Getting there by talktobert
Remember those commercials, "Milk: it does a body good"? Well, exercise does my mind good (if you'll pardon the incorrect grammar). After a workout and for the remainder of the day, my mood goes from 'ho-hum, just swell' to supreme confidence and happiness. If I miss a workout, I get a little depressed about myself and think about how that 10 lbs. will never come off and I haven't done anything worthwhile that day - going to bed swearing that I'll get that happy feeling back if I just squeeze in that workout tomorrow. An article in today's NYT tried to explain why - using mice. If you want to get really scientific about it, read the article.
I'll take us a little closer to home to read some statistics that don't involve so much math. In his book, The Depression Cure, KU Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Stephen Ilardi contends that, "researchers have compared aerobic exercise and Zoloft head to head in the treatment of depression. Even at a low “dose” of exercise–thirty minutes of brisk walking three times a week–patients who worked out did just as well as those who took the medication. Strikingly, though, the patients on Zoloft were about three times more likely than exercisers to become depressed again over a ten-month follow-up period."
My problem is this: I'm in such a morning-time funk everyday that I can't or won't get my butt to the gym over my lunch break. Therefore, I can't get to my drug-free happy place. So here's the burning question: do I need Zoloft to get to a place mentally where I finally go to the gym, and therefore cancel out the need for Zoloft in the first place?
Tagged: Depression, Exercise
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