therapy. But a new study adds to a growing body of evidence tying behaviors to mental health. Researchers at Cambridge identified seven healthy habits that affect your mood. They looked at nearly 300,000 people in the UK Biobank database initiative and found that maintaining at least 5 of these habits could cut the risk of depression by 57%. Try adding some of these daily habits to your life:
Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night on average.
Add more physical activity to your routine.
Eat a balanced diet focused on plants, whole grains and lean proteins.
Limit alcohol intake and don't smoke.
Limit screen time to avoid being sedentary.
Cultivate friendship and community through hobbies.
It seems that being outdoors is a great help..people are studying Norway..daylight helps...natural vitamin D...but that is in short supply the further north...or south..that yo go. I take vitamin D3. It helps...with vit C and zinc...
ReplyDeleteI agree, as nature has always given me a good feeling. Now my friend has talked about taking sun baths during the days whenever sun shines in winter. I'm all for that!
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing information. I like to think medication is not always a good treatment. I always have trouble sleeping. Winter is a bad time, it hard for me to stay active. I tend to hibernate. I do tend to read more books at this time. Take care, have a great day!
Sounds like you have a good plan...lots of books are great!
DeleteI live with depression. It comes and goes, but will always be there. I have a therapist.
ReplyDeleteThat counts as Depression with a capital letter...and it is the kind that won't respond to these good hints easily. But I'm glad to hear you talk with someone!
Delete...and I didn't sleep well last night.
ReplyDeleteWell, I had an hour I couldn't go back to sleep, but I think they mean many nights of trouble sleeping.
DeleteYou probably know this but it's called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). I have suffered from it for many years. Fighting it is a many pronged approach. I will put my thought on my blog.....eventually.....Suzi/Smartcat
ReplyDeleteMy friend has purchased one of those UV lights as well as taught me about sun bathing in winter time. Maybe I'll get one too. Do you have one?
DeleteI hope you are able to come up with some answers to your problems, it seems to be different for each individual.
ReplyDeleteAnd the answers always are too!
DeleteDepression is horrible. Thankfully, but in some ways oddly, I haven't seemed to suffer from it since I retired. Maybe less stress, more sleep and exercise really do help. I also think it has a lot to do with your microbiome and I've worked hard at improving my diet and eating fermented foods etc to boost mine.
ReplyDeleteOoo, that's another way of looking at depression. Glad to hear about that approach. The diet I don't exactly follow is low fat plant based. I only eat yogurt, but no other fermented foods.
ReplyDeleteYogurt and kefir are the only fermented foods that I tolerate.
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