Fitness as a means of coping with depression

Does regular exercise actually help with this?

yes
lifting is the only thing keeping me from necking myself

it wont cure your depression, itll make it more manageable tho

>mfw lifting in the gym is the only time i feel joy

only cardio, yes

instead of being sad, youll be tired

Yes.

The brain "rewards" certain behaviors with the release of endorphines, which makes you feel good, and there are several of these triggers associated with the behaviors of regular exercise. You may (and probably will) experience symptoms of depression, but they should be lessened and less frequent if you can manage to achieve and maintain a good regular exercise routine.

Sounds good to me

>it wont cure your depression, itll make it more manageable tho

That's accurate.

Exercise helps with the symptoms but not the disease itself. You need actual therapy to restructure your thought patterns to be more normal. Look into CBT.

Yep, it can help but when you get home after a couple hours the blackness comes back. Going to the gym is my highlight of the day.

I've read that it's actually the most successful anti-depressant in the world. Whoever wrote it was probably full of shit, but regardless it really makes me feel better and countless others.
There are things like work that are rewarding but stressful.
There are things like video games that are relaxing but unproductive
Then there's things like lifting that are rewarding AND relaxing.

I probably sound like a fag, but you know what I'm saying.

>mfw lifting in the gym is the only time i feel joy
>after a couple hours the blackness comes back

OP, the reason this happens is that exercise releases endorphins which make people temporarily feel better. The problem is your brain has structural changes in it as a result of depression so that chemical high won't last. It's like taking pain medication for a broken bone; people might say it makes them feel better for a while but it's not fixing the actual problem.

was depressed

now im swole and depressed

I dont wanna spend money on therapists so probably im gonna see a psychiatrist to prescribe me some meds. I really hope i get better even if it is placebo.

It's basically the only thing that kept me sane and quite litterally the only thing I look forward too in my life.
Without it...I'd be lost.
I honestly don't know what I'll do when and if I live long enough to where I can't workout or do something active outside. I'll just implode.

>The problem is your brain has structural changes in it as a result of depression so that chemical high won't last. It's like taking pain medication for a broken bone; people might say it makes them feel better for a while but it's not fixing the actual problem.
Good response. I recognize this but at the moment I'm just looking for a way to manage it and help me get through the day.

Therapy/medication will hopefully be the long term solution.

...

>>mfw lifting in the gym is the only time i feel joy

This, it's the rest of the time that really brings me down

> tfw rest days and weekends

I need new friends brehs

pic related

The right meds, staying out of my house/being around people, strength training, and crazy cardio has all but cured my depression desu

It helps with the massive cloud of thought that stops me from being able to just enjoy life.
I wouldn't call my problem depression (but I'm sure it's what it is). I just can't get my mind to shut up and stop overthinking/over analyzing everything. I just want to live again! Every chance I have with a chick that's definitely into me I blow it somehow because I just couldn't go with the flow.
I have a friend who's an air headed retard who's happy and loved by females because he legit rarely uses his brain and is in a constant state of ignorant bliss. I envy it so much.

Man if getting top shelf pussy doesn't cure your depression then I don't know what would.

Go outside and run

Yes absolutely. People have already mentioned some of the scientific reasons. so let me list some philosophical ones. It gives you purpose, things that used to be mundane like sleep and food. You need to sleep to make gains, you look forward to it. Eating becomes an adventure, you want to try new things to fit your macros. Food taste better because your fucked up taste pallet will go back to normal, so when you do decide to eat something like a doughnut or a cookie, it taste like the best fucking thing you have ever had. It made me learn to cook, and i like it and have a new hobby now. You will meet people doing it if you let yourself, If you are depressed please just give it a shot, it will change your life.

>I just can't get my mind to shut up
try headspace , its a meditation app

100% - I used to be on antidepressants for years, stopped taking them in the end because the sexual disfunction crap was screwing my sessions up with my gf at the time - anyway, started getting anxious, depressed again - until I started doing cardio and weights at the gym (about a year and a half ago) - my anxiety and depression has not only disappeared but oddly enough I seem to be more cheerful and enthusiastic about life than most people I know now. Admitadly, I've lost over 60lbs which has DEFINITELY contributed but yeah, I can tell when I have to miss a gym session because of work or whatever, I feel noticably cranky and can feel the old mindset just trying desperately to reassert itself. So yeah, exercise DOES cure depression.

