What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
40 Comments
- EggAndMuffin, on 05/22/2009, -1/+171. Tips for Recovering From Depression
If you’ve had depression, you know how hopeless you can feel. It’s important to get professional treatment. But there are things you can do to help ease symptoms of depression. Exercise, changing your diet, and even playing with a pet can help improve your mood. Click to the next slide and see how you can start regaining control of your life.
2. Let Your Pet Nuzzle Blues Away
Sometimes your pet really can be your best friend -- and that’s good therapy. When you play with your pet, you take your mind off your own problems. Also, when you take care of your pet you’re fulfilling a commitment to something outside yourself. Caring for others can be very therapeutic.
3. Eat Smart to Lift Mind and Body
There’s a connection between mind and body. A healthy diet not only fuels your body, but it also helps you feel better. Watching calories is important. So is limiting fat and sugar. Build your diet around plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to help improve both your health and stabilize your mood.
4. Choose Foods to Boost Your Mood
Some studies suggest omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B-12 may help ease mood changes such as depression. Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids. So do flaxseed, nuts, and dark green vegetables. Seafood and low-fat dairy products are good sources for B-12. Vegetarians who eat no meat or fish may take supplements.
5. Try Low-Fat Carbs for a Pick-Me-Up
Serotonin is a brain chemical that enhances your sense of well-being. Carbohydrates -- when eaten alone without protein -- raise the level of serotonin in your brain. Low-fat carbs such as a baked potato, graham crackers, or pasta without meat may help lift you out of a blue funk.
6. Drink Less Caffeine to Improve Mood
Do you really need that third cup of coffee? Anxiety is a common symptom of depression. And too much caffeine can make you nervous, jittery, or anxious. So cutting back on soda, coffee, tea, and chocolate can make a big difference in your mood. It can also help you sleep better at night.
7. Treat Your Aches and Pains
Chronic pain can cause depression, and depression can make pain worse. Work with your health care team to treat your depression and your pain.
8. Exercise to Change the Way You Feel
For some people, exercise works as well or even better than antidepressants. And you don’t have to run a marathon. Just take a walk with a friend. As time goes on, increase activity until you exercise on most days. You’ll feel better physically, sleep better at night, and feel less depressed.
9. Choose an Exercise You Enjoy
If you don’t like to run, you won’t last long training for the marathon. But you will stay with a moderate exercise you enjoy. For instance, try golfing without a cart, riding a bike, working in your garden, playing tennis, or swimming. The important thing is to pick something you like. Then you’ll look forward to it and feel better when you do it.
10. Exercise With Others for Support
Staying connected with other people helps overcome the lethargy, exhaustion, and loneliness of depression. Join an exercise group or exercise with a friend. You’ll stay connected. And you’ll have support to help you stay on track!
11. Be Sure You Get Enough Sunlight
Do you feel more depressed during darker, cold months? You may have seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. SAD is most common in the winter when there’s less sunlight. SAD is often treated with light therapy or exposure to artificial sunlight. Ask your doctor if light therapy is right for you.
12. Explore Your Creativity
Painting, photography, music, knitting, or writing in a journal: these are all ways people explore their feelings and express what’s on their mind. Being creative can help you feel better. The goal isn’t to create a masterpiece. Do something that gives you pleasure. It may help you better understand who you are and how you feel.
13. Make Time for Mindful Relaxation
Stress and anxiety can increase your depression symptoms and make it harder to recover. Learning to mentally relax can help restore a sense of calm and control. You might consider a yoga or meditation class. Or you could simply listen to soothing music while you take a long, hot bath.
14. Become Actively Involved
Being involved with others can help you regain a sense of purpose. And it doesn’t take much to get started. Try volunteering with a charity. Or join a discussion group at the library or at church. Meeting new people and doing new things will help you feel good about yourself.
15. Keep Friends and Family in Your Life
The people who love you want to support you. If you shut them out, they can’t. If you let them in, you’ll feel a lot better. Call a friend and go for a walk. Have a cup of coffee with your partner. You may find it helps to talk about your depression. It feels good to have someone listen.
16. Get the Healthy Sleep You Need
Depression interferes with healthy sleep. Some people with depression sleep too much. Others can’t fall asleep easily. As you recover from depression, relearn good sleep habits. Start by going to bed and getting up the same time each day. Use relaxation techniques to help fall asleep. Healthy sleep makes you feel better physically and mentally.
