I’ve recently been having some problems with depression. I’ve had them before, so I do have a councilor and medication. But I need some help getting back into my eating habits and lifting before its too late.
Last time I didnt eat or lift for about 2 months and lost a lot of weight and strength. So far it’s been about a week. I’m tackling the depression again this time, but I was wondering if anybody had suggestions on how to get my eating back to normal, and how to jump back into my training routine.
I was just over 200 pounds, and right now I’m guessing I’m just right under it. My training routine is chest/arms, legs/abs, shoulders/back.
How can I ease my way back into everything? I havent lifted for about a week and a half, do I just drop my lifts by so much weight? How should I kick my diet back into gear?
My counsilor is helping me deal with the depression, but can you guys give me advice on how to get back into working out, without burning myself out right away.
I’ve heard good things about fish oil for helping with stuff in the brain that leads to depression.
For motivation, if that’s what you’re looking for, I don’t much to say. Um, here’s a website I like for inspiring me, lots of old IronMan magazine articles about the old days:
Don’t go in making any perfectionist/unrealistic demands on yourself or body i.e. “I must get to back where I was previously and I am worthless pussy if I’m not hitting the numbers I was before…” Such thinking will only bog you down in your depressive state.
Understand, depression (and all mental illness for that matter) is basically the result of an excessive and over-aroused stress response from the body’s various biological systems, which in turn reek havoc on the brain in various ways. So for now, be kind to it.
With this in mind, train for the sake of enjoyment/intrinsic reward/stability as opposed to the point made initially.
Any basic split/program will work, just don’t go to failure, avoid supersets and any other CNS intensive methods (forced reps, negatives, rest-pause etc)
Regarding diet, nothing too pretentious in demands i.e. “My diet must be perfect from the get go and always should be”. Just get it right where you can, baby steps fashion, and you can go from there.
^ And have Fun with it. People get tied up into the pump and drive that they forget the fun working can be. Enjoy your time in the gym Feel each movement. Read up on what your doing enjoy the ride.
This is something that actually hits home for me, as I’ve been living with depression and bi-polar disorder for a very long time. Motivation is a fickle thing for me, personally. There are times when I actually enjoy going to the gym to make any kind of progress toward whatever goal I have at the time. When things get dark for me, the first thing to go is the motivation. When that happens, I typically force myself to go to the gym, in order to maintain a routine.
That has become a big stepping stone for me, as a routine helps me fight through my dark phases. Dependant on the meds you’re taking, I would strongly recommend you NOT take certain “upper” type supplements. It’s pretty bad when you go in for a routine checkup with the doc, and you’re forced into testing and such because your heartrate and blood pressure are through the roof. I found out the hard way.
The diet is going to be a tricky thing as well, as certain meds either kill your appetite, or kick it into overdrive. My best recommendation is that you eat pretty clean and make eating a routine thing as well. I hope this helps some. Good luck.
I have been there like many people it seems but you have to understand that no one really care for you, and if some people are helping you right now they might stab you in the back when things are better, when you are a ‘‘threat’’. We are all self-centered
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.
To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.
To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.[/quote]
Hmmm…having worked in mental health services in various capacities for over two decades. These days, I’d say the OP has a better chance of throwing himself at the mercy of the interent to gain the information he requires to rid himself of his affliction than listening to some of the supposed professionals. When a “professional” is nothing more than a legal pusher for some pharma conglomerate, selling you utterly worthless and dangerous drugs that can severley exacerbate any current symptoms; I’d take the unsolicited advice anyday lol.
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.
To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.[/quote]
Hmmm…having worked in mental health services in various capacities for over two decades. These days, I’d say the OP has a better chance of throwing himself at the mercy of the interent to gain the information he requires to rid himself of his affliction than listening to some of the supposed professionals. When a “professional” is nothing more than a legal pusher for some pharma conglomerate, selling you utterly worthless and dangerous drugs that can severley exacerbate any current symptoms; I’d take the unsolicited advice anyday lol.
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I also wonder how it is a bad thing to hear from people who have dealt/are dealing with similar issue. Hell, I’ve learned more just talking to non-professionals than I have talking to the shrinks and counselors.
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.
To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.[/quote]
Hmmm…having worked in mental health services in various capacities for over two decades. These days, I’d say the OP has a better chance of throwing himself at the mercy of the interent to gain the information he requires to rid himself of his affliction than listening to some of the supposed professionals. When a “professional” is nothing more than a legal pusher for some pharma conglomerate, selling you utterly worthless and dangerous drugs that can severley exacerbate any current symptoms; I’d take the unsolicited advice anyday lol.
