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| Nicholas L. Laning |
Reuters just published a story about how a new study shows that Too little exercise, too much TV tied to depression. Click on either of the links, and give article a quick read. The study is expansive, having surveyed over 50,000 people over a period of fourteen years. So, this is not one of those studies where they asked ten people and found that one or two who watched TV and didn't exercise were sad.
This is huge item of talk for both those suffering with depression, and those loved ones trying to understand and help. Why? Well, because, what do people want to do when they are depressed? The answer is, usually, to sit around and watch TV, and not to exercise.
Now, this article isn't about exercising. You can read the Reuters article to hear that, and they have all the cool facts to help you out. What I want to talk about is this... depressed people need to do the small things they can to win, both for themselves, and for those trying to help. We as humans, will usually just wallow in self pity. We will take our very real struggle, our very real pain, and we will hide in it. The less pity others give, the more we are likely to give it ourselves. So, what happens is that we don't do the few things that can help us. We don't want to drive over to talk to a counselor. We don't want to take vitamins, even though they can help. We don't want to work out, even though that helps. We don't want to eat well. We want to take our pain and blast it away with the momentary high of sugar on our tongues.
I would know, I used to buy a bag of Smarties, unroll them all, and pour them into a hug cup, and eat them out of the cup (no, not all at once, but still). I would eat Krispy Kremes by the half dozen, or occasionally, the dozen. I didn't workout because I wanted to sleep. Working out seemed tiring, both physically and emotionally. So, I got fat. I got up to 260 pounds! To give you some perspective, I now weigh 170, and still a have little bit covering my chiseled abs. (wink) Now then, being fat made me what? You guessed it, more depressed. I watched a ton of TV and played tons of video games. I dare not say how many hours, for fear you would shun me forever. Apart from messing with my brain chemistry and my hormones, I had no social life, no friends, which, again, made me more depressed! See the pattern? My mom told me to try St. John's Wort, which is an herb, or to take Omega 3 pills. Did I? Nooooooooo.
Here's the thing. That was stupid. I did finally do those things toward the end, and guess what? They all helped make me feel better. Did they heal me themselves? No. Did they help enormously though? Yes. Very much so. Not only was I hurting myself, but I hurt those around me. I eroded their trust in me, that I was a fighter. I was signalling to all those who loved me, that I had given up. There were stupidly simple steps to take to help me fight, and I did almost none of them. Then, I had the gall to get upset when there was no one around to help fight, as if people who aren't depressed have some inexhaustible fountain of hope. They don't. They are hurting too. They are fighting with you. Their soul is crumpled and crinkled from battle too. So, wake up, and do the things you need to do, not only to help your body and soul fight the Abyss, but to help your loved ones from being drug into it with you. Keep on fighting!
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