17. Avoid Alcohol and Drugs
Alcohol and drugs can slow or prevent recovery from depression. They can also make your depression worse and interfere with the medicines you take for depression. If you have a problem with substance abuse, ask for help now. You’ll have a far better chance of recovering from depression.
18. Continue Your Treatment
The steps outlined in these slides may help you feel positive about your life. But by themselves, they’re not enough. They won’t replace medical treatment or talk therapy. Depression is a serious illness, and it carries a risk of suicide. If you are thinking about suicide, seek help immediately. And never stop or change treatment without discussing it carefully with your doctor.
Splitting an article into 19 pages, with a picture on each page....
Now you won't have to click the article and encourage them by visiting their website. - cfuse, on 05/22/2009, -0/+7I found that burying yet another slideshow reduced my stress levels.
- SystemicThought, on 05/22/2009, -2/+8Except this is an article about dealing with depression, and suggests moderate exercise as a way to regulate body chemistry and help depression, as many depressed people are lethargic or sedentary. Not lifting weights.
Also, you neglect to mention things like the benefits of long, slow endurance runs and other cross-training activities like swimming or cycling. Or sports.
And you used 3 twice.
Get off Digg while drunk. - appleofdischord, on 05/22/2009, -0/+6You like tomato's what?
- SystemicThought, on 05/22/2009, -0/+4A psychologist can only provide talk therapy and guidance through frequent 50 minute sessions (a billable hour, allowing the psychologist to organize for the next patient and see one every hour), a psychiatrist prescribes drugs and may have minimal contact with the patient, having a subordinate, such as a psychometrist do the actually screenings, or just prescribe medication on the advice of a physician, but some still also have the same 50 minute sit-down chats.
Also, a psychologist either has a PhD in psychology (doctor of philosophy in psychology), or a PsyD (doctor of psychology). Those with PhD's can do research and practice psychology, those with PsyD's can only practice. A psychiatrist went to med school, studying anatomy and the normal med school courses, then did their residency with a in psychiatrics. They have very little formal education in psychology, just the internship. - Rudegar, on 05/22/2009, -1/+5I like tomato's :D
- appleofdischord, on 05/22/2009, -0/+4The biggest problem with exercising and depression is that you are often "too depressed to exercise". The easier (more convenient) it is to do so, the more likely it is to happen.
- appleofdischord, on 05/22/2009, -0/+4Condensed -
Psychologist: counseling
Psychiatrist: drugs - SystemicThought, on 05/22/2009, -1/+5"Vegetarians who eat no meat or fish may take supplements."
Thank you for your permission, WebMD.
That was completely pointless. If you have serious depression, you should see a psychologist, and, if they deserve their salary, they should have told you all this already. This really isn't a new or exciting Digg submission. Useful for a moderately sized minority of people, but isn't in any way amusing.
Also, people need to be sure not to confuse depression and grief. - tornadojoe, on 05/22/2009, -9/+13Here's an idea about exercise: It involves actual WORK.
You always see people on treadmills, power walking or lazily using whatever elliptical machine is the next big thing. You know why people use them? Because they're ***** easy. That's the same reason why the supplement industry, infomercial workout programs and Planet Fitness are all making a ***** ton of money. Everyone wants the easy way out. And if it was as easy as all of the fore-mentioned bastards wanted you to believe, we'd all be super hot ripped athletic monsters. But it's not that easy. And when people figure that out and go get gym memberships to lift weights, they're always using machines and doing two dozen exercises and think that they're accomplishing something, but they really aren't. If you want to get in shape, it's this ***** simple:
1) Lift heavy things and do it via compound movements. Squats. Deadlifts. Bench. Rows, Chin ups. These are the staple of a good workout. And benching 25 pounds 300 times isn't what I'm talking about. Do something that's 5 sets for 5 reps, or 3 sets of 5 reps.
2) Eat a ***** ton of food. If you're lifting REALLY heavy, you're going to require calories. I don't give a ***** if you're a skinny bastard trying to gain weight, or a fat bastard trying to lose it. You're going to need to FUEL your body to promote muscle growth. If you're a fatass and lifting heavy enough, your body is going to gain muscle if you supply it with what it needs. And that doesn't mean 12 little debbies and 4 frosties. Eat like an adult, but eat alot. Eat everything in your path. A double cheese burger now and then won't hurt you if you're eating clean a majority of the time and really pushing yourself in the gym. And when I'm talking about eating massive I don't mean 2 or 3 meals a day. I mean 4 or 5. When you only eat once or twice a day, your body is going to save whatever calories you give it because it thinks that food is scarce. If you're feeding it constantly then it will snap out of survival mode and start promoting body growth that's GOOD. Even if you're fat, your first assault on your gross out of shape body should be heavy barbell lifting. Cardio is not fun, but lifting a ***** ton of weight is.
3) Add weight on all of your lifts every single workout. EVERY SINGLE DAY YOU LIFT you should be adding weight. The whole point of getting in shape is to shock your body into growing muscle. If you reach a point where you fail, use the same weight you were using a few weeks ago and work yourself back up and DON'T GIVE UP!
3) Sleep. Your body can't grow muscle unless you're getting adequate rest. You should be just as strict about sleeping and eating as you are about lifting.
4) Muscle doesn't turn into fat. There's no easy way to get abs. You're not going to get super ripped. This ***** is not easy. if you want to get in shape it's not a ***** hobby, it's a god damn LIFESTYLE change.
5) When it comes to cardio, don't waste your time on a bike or in a pool or power walking or any of that crap. The human body was built to run, period. Mankind has been doing it for millions of years. Ever since the first of our ugly ape ancestors got on two legs to get away from some badass tigers or whatever. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for that dumb bastard running his nuts off. Pay homage to him and go run, you ungrateful jerk. That's not to say that a few hours on the bike or in the pool are bad, but thinking that it's goin to get you there on its own is stupid.
6) If you're about to do cardio 4 days a week and lift 4 days a week, you're either a super human freak of nature or you're not lifting enough. After a day of lifting it should be a pain in the ass to get off the toilet seat. If you lift one day and you're able to do sprints the next with ease, then you're not lifting enough. Lifting WILL make you faster because muscles are your bodies engine and motor. There's no such thing as getting so big that you get slower unless you have a body builder physique that you build just for show.
7) Intensity: Whenever you lift or sprint, you want to do it with absolute maximum intensity and hatred. Play some intense music. A good metal music mix tape is just as much of a muscle building supplement as creatine if you can channel the music into your workout to psyche yourself up.
8) You only fail if you quit. If you can't bench 75 pounds that doesn't mean you're weak. If you get winded and vomit after running 1/8 of a mile, that doesn't make you a pussy. What makes you a pussy is when you give up. Yes, there will be days where you're going to have to haul it in early, but what matters is that when you come up on your next day to get yourself in the gym or hit the road and run you get the ***** out there and do it and try to do more than you did the last time.
Drunken workout rant over. - ducttapesaves, on 05/22/2009, -0/+3I do appreciate this comment, though surprisingly the slide show wasn't too tedious. I didn't have to excessively scroll to see the content and it didn't load slowly. The article has useful info for those uniformed or without health insurance. Healthy eating, exercise, and adequate sleep made a difference for me.
- cr4ft, on 05/22/2009, -1/+4Playing with your pet is just another way of saying to get off your ass
- Zeigy, on 05/22/2009, -0/+323. Jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.
- WhiskeyThieves, on 05/22/2009, -0/+224. Take a Double barrel shot gun to the face.
- riyanray, on 05/22/2009, -0/+2In my point of view we should get enough money, love and sex to reduce depression... and these are not on the list... wth?
- druciferre, on 05/22/2009, -2/+4For me, these are tips on how to piss me off. "Become Actively Involved," and "Keep Friends and Family in Your Life," lead me towards depression more so than away from it.
- danuab, on 05/22/2009, -0/+2Everyone's different :) But for most people being active in their community and maintaining close interpersonal relationships would be protective factors against depression.
- inactive, on 05/22/2009, -1/+322. Take xanax
- danuab, on 05/22/2009, -0/+2A lot of people with depression go untreated. Reading this digg could be an important first step for some people. And at the end they suggest you see a psychologist. Article dugg.
- appleofdischord, on 05/22/2009, -0/+224. ???
25. profit! - SystemicThought, on 05/22/2009, -0/+2I used to be fat in high school. I started running track, which was basically 2-3 mile jogs every day. I lost 20 pounds in a month, 50 pounds in a year doing pretty much just distance runs. My resting heart rate dropped from 70 to 55, and my systolic blood pressure dropped 30 points. If that's not a difference, I don't know what is. Not to say there aren't other ways, but it's definitely a valid form of exercise.
