Hospital Anniversary - Year 3

Three years. I'm so glad I've made it this long without a hospitalization. I'm even more glad that in these last three years I haven't had an episode that's lasted longer than a week.

Three years ago I had to tell Laura where I put her Valentine's card at home because I was stuck in the hospital. Three years ago I could barely function outside the hospital. Three years ago seems like a distant memory.

My last hospitalization was the third in fairly quick succession after going around eight years without being hospitalized. That first hospitalization in the line of three was for mania -- my most severe manic episode in thirteen years. The next two were both for depression.

It feels good being out of the hospital for three years and especially good this time because unlike the last couple of years I've celebrated my hospital anniversary, this year I'm not feeling symptomatic.

The last three years have been some of the most emotionally balanced years I've had in a long time. I've got a therapist who has really helped me manage my symptoms, especially anxiety and depression, and I have a doctor who manages my medications that's very responsive and a good listener. I've also got an amazingly supportive network of friends and family, a job that I like and is not too stressful, and years of experience with my symptoms to recognize an upcoming rough patch and to deal with it quickly.

Thank you to all who have offered support and kind words. And thank you readers. This blog has also been a helpful outlet, and I appreciate everyone who reads it.

Depression - Physical Activity

About a year back, I wrote a post about depression that has become one of my more popular posts. In that post (link here), I wrote about depression statistics and how depression affects me. My next post, I wrote about some of the advantages of depression (link here). I realized that I didn't give a lot of tips for coping with and preventing depression, so in this post I will.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest... During these [depressive] episodes, symptoms occur most of the day, nearly every day."

My last two hospitalizations for bipolar were due to depressive episodes. When I have these depressive episodes, I experience many of the classic symptoms of depression (see list of symptoms here). The symptoms I experience predominately are feelings of sadness, anxiety, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, feelings of worthlessness and guilt over past mistakes, and sleep disturbances.

Though depression can be debilitating, there are many things you can do to prevent or cope with depression. Mitigating stress, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, seeking out therapy at the first sign of depression, taking medications as prescribed along with limiting alcohol and caffeine, avoiding drugs, and exercise are all effective coping and prevention skills.

Of all the coping and prevention skills, exercise has been one of the most effective for me. In fact, exercise has been shown to be as effective as antidepressants in treating mild to moderate depression (study here). You can read more about exercise's effects on the brain in an article from Slate, "Running from the Pain," but here are some highlights from the article:

• Exercise may affect structures in the brain similar to antidepressants.
• Guidelines from some European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada list exercise as a first line treatment for depression.
• In Australia and New Zealand, psychotherapy and medication will only be prescribed if exercise proves insufficient.
• American doctors are unlikely to prescribe exercise, fewer than half of all medical schools require a class on physical activity, and many doctors are unaware of physical activity recommendations.

And besides all these mental health benefits, exercise is also beneficial to your physical health. Here are some tips for starting and maintaining an exercise routine:

• Get in a habit: 
• Schedule your exercise and block out that time on your schedule.
• Do little things to make you more likely to exercise: 
• Pack your gym bag and take it to work, then go right to the gym after work instead of going home.
• Set out your workout clothes before you go to bed and put them on right away if you're going to workout before work.
• Set goals:
• Hit a certain amount of minutes per week or days per week or month..
• Run your first 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, triathlon, or other distance.
• Run a new best time at one or more of those distances.
• Set a personal best in a weight lift.

Experts recommend 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week and at least two strength sessions, so that would be a good minimum to start. Two-and-a-half hours a week is just over twenty minutes a day, which is less than cutting out one TV show from your schedule.

I hope this information is helpful. If you don't have one already, think about setting up an exercise regiment to improve your mental health.

Be well.