Only downside is, you have to keep it up 3 times a week or your brain starts slipping.

The symptoms of depression and being at the bottom of a dominance hierarchy are identical.

Are you depressed, or do you just need to unfuck your shit?

this is gonna be kinda autistic, but here's how i've been seeing it since it started to help me. i used to try to just work past my problems and push forward, but i always felt like i carried around every mistake i've ever made and it weighed me down. recently i've been trying to reflect on my past to try to understand my mistakes, and work myself through why i did what i did, what it caused, and what i would do differently to achieve different results. a lot of the times i'm going over memories of past mistakes i hold particularly strong emotional reactions to or trying to work through deep insecurities so in stead of ignoring it like i used to, i try to let myself "know" how i truly feel and cram all of the stressful emotions into a mental jar. when i'm alone at night, i stare into the "jar" so i can look at what bothers me to better understand myself and what i need to do, but when i'm lifting i take the opportunity to release some steam. what used to weigh me down is what i'm burning to push me forward.

I don't know. I got diagnosed after getting more fit.

But I'll take my chances even though it does nothing for my depression. I would do anything that could possibly relieve this pain.

Everyone here is a resounding yes and so am I.

1. Teaches self discipline. I have a theory depression comes from too much instant gratification

2. Exercise high gives you just enough boost to make it through the day, productivity and accomplishment increases for long term self esteem.

i dunno it got to the point for me where going to the gym was the only meaningful thing i did in the day, the one thing keeping me together

yes

thats why i lify everyday

>Does regular exercise actually help with this?

Some redpill from someone who has read thousands of pages of various subjects, natural and social sciences. In condensed form:

People ultimately strive towards happiness and what happiness is is different for everybody. But nearly all things which make you happy have one thing in common: Progress.

Progress makes happy (is not only based on dopamin release, there is more to it).

That's why you see, for instance, MMORPGs being so addictive, you have a reasonable time investment with reward, your character becomes stronger over time and you have to invest less time compared to your real life.

You will find this "longing for progress" and it's working mechanisms everywhere, raising your children, progressing in your sport or cutting fat, learning new skills and so on. This is also why the people who are hardcore into self-optimization and self-improvement are happy bordering on fanatism... it just works.

Hence, regular exercise will make happy. But keep in mind, depending on your goals, long term exercise with challenging goals while having no progress will get you back into depression at some point. This means when you have a nice body and are fit, you have to maintain that and start looking for a different part in live to make progress.

In addition, take something where you have achievement in different timeframes, i.e. 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years etc... and work on several things at a time and don't take 10 things that all take 5 years, that's stupid. You need the small things to keep you happy for the long term challenges.

Becoming more than the man you were yesterday will make you happy in most cases that don't include illnesses/diseases responsible for heavy hormonal imbalances. What have you done today to become the Übermensch?

Absolutely, works much better than the shit the ) ((pharmaceutical industry))) shits out. I would like to also add healthy eating; ten portions of fruit and veg a day works wonders for mental health.

I guess it's different for everybody but before getting fit, I had some bad fuck depression. I mean everything is grey, everything sucks, fuck it all depression. So bad I see a therapist and a psychologist every month.
To make a long story short, nothing worked. Not Prozac, not Effexor, not cbt, nothing. Then about seven months ago I got going on something very similar to SS/SL. Guess what? I haven't been severely depressed since. Blue sometimes but nothing like it was.
And real depression hurts. It's like a kick in the gut. Resistance training seems to be the answer for me though. Fwiw I don't do cardio or anything else but compound lifts twice a week.

Depression is the body's failure to respond to anger, lifting helps deal with aggression through physical work, so yes, it can help, it's just not a symptom substitute or a dependency.

Way better than popping pills though. That's such a crappy option that gets forced on people far too often.

yup

It gave me a tremendous boost at first but it faded after a few weeks

I still exercise but it just feels like a chore like everything else in life

But with depression you're already tired all the time. The fatigue is unreal

>Tfw after three years it's stopped working and the bipolar is getting worse

Yes

Almost exactly like me holy shit well put user. Here's the difference, you know that jar? It's been long fucking overloaded.

I like this explanation
I will do things to become Übermensch