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You work in mental health services and discount medicine with SERIOUS, LIFE-DEBILITATING disorders. I’m pretty glad while working in healthcare I didn’t work in the same healthcare institution you did.
Our world would be even better if we didn’t have psychologists and psychiatrists and social workers and medications for the severely depressed, psychotic, bipolar, suicidal, homicidal, borderline, and other mentally disturbed people. After all, not much thought went in those trades and you just had a bunch of deviant, though smart chemical engineers and scientists and doctors developing new drugs to make a buck.
I like your information here considering someone close to me takes medication and lives in a mental institution.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
No one has to make any modifications to their lifestyle or diet or training program after a measly 10 days away from the gym.
Did anyone read, “a week and a half off from the gym”? [/quote]
This. AT MOST, you could go at your first workout back at something like 75-80% intensity and volume. That is being VERY cautious. If it were me I’d jump right back into it.
I do not understand depression at all, but my .02 on feeling better when you’re down is to keep yourself busy. Idle time is the worst when you feel like shit.
depends why you are depressed. i found vitamin d to help tremendously with my seasonal depression, as well as fish oil helping overall.
a week and a half off isnt a very big deal, nor is your weight drop. sitting around not working out and sulking isnt going to help though, get to the gym, talk to people, feel better.
not all counselors are the same, i was meeting with one and honestly all she ever said was ‘and how did that make you feel’ over and over and over for an hour, i honestly felt like the goal was for her to say that until i say something totally crazy and then she goes ‘Viola!’.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Not to mention the people whose lives I’ve seen change drastically for the better when they got on the RIGHT medication. [/quote]
100% true.
Clinical depresssion is REAL and isn’t something that you can just “walk off”. And, the people with the “it’s all in your head” mentality, obviously haven’t had anyone close to them have this sort of issue. Otherwise, they’d understand what a mind-fuck of a disorder and how much it impairs their quality of life.
I was in a relationship with a woman who was sent to the mental ward 3 times, due to depression. It’s not a good time to watch someone go through something like that, knowing that there’s not a damn thing you can do about it and it’s beyond their control.
I went into depression when I moved to rochester… I would sleep 16+ hours a day… I would miss class all over the place etc… practically failed out.
I got over it by taking a leave of absence from school and going back to Texas for about a year. Spent about 3 months going to a councilor and worked until my leave of absence ran dry. When I came back to Rochester I just kept myself busy. The less free time I have the better.
So my advice is to keep yourself busy with whatever you can… if you’re doing something you don’t have time to be depressed
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
I hope, hope, hope that DPCooper doesn’t reply to this thread. His advice, for once, would be completely off kilter.
To OP - I can’t help you with specific advice, but I wish you the best. See the professionals. We pseudo-psyches will probably end up giving you bad advice.[/quote]
Hmmm…having worked in mental health services in various capacities for over two decades. These days, I’d say the OP has a better chance of throwing himself at the mercy of the interent to gain the information he requires to rid himself of his affliction than listening to some of the supposed professionals. When a “professional” is nothing more than a legal pusher for some pharma conglomerate, selling you utterly worthless and dangerous drugs that can severley exacerbate any current symptoms; I’d take the unsolicited advice anyday lol.
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coping…
dealing with horrible depression, have not had much help with the ssri type meds, I cantell your against meds, but I cant just ‘‘make’’ these thought of self termination go away. I rely on docs to help me.
I do think my 30 years hypothyroid has made things worse,
do you see no benefit in big pharma for any mental illness?
Serious responses…there is hope for T-Nation yet! As far as eating, it looks like you’re saying you don’t eat much when depressed. Do you have a tub of protein powder? At the very least, load up on the shakes when you don’t feel like eating.
I’ve been training/lifting for a year now. One thing I’ve noticed the entire time is that when I’m in that gym for that hour, I am unable to worry, think, stress out, be sad, etc. I’m SO focused on getting through each physically taxing move that there’s no room in my mind for anything else. It’s like the survival part of the brain (increase blood flow, increase heart rate, increase sweat for cooling) takes over and the contemplating life part shuts down or retreats. That one hour of rest for that part of the brain does wonders for me. The post work out calm that washes over my brain for about another hour is another great break. My rather long winded point is, decide that you will go to the gym on specified days each week at X o’clock and then GO.