The Value of Exercise!

Need someone to talk to—someone who understands what it’s like to deal with depression? Joining a support group could be just the way to finding the people who understand what you're experiencing.

I was reading that in the states Dr,s believe so strongly in the benefits of exercise for depression that doctors are beginning to routinely prescribe pedometers to all patients screened for depression.

The pedometer program is not meant to replace medication or therapy that may be beneficial to the patients. Exercise works because it increases the feel-good chemicals in your brain.  It also improves energy, relieves anxiety and helps sleep. Patients are encouraged to aim for 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity, three to five days a week.  The pedometer helps in this process because it provides direct feedback about even modest gains in activity and encourages patients to progress to more vigorous exercise, which may help their depression even more.  HealthPartners Medical Group (HPMG)

Have you successfully used exercise to help with your depression?  What tips would you offer to others who are just beginning about how to get yourself motivated when you really don't feel like exercising?  

Journal Entry- Anger

This past Tuesday night at group we talked about anger. Anger comes in many forms and seemed to affect each person differently.

As we talked most people said that they felt that their anger is turned inward towards themselves, although a few said they did send it outward. Venting anger outward or inward is dangerous if you can't get help in dealing with it quickly, even if it is just talking it out with someone. Most were afraid that they may hurt themselves, or unwittlingly hurt someone else. Others have panic attacks when they hold their anger in.

Depression can show in a physical, mental, or emotional manner.Frustration turned inward could be a result of depression. Recurring anger often presents itself because there is another emotion not being dealt with. When you are afraid it is common to become angry.

Dr. Goldbloom-MentalI Illness

While mental illnesses are just one set of the many illnesses that can affect us, there is something that also sets them apart. When

Bob, your work colleague, breaks his leg, he’s still Bob, just wearing a cast to announce his injury, help him recover, and justify his crutches.

When Bob’s mind is broken by severe depression, is he still Bob to you – even though the depression has temporarily deprived Bob of his

abilities in a number of areas? Bob now has trouble being interested in work, enjoying the company of friends, concentrating, and making

decisions. His motivation is low, he isolates himself, and he seems kind of flat. So because it has changed Bob, it’s harder for you to see the

illness apart from him – even though with proper effective treatment, Bob should be like old Bob again.

What is our reaction to our friends and colleagues when they become mentally ill? Sadly, and in contrast to physical illness, it’s often

withdrawal. We back off just at the time they most need us to stay engaged. If they take time off work, we resent it. If they get hospitalized

for mental illness, we don’t visit. In many ways, it’s the exact opposite of what happens to Bob when his leg is broken.

Why should you care? At the individual human level, it’s about raising understanding and having compassion for friends, family and coworkers

during an especially difficult time. This is a set of problems found in every Canadian family.

Some years ago, I spoke with a group of about 50 employees who had worked together for some time about mental illness. At the end of the

session, one of them stood up and said, “I’ve worked here for 10 years. I have manic-depressive illness. Three times in the last 10 years,

I’ve had to take a couple of weeks off because I was ill. Each time when I came back, I knew you knew I had been ill. But each time, not one

of you came up to me and said the simple words, ‘How are you? What happened?’. I would have told you. It wasn’t a privacy issue. And it

would have meant so much to me.”

After she spoke, one by one every member of the group stood and said things like, “Well, my daughter has anorexia nervosa…actually, my

father was severely depressed…you know, my wife has been through post-partum depression”, etc. At the end of the session, we realized

that at some level, it was a personal issue for every person in the room. But it took one courageous person to stand up and talk about her

own experience. And I believe that once that door has been opened, people will walk right through it.

Everybody wins when people with mental illness and their families can talk about it and get the kindness, care and support that they would with any other form of

pain and human suffering.

Dr. Goldbloom is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Senior Medical Advisor, Education and Public Affairs, at the

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He trained in medicine and psychiatry at McGill University. He is Vice-Chair of the Mental Health

Commission of Canada, has written extensively on mental health issues and has provided talks to student, professional and public

audiences. Dr. Goldbloom also completed an honours degree, majoring in Government, at Harvard University and attended the University of

Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where he obtained an M.A. in Physiological Sciences.

Journal Entry

There are some side efforts created from taking medicine that are far worse than what the drugs were given to you for. You have to make up your mind if you want to come off of them if that becomes the case, alot of thought must go into this.

You also must look at the disability long term plan piece of things as well, if you come off your meds will they continue paying you as you need a d'"s note once year as to what treatments he/she has you on. For most people it will be an easy decision as they want the disability company to continue to pay you so you stay on the pills,to get paid.

We all know insurance companies can be a pain in the ass so we continue to take the meds so we do not have to explain the reasons why we are not on anything.

This may not make sense but the meds and insurance companies go hand in hand with each other, if you are on them you get paid easier than if you are not,,,,,,sad as it may be, but true.

Journal Entry - Group meeting

From time to time we call in guest speakers to attend the Depression/Anxiety group that I attend and co-facilitate.
After a long process of trying to get the Crisis team to come in and talk to the group,and after emails and phone calls they did not let us down.

