Exercises against depression

The depression is an alteration different mood from sadness; to speak of depressive syndrome , in fact, we need a daily presence, for at least six months, of pessimism, disinterest in relationships and future projects, self-enclosure, apathetic attitude and great nostalgia for the past. In the most serious cases there are also: sleep disorders, poor appetite and weight loss.

It is possible to distinguish two different forms of depression : unipolar depression , characterized by a constantly low mood, motor slowing and changes in the sleep-wake cycle and bipolar depression , accompanied by an alternation of depressive and manic phases (hyperactivity, planning and excessive self-consideration).

Research shows that depression is a disease in constant growth that affects every age, especially that which manifests itself in the form of disinterestedness for everything, boredom, feeling of being useless and inadequate, suffocated by the routine and a "gray" mood that results more and more negative and off. The risk is that this syndrome results in a total closure, in a deep detachment from the world or in the abuse of drugs or alcohol.

Use your hands to deal with depression

Rediscovering serenity without resorting to drugs is possible: to do so it is useful to rediscover the concreteness of living and rediscover the usefulness of practical and manual activities , which help the brain to free itself from the thoughts and false beliefs that underlie our depression .

The manual labor helps to cope with stress, increase self-awareness and allows us to observe the concrete product of our actions. In this way the foundations are laid to free oneself from the sense of impotence and to create a situation of well-being and serenity. Whether it's cooking, painting, creating, do-it-yourself or gardening, it's important to focus on the gestures we do. This will allow us to clear the mind of conditioning and worries, thus favoring the natural production of substances that promote joy and happiness.

Nature: an ally against depression
Being in contact with nature, taking care of a plant or an animal helps to overcome the closure towards the world and what surrounds us, allows you to move the obsessive attention focused only on ourselves to something different from our reasonings. In particular, being in contact with an animal, especially dogs and cats, we learn to express tenderness and affection, to be more spontaneous, less rational and reflective.

Taking care of plants and animals makes us feel important, useful: the feeling of being indispensable allows us to set aside the depressive state and the unwillingness in which we bask, pushing us to regain interest and energy.

Free your mind with sport

Physical activity is an excellent relief valve, through which it is possible to empty our mind and body from stress, discomfort and problems. Furthermore, sport favors the production of substances (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine) which enhance the mood, improve the general condition of well-being and "fight" depression .

Errors that prevent fighting depression

We judge ourselves based on the results

To think that our value is only linked to the results obtained and to the possibility of having realized our projects involves an excessive identification with objectives and reasoning present in our mind. This threatens to undermine our self-esteem and make us lose sight of a fundamental aspect: the failure of a project does not mean and does not imply our failure as a person.

We forget the practical dimension

Our mind often works uninterruptedly and we get overwhelmed by thoughts, ideas, hypotheses and rationalizations, putting aside practical and concrete activities. The gestures and their meaning thus slip into the background. This attitude drives us to forget the importance of practical life, of "doing" and how much it can be useful against depression.

We rely solely on rationality

When we tend to manage and organize our lives using only our heads, trying to control and rationalize everything, we only risk making ourselves more fragile. If something, in fact, escapes our control and rationality, we enter into crisis, feeling overwhelmed, vulