From personal experience I know how hard it is to exercise when you are struggling with depression. On some days I was struggling to get out of bed and the thought of getting dressed and out the front door seemed like an impossibility.

I now know that having regular exercise is the most effective depression treatment

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say that exercise is the only strategy to pursue - just the most important. It is not just me saying that - over 3000 people from both the Ultrafeedback and the Blackdog Institute survey results said the same thing. For a free copy of the most effective depression treatments research report please go to:

http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/landing4.html

We don’t know exactly why this is so, but I have a hypothesis that it comes down to two main factors:

1. Exercise stimulates the feel good endorphins in the brain and also gets you out of the rut of being inside all the time.
2. Completing some task each day provides a sense of achievement.

It doesn’t really matter why it makes you feel better - just do what works.

So how do we start doing something so good for us that we don’t feel like doing?

Feelings aren’t facts is a www.grow.net.au saying and when we are depressed we often have to go against those lethargic and hopeless feelings.

It’s not a simple process, but let me share what I have found after talking with hundreds of people on this topic. I know there is something substantial in this as some pharmaceutical companies are already seeking to duplicate the effect exercise has on the body by creating a new pill to take!!!!!!!!!

7 thoughts on getting started

1. Find something you (or used to) enjoy doing - quite frankly it doesn’t matter what type of exercise you pursue - walking, jogging, dancing, cycling, rollerblading, swimming, treadmill, exercising the dog, cross country skiing etc - to be regular it is important to do something you enjoy.
2. Start small - a big mistake many people make is the belief they have to exercise for two hours each day to make a difference. When you are depressed you want “whisker goals” not “stretch goals”. If you are stuck in bed or watching TV all day - for the first week decide to put on your walking shoes and just get out to the letter box. Once you’re there you may decide to walk further but you don’t have to - all you have to do is get out to front gate. Alternatively, if you are stuck in front of the TV decide to put on a timer for 5 minutes and walk up and down on the spot until the timer goes off - you get the idea. If you are not as incapacitated by your depression set yourself a “just right” goal - not too hard not too easy. I started walking 15 minutes per day and then over a period of 4 weeks built it up to 40 minutes per day.
3. Just start - believe me just starting the exercise is 70% of the effort.
4. Resolve to exercise everyday but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t I started off exercising every second day but often couldn’t remember if I had done it the previous day or not. Believe it or not I found it easier to exercise 6 days a week and give myself Sunday off - what a pleasure it was to sleep in on those days. If you don’t make it everyday - don’t beat yourself up - we do far too much of that when we are depressed any way - just accept it and resolve to recommence tomorrow.
5. Consider exercising with a loved one or group Many people find it hard to exercise themselves but find it really difficult to let a friend or family member down. For some reason there is a greater commitment when it is with loved ones. The other benefit of exercising with others is that it also becomes a social activity which can help the problem of isolation.
6. Try to be in the moment when you exercise - observe flowers, plants, insects, birds, animals, noises, smells, etc when you are walking. Some people keep a walking journal and describe being relatively free of rumination when they are concentrating on what they are going to be writing about when they return.
7. Don’t be afraid to mix and match if you get sick of walking for example don’t be afraid to try something else like learn a martial art, or join a gym. Some people utilise a trainer to help provide the variety.

Be gentle on yourself - It is not how many times we stumble but how many times we get up and keep trying that will determine our fulfillment and sense of well being.

What has been your experience?

We have a wealth of wisdom amongst our members. What has been your experience with exercise? What have you found helpful to get over that lethargic feeling and start? How do you keep going when you get bored or don’t feel like it? Please share it by responding to the blog below. You only need to put your first name and email address (which won’t be published).

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression help, depression treatments, exercise for depression, how to start exercising, most effective depression treatments

Article in The Economist June 27th, 2009 - Page 89

A friend recently made me aware of a very interesting article in The Economist.

The hypothesis

Randolph Nesse, a psychologist and researcher in evolutionary medicine at the University of Michigan, likens the relationship between mild and clinical depression to the one between normal to chronic pain.

