>>35071432
I get in to a funk pretty much every winter from November to at least March, and I am usually a little too pessimistic. I have lots of things I want to do in life but lack the willpower or drive to do anything. I often resort to drinking.

Lifting pulled me out of a suicidal depression

>>35071432
>Any input at all is much appreciated


cardio is awesome for your mood, much better than lifting weights (as a mood enhancer...)

>>35071432
>Have you ever been depressed?
Yeah, I have been depressed to the point of seriously considering suicide.

>Has there been any connection (good or bad) between being fit and your depression?
When I get depressed I eat about once a day and don't work out, I lose my gains. That's the only relationship between depression and fitness for me.

>>35071441
Do you find that exercise helps? Or does the accompanying tiredness and soreness make it worse?
>>35071447
That's actually encouraging to hear. What about it? The feeling of becoming stronger and healthier? The feeling of being better looking?
>>35071454
She probably really needs to build her strength back up (spent months in bed at the worst of it) but I will try to get her to do more cardio.

>>35071486
>I will try to get her to do more cardio

good luck. She'll probably just walk on the threadmill for 15minutes and call it cardio. Wimenz R terrible at cardio to be quite honest

>>35071432
Abnormally high testosterone.
Lifting makes me feel crazy, I am mood, depressed, lonely, and bi polar after I work out.

Running and cardio generally make me feel calm from energy use.

>depressed af
>never last in a job more than 3 months because anxious wreck
>just quit a job two weeks with no back up because panic attack
>friend smuggles me into his 24 hr gym
>I lift for the first time in almost a year
>sore af but I go back again
>two weeks later and I wake up grinning even if I can't pay the rent
Feels good brehs

>>35071486
>That's actually encouraging to hear. What about it? The feeling of becoming stronger and healthier? The feeling of being better looking?

>Getting out of my room and doing something
>Tangibly improving myself; creating something I can anchor myself onto by having proof that my situation can improve
>Added strength and fitness makes everything easier - mundane tasks and work require less energy; start taking better care of myself and putting more effort into work
>Look and feel better about myself
>People treat you better

Both positive and negative habits are mutually reinforcing to the point of being safety nets or chains; lifting is probably the most friction-less way to break your chains. Since I've been lifting, getting better gains requires I eat healthier, eating healthier makes me look and feel better, feeling better gives me more energy, etc.

When you have depression, you're not sad all the time. Its literally like the economy in the great depression; it was shit for decades and for whatever reason it never got much better until the inertia was overcome from a total war scenario and people had to be put back to work for the country's survival.

>>35071441
Take vitamin D in the winter, it makes me feel better.
Could be placebo though.

i suffered from super heavy depression. lifting has definitely eased it since then.

Even if she doesn't lift or do cardio, just finding an activity that she can enjoy outside will help. Being indoors all day can mess with your head.

>>35071770
Man, tell me about it.

And that's the hardest part--she needs something other than a part time job and a couple of college classes. But all she wants to do is come home and flop. How do you instill that desire in someone?

currently fucking depressed as shit but I always find the motivation to lift somehow. Best part of my days by far

>>35071432
Have been clinically depressed since june. Second time in my life it lasts this long, last time was when I was 18 six years ago. Therapy helps, meds I cant say. It feels like it is getting worse and my study and work are starting to suffer from it. My social life has been reduced to drinking expansive cognac with my cat because I hate the state I am in and dont want my friends to suffer from it too.

The three times a week I work out I feel such burning hate for myself that it is more like physical punishment than training, but it seems to help afterwards. A bit. I think. I cant even really tell anymore. I just want this to end so I try to stay active and get outside but I have lost the will that propelled me.

Exercise undoubtedly helps, yes. Good brain chemistry aside, its also a bit of routine to follow and an opportunity to see other people, both of which also help.

Sunlight also does wonders. Kinda sucks with winter upon us, but just sitting outside with a book for a while helps. Or exercising outside for a two-fer

been dealing with crippling depression for ~15 years. the only times when my depression lightens even the slightest is when i have thrown myself into some passion. as a kid/teen it was martial arts, and for a while in college it was lifting. the chronic fatigue and loss of motivation (which flared up, along with depression, when i had to leave uni this past may for medical leave) made it more difficult to keep consistent in the last few months. over my time living with my shit-tier brain biochemistry, i've developed a few go-toes
>marijuana
i also have social anxiety, chronic joint pain, and overall extremely high resistance to every pain med and antidepressant i've been put on. keeps me pain free (which makes it easier to keep with lifting), takes the edge off of my self loathing, and helps me get some good sleep. added benefit: helps boost appetite, which gets killed by...
>adderall
i keep my bottle of addies next to my bed, so when my alarm goes off i can throw some down my throat before my "fuck it, i'm going back to bed" reflex kicks in. boosts motivation, helps me maintain focus (i have always had pretty bad ADD, although even people who can function without it may benefit from controlled consumption). not only does the added focus increase productivity, but being able to maintain focus and motivation adds to treatment of depression. while possibly partially a placebo, having objective evidence that i am accomplishing goals/responsibilities gives me a sense of satisfaction and purpose i basically live without when not on it. kills appetite, and can keep some people up at night (even if taken in the morning) so smoking some weed at night can counteract the few negative side effects of adderall
>exercise
some people respond better to the actual physiological changes (runner's high, etc) but i always found that it worked best for me when i saw it as a way of relieving tension and aggression. angry at how shit your life is? pull some heavy ass weight. etc