The information they provided was greatly appreciated and there were many questions It was not easy to get them to come to the group as they do over a 1000 calls a month and it sounded like they were very busy and trying to fit in time for someone to attend took some time to arrange.

They do a mobile team from 1pm to 1 am then the rest of the time they take calls in the centre. All calls are private and no record is kept of what was said withe the exception of your name, although of course you do not even have to give your real name.

The Crisis team consists of a police officer and a team member who as we were told can do a wellness check on people(which means that if you have not seen someone in awhile that suffers from mental illness you can call them and ask them to do a check on that person). They have to have the police offer with them when they make contact and have been given permission to enter the premise.

Under the Detention act they can detain you which means they can take you to the hospital if they deem it necessary.

I think as a group we need to get more people to come in to talk to us and answer questions but it seems very hard to get people to come and talk to groups such as ours. So far the guest speakers we have had in have been very beneficial.

Journal Entry- Starting to Conquer

Today is a good day as far as me being high on pills(my way of saying over medicated), but find today to be very tired, (OK not that unusual as I guess I am always tired!).Not quite ready yet to take away another dosage (hoping that will eventually give me back some pep when I do), but over all still a good day.

This is a harder battle than I thought it would be, well I never really knew what to expect but it is still hard going off the one pill onto another, then reducing dosage. One thing I  find is that I am more hungry than usual,,ask my wife on that one (she's giving me that "look" each time I say I am hungry and grab something else to eat!) My last blood work for my cholesterol was good, not sure if it would be the same if I was to get it done right now!

Journal Entry

Week 1 is behind me and so far it is a great feeling to be in control of your life (ok, maybe not fully in  control yet). It took a few days but the last 2 have been great and today I have to say that I feel better than yesterday. If that continues it is certainly putting me in the right direction.
Sure I still get tired alot, but as long as it is just being tired, I can live with that.  Not sure who has noticed a difference, but  last night I managed to stay up till we both went to bed at the same time ,first time I was up past 9 in a very long time,,,lol.

Now comes the test to try to go with out one less Prozac pill. I might just wait a few days more to see if this feeling I have now continues or gets any better before opting to go lower still, not in a hurry to do it, just taking it slow and easy.

Just a note, this way is not for everyone, and I still say you must be very careful in doing it this way without your Dr's advice, unfortunately for some people (me included in this group) some doctors are not willing in tune with their patients and the accumulating side effects that cause more harm than good.

Journal Entry-Giant Leap

I finally made the decision (after making it and changing it many times) to wean myself  off of my overload of medications.
And yes for some of you who I have talked to about this same thing and told you  never come off  by yourself,,,ask your doctor first.... it falls into the old saying "do as I say, not what I do"!

It may come back to bite me (although it has only been a week since I reduced them), but it has not been as bad as I thought it might be. It can be a painful ,emotional ride, and at times you kick your ass for doing it, but when you feel you have been over medicated (and that the side effects are causing more harm than good) in the end you have to look out for yourself! You need to be in control, listen to your doctor, but in the end you have to be the one to make the decisions.

I am feeling a little more in control of myself, although still extremely tired, especially late day. I tried a can of Red Bull (you know the one that gives you wings!!), but that wasn't such a good idea! WAY too much caffiene!  Will stick out another week at this level then decide if I need to go lower again. Stay tuned!

Another Journal Entry

Family- if you have depression it is hard to get family to understand that depression is an illness and that you can not "catch it" , it is just something that you get, sometimes with or without an underlying cause, as well as being able to be passed down to you through genetics. Some will compare it with the normal type of depression that everyone feels at some point in their lives (like illness, death, losing a job) and expect that you should be able to "get over it soon" and not understand why you have not been able to do that.

If you make the leap and you tell your family that you have a mental illness, unfortunately for some there is often no contact from them, which hurts big time as they are the ones who you need the most during this path that you are on.
If they take it the wrong way, and all contact is lost the person with depression is often not sure how to make contact, as they are ashamed for starters and then wonder if they will be talked to or talked about.

Most times we are talked around and that  hurts even more,  if you can get one  to understand then you have a bonus,,,,a bonus is a big thing for anyone that has depression.They don't come very often so the ones that do make a really huge difference for you in your day to day existence.

Journal Entry

Anger,,,I know I talked about this already(a number of times actually), but it demands a second look.
It seems everyone in our group seems angry about something or someone.
Some are angry at their spouse (who tend not to understand the whole depression phenomenon.)
What to do when it does,,seems a hopeless merry-go-round. Trying to ride it out alone is not good. For me, I need to talk about it or else I make myself crazy.

Anger comes in all different styles and at all different times, the more you try to control it especially if you are at work, the worse it gets and eventually you will explode causing you to say something wrong to one of your co-workers.
This is one aspect of depression that I personally need to get a handle on although how to do that is taking a lot longer than I would like.