Does Anyone Use Excersize As An Anti Depressant?

[KittyLove]

I have a lot of angst. And now I have depression and angst due to the loss of my mom (not dead, but lost to severe mental illness) & gma (04) and my g'pa in July. My gpa was everything to me.

I have always used excersize and a good diet to help me with my depression & anger. Lets just say, I have run marathons and I am in AMAZING shape.

Is there anyone else that uses this natural way of dealing with the BS that comes about in our lives?? I would love to hear from you.

Thank you-

KL

[ann]

hi KL,

yes, exercise has helped me a lot in dealing with my grief and my depression. i channelled my anger and sadness in exercising, after a while i feel a little better, though temporary it helps me a lot. it clears my mind, and makes me focus on what i have right now.

even just a 10-minute stretching or 30-minute can do wonder to my mind, especially during those times that im having mixed emotions during the early months of my grief. keeps me in good shape too and strengthen my resistance against sickness.

Take care.

[KittyLove]

Ann- thanks so much for your post. I am astonished that this post has only recieved one comment! What does everyone do around here in order to deal with their sadness? I'm confused. This board is for 'Behaviors in Bereavement', but all the post's only talk about how bad everyone feels.

I want to know what kind of action do you all take?

Thank you,

KL

[Paul S]

A lot of people do not know what action to take, or do not know if their behavior (action) is 'crazy' or 'normal'. That is how I always interpreted this forum, "Am I normal?", or, "This is what I did, how was that?" They come here for validation and explanation.

And sadly, a lot of people do not want to take action. The pain may be easier to settle in than the work required to get out of it. People mistakenly associate the pain of the loss with the person lost. They feel that in getting past the pain they leave the person behind and betray the memory. The two are separate, and one can leave the pain and sadness behind and bring the person along with them. You learn to acknowledge that death is temporary, and the person is with you in a different way. You said (I think it as you) in another topic "This too shall pass." That's good, because after it passes, the worthwhile memories and feelings remain with you.

What I do to deal with my sadness is to read and post on this board, to read lots of books, to get in-person grief counseling, to attend support groups and go for walks. Ice cream works pretty well, too. I volunteer weekly at a Franciscan residence for the terminally ill. Exercise? That's good, too. I should do that. I can then eat more ice cream.

[KittyLove]

Paul--Thank you so much for your post, that is what I was looking for. I really want to know what you do.

My aunt and I were just talking today and she told me the way she feels better is by volunteering, too.

Thank you again.

[Charlie1]

Yes, yes and yes.

When I found that my father had cancer, I would go to the gym to lose myself. I remember grinding out an hour on an eliptical and thinking that was a good representation of how I was able to cope with the last 9 months of his life.

I still go to the gym and find that this is the time to myself I need to have.

Keep up the excercise...it is a god send to use your body like this.

Charlie1