- passedoutghost, on 05/22/2009, -1/+2You forgot to add: eat lean protein and complex carbs. But don't eat anything 3-4 hours before you hit the sack. Eat *medium* sized 6 meals per day, it's not a ***** eating contest guys. Moderate your intake. If you're trying to gain lean muscle and not bulk then if your weightlifting use a lighter set of weights, but do more repetitions. And cardio is very important when you are trying to lift weights. You want a healthy and strong heart. In order to achieve a healthy cardiovascular system you should engage in High Intensity Interval Training. Not only do your cardio sessions end up being shorter (always a plus for the lazy), it is more effective than just running/jogging at a set pace. Sprint like crazy for 1 minute, jog for 3, repeat the process 3 times minimum and work your way up from there.
- ViscidGobs, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1Damn good point. Many confuse grief or sadness for depression. My mother died, I need a pill.
- EggAndMuffin, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1I don't see why your comment gets dugg down, ducttapesaves.
You had your opinion, (and honestly I agree).
Yes, I once lost 20+ lbs from eating healthy, exercise, and (attempt to get) adequate sleep.
These ARE good tips, digg me down if you will,
but in the beginning I thought these were just common-sense knowledge. - Zeigy, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1But what about the pretty pictures? And there is always Repagination from the maker's of Firefox. :)
I'm using version 2006.4.5 in Firefox 3.0.10
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addons/ve ... - Zeigy, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1Okay, I'm confused. What's the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
- danuab, on 05/22/2009, -0/+1Non-sequitar win :)
- SystemicThought, on 05/23/2009, -0/+1Yeah, I can easily hit 1200 calories in an hour on an eliptical. I found that out when I busted up my knee in rugby.
(Well, easy isn't the right word, it's with great exertion, but I can only do 800ish on an exercise bike in the same amount of time) - EnnuiStudent, on 05/23/2009, -0/+1Seems like the bodybuilders are visiting digg...
There are many ways to become healthy through proper diet and moderate exercise. Not everyone wants to put the effort to reach a "ripped" or very low body fat %, such as looking like a model in a clothing catalog isn't the only way to be healthy.
You can simply just exercise regularly (3-4 times a week, at least 30 minutes at a moderate or high intensity), while watching your diet carefully in terms of components and caloric intake. That should bring your health test scores down, as well as regulate your mood.
And another thing, ellipticals are pretty awesome. Best machine to use for interval training in my experience (especially if you have knee or leg problems). - NereidMeriel, on 05/22/2009, -0/+0You can play with pets on your ass. ...No not like that, I mean while sitting on your ass and making the pets do all the work.
Technology's made it so much easier with toys designed to help you play fetch with dogs and those cat fishing toy things.
Effort? What's that? - Rudegar, on 05/22/2009, -1/+1***** you 2 of my friends died playing with their pet ewoks asses! :P
- ducttapesaves, on 05/22/2009, -0/+0These tips do help. It's too bad that it's not common-sense knowledge.
- jaquline09, on 07/30/2009, -0/+0Cycling interval training is an important part when you build up improvements in your performance. If you're like most cyclists, you have many responsibilities besides cycling. But you still want to stay in shape and get your workouts in. This type of workout represents a somewhat more advanced entry into our training arsenal, but one that all riders, regardless of experience, can safely and easily incorporate into their own programs.
http://www.cyclingmind.com/intervalsecrets.html - inactive, on 05/22/2009, -2/+1Life is so hard, isn't it?
- FAT_PIGGY, on 05/22/2009, -3/+2FAIL
- tornadojoe, on 05/22/2009, -4/+3Amazing. Something with substance gets dugg down because lazy ass diggers don't want to read it.
- patrick84gf, on 05/22/2009, -1/+0I reduce my stress with a bottle of wh... cola.
- tornadojoe, on 05/22/2009, -2/+0slow endurance running is to exercise as diet coke is to dieting. It's not going to put you in better shape, but yeah it might make you feel like you're making a difference.
- xaccie, on 05/22/2009, -5/+1I think slide 21 is missing: Getting the occasional blowjob now and then.
- teamrock3t, on 05/22/2009, -8/+2alcohol is the only thing that can cure my depression after midterms =(
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is