Dr Nesse’s hypothesis is that, as pain stops you doing damaging physical things, so low mood stops you doing damaging mental ones - in particular, in particlar pursuing unreachable goals. He asserts, that pursuing such goals is a waste of energy and resources. Therefore he argues, there is likely to be an evolved mechanism that recognizes certain goals as unattainable and inhibits their pursuit - and he believes low mood is at least part of that mechanism.

The evidence

In a study published recently by Carsten Wrosch from Concordia University in Montreal he studied depression in teenage girls. They measured the “goal adjustment strategies” of 97 girls aged 15-19 years over the course of 19 months. They asked participants about their ability to disengage with unattainable goals and re-engage with new goals. They also asked them about a range of symptoms associated with depression, and changed over the course of the study.

Study findings

Their conclusion was that those that experienced mild depressive symptoms could indeed disengage from unattainable goals. It also found a remarkable corollary:those women who could disengage from the unattainable, proved less likely to suffer more serious depression in the long run.

Mild depressive symptoms can therefore be seen as a natural part of dealing with failure in young adulthood.

My take on this theory

As I have highlighted many times before, it is so difficult to make conclusive statements about “depression” as the term covers a multitude of conditions. Having said that, my gut tells me that there is something to this theory. I guess that comes from my own personal experience. On each occasion I have experienced a severe depressive episode, it has often been close to a downturn in the economy. I formally worked in recruitment, which is an industry very closely linked to the health of the economy and is also very accountable.

When I began missing my budgets, rather than blaming the economy, I tended to blame myself for not working hard enough. This also would explain why those with perfectionist personality traits are so vulnerable to depression - you can never achieve the goal of perfection.

It also reinforces my belief that when you are depressed you should set “whisker goals”. These are small attainment goals that put you on a path of “wins” that often have a positive impact on self esteem. It is also essential to celebrate these small wins so your brain knows that it is doing something right. A small celebration could be buying yourself a coffee, gelato, chocolate or your favourite magazine.

Your thoughts please?

I would be very interested for others to share their opinion regarding this theory. Please do so by responding to this blog.

Kind Regards

Graeme

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

Tags: depression, depression help, depression treatments, goals, rational thinking

With all our medical advances, why is it that the incidence of depression and anxiety is skyrocketing. The World Health Organisation says that depression is the most disabling disease in the Western World today, yet all mental healthcare specialists seem to talk about is “evidence based” treatments such as counselling and anti depressants. Whilst these strategies have been shown to be helpful for some people, if this was really cutting edge advice, why aren’t we seeing the incidence of depression declining or at the very least plateauing. This in no way seeks to imply that medication and psychological counselling don’t have their place in treating depression, just that we are not exploring all the variables

Having interviewed thousands of people who have battled with depression, I am convinced that there are some serious issues with the “evidence based” approach to treating depression. These can be summarised as follows:

1. The “evidence” is where the money is

Unfortunately clinical trials are very expensive to run so private funding will only be directed towards those areas where “investors” can see a return on investment. In the world of depression treatments, this means that the vast majority of funds are directed towards medication and psychological counselling interventions. This means that important lifestyle strategies such as exercise, emotional support,nutrition, relaxation, and fulfilling work are relatively ignored. Ironically these less discussed strategies can be much less costly to implement.

1. When you’re holding a hammer everything looks like a nail

The vast majority of depression treatment studies are undertaken by doctors or psychologists. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this per se, most of these studies are evaluating areas where they have expertise (which makes sense). This means that the comparisons are often looking in isolation at one drug verses another (or a placebo) or one psychological intervention verses another. Quite often meaningful advancements in areas can come from someone outside the established “paradigms”. I love the story of the little boy who came across rescue workers who had been struggling for 3 hours with sophisticated hydraulic equipment trying to dislodge a truck which had been tightly wedged under an overhead bridge.  After being encouraged to leave the site he quietly said “Why don’t you let down the tyres?”.

1. We are not just DNA

As human beings our bodies and minds are intricately linked. Depression treatments that focus purely on a “biological illness” are seriously limited. Much of the despair that exists in the western world today can be linked to loneliness, family breakdowns, excessive and unfulfilling work, and financial crises. Saying that depression is caused by low levels of serotonin is like saying teen pregnancies are caused by a sperm fertilising an egg – yes, but…. Depression treatments that fail to reconnect us with our passions and purpose are ultimately going to be short lived solutions.

What are the right depression treatments?

To find out what works best in managing or overcoming depression, we must ask the people who are living with depression what works best for them. In 2007 I asked just that, and their answers were (in order) exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, relaxation/meditation, nutrition and medication.

Coincidentally, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) –one of the pre-eminent mood disorder units in the world - also undertook a study directly asking those with depression what helped them most. Although there were some differences in the studies, lifestyle strategies were also shown to be extremely important. One of the authors of the published study, Professor Gordon Parker, who has been practicing psychiatry for over 30 years, has now started advising General Practitioners and their patients to exercise regularly to aid recovery.

If Professor Parker, who has published over 600 clinical papers and book chapters regarding mood disorders, can learn something from these results, perhaps we all can.  

Tags: back from the brink, depression anxiety, depression help, depression research, depression treatments, exercise and depression

I flew to New York on May 25 with the objective of finding Literary Agent to take on my book to complete US versions for the existing two.

On Wednesday I went to the first day of Book Expo America which was dedicated to authors. There were about 400 people there and they had some great seminars regarding how to plot your way through the publishing maze which gave some excellent insights.

We then had the opportunity to do a “pitch slam” with Literary Agents. Over here, publishers receive an average of 300 manuscripts per day and very rarely follow up any directly and rely on the LA’s to vet opportunities.

In “pitch slam” the 400 authors have 3 minutes to tell their story to about 50 LA’s with a view to getting feedback on their project and perhaps a signal of interest that could lead to the LA taking on their project. Before getting to NY I had done a lot of research to find out who would be the best LA’s to take on my project. I had targeted 6. Of the 6 I slammed, 5 expressed interest and my 3 top picks expressed very strong interest including one saying “I’m totally on board – don’t bother seeing any other agents”. I had emailed my top 3 LA’s prior to getting to NY with my new 3 minute keynote demo and I think this added considerable momentum (http://www.pineapplemedia.com.au/Cowan.html  )

I had another great day yesterday and by chance met with Judith Curr the Executive Vice President of Atria books which is a division of Simon and Schuster. Believe it or not she is an Australian who is now based in New York. She was the publisher of “The Secret” which has now sold 7 million copies. She asked me to post her copies of my books and follow up with her executive editor which is very exciting.

A key part of the US success will be getting on board the American celebrities to be interviewed in BFTB. BFTBToo is ready to go almost immediately but it makes sense to launch the 2 together.

On Monday we head to Chicago to see the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance to get their support (which I need for local credibility with the high profile people) for getting the project underway. I have already had email and phone contact with them and it is looking very good.

On Friday night Hilary and I went to “Jersey Boy” – a musical about Franky Valli and the Four Seasons. It was just sensational – real stand up, shout and cheer show. After that we strolled through Times Square which at 11pm was just jam packed with people – you feel guilty for going to sleep in this place.

Hope all is well back home.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: back from the brink, depression books, depression help, depression treatments

I’ve just had some exciting news that “BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression” has been named SANE’S 2009 BOOK OF THE YEAR which is very humbling and gratifying at the same time.

After the success of my first book, it quickly became apparent that the family members of those suffering with depression were often desperate themselves. This lead to me researching over 700 depression caregivers and their loved ones, to find out exactly what questions they wanted answered. I’m sure this was a major reason why the book was nominated. I would like to sincerely thank those who participated in the research and of course my parents, who had faith in me when I had lost faith in myself.

FROM SANE’s PRESS RELEASE

SANE Australia Executive Director Barbara Hocking says family members of people with mental illness play an enormous role in providing care and support for people living with depression, as well as other forms of mental illness.

‘Not only does Back From The Brink Too provide much-needed practical guidance for family carers and raise awareness of the key role they play in helping to manage mental illness, but it also works to reduce the isolation many families experience,’ Ms Hocking said.

‘We are delighted to present the SANE Book of the Year Award to Mr Cowan for his contribution to helping the community better understand the experience of mental illness and its impact on families and friends’

Graeme Cowan says of the Award, ‘I am honoured and humbled that SANE Australia has recognised my book. Only after recovering from my own depression did I come to understand the tremendous toll that my illness caused my family.  I would like to dedicate this award to my loved ones and the two million other Australians that support those living with depression and anxiety.’

END OF RELEASE

What is more gratifying than the award is regularly receiving letters and email from people saying that both books have been a tremendous help to them.

If you know someone who is trying to support a loved one with depression, you might consider forwarding this email to them.

Further details regarding the book (and purchasing facility can be found at: www.DepressionCarer.com )

I am heading off to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles on May 25 to meet with Literary Agents and two major US Depression organisations with a view to doing US versions of both books. The award couldn’t have come at a better time.

Kind Regards

Graeme

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

Tags: depression book, depression caregiver, depression carer, depression help, depression treatments, overcoming depression

I was recently asked to be one of the judges for the Black Dog Institutes writing competetion entitled “Tackling Mood Disorders in the Workplace”. The winners were announced yesterday by the Minister for Mental Health The Hon Barbara Perry.

PRIZES

1. Maree Matic - Sydney
2. Daniel Taylor - Adelaide
3. Rowena Harris - Tasmania

In addition to these 3 there were 10 “Highly Commended”

JUDGES SUMMARY

The judges were very impressed with the standard of the 200+ submissions to this years contest. Entries came from those living with mood disorders, their work colleagues, and managers. When assessing each contribution we decided to place equal weight on relevant ideas raised, writing style, and practical suggestions to improve the current situation.

The vast majority of entrants still feel very reluctant to disclose their illness for fear that it will have an adverse effect on their career prospects. It seems that a “work mask” is still very much the norm. Comments such as “the act is taking its toll” and “hiding in the toilet is not a long term solution” reflected the quiet despair.

The occupations most frequently represented in the submissions were teachers, lawyers, and recruitment consultants.

It was very difficult to narrow the final field down to the 3 winners and 10 “Highly Commended”, but they provided some clear messages.

Organisations need to be much more proactive in educating employees and managers, in how to recognise and support those with a mood disorder. Whilst the importance of appropriate policies was highlighted, contributors stressed that the most crucial element was a compassionate manager who reached out to address the issue quickly. Many lamented that “values on the wall were not lived on the floor”.

Whilst diversity in gender, ethnicity, and physical disability, is actively encouraged in many organisations, it is sadly lacking for those with mood disorders. In addition to supportive work colleagues, the other critical organisational requirement is flexible hours to allow for doctors/therapist visits, and low mood in the morning, when required.

Those working with mood disorders stressed that they also have an obligation to balance their lifestyle and manage their mental health – “Ironically it was only when I started working on my wellness that my work performance improved.” Many also explained that their mental health was made worse by pursuing the wrong career. Despite the challenges of work, the vast majority stressed how important it was to their self esteem.

It was extremely difficult to pick a final winner, but we felt that the contribution chosen, could well act as a summary for all 200+ entries.

Graeme Cowan, Judges Chairperson May 28, 2009

I couldn’t help but think that this competition was so important as it raised so many ideas regarding how things could be improved in the this area of where we all spend so much time, yet as I have highlighted previously, only 9% of those with depression feel comfortable discussing their condition with work colleagues - how absurd is that.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING

If a genie suddenly granted you one wish about how you would change the workplace to be a better place for those who live with depression and anxiety, what would it be. I would love you to respond to reply to this blog with your thoughts.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: anxiety, burnt out, depression, depression cure, depression help, depression treatments, work stress

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Tags: depression anxiety, depression at work, depression cure, depression help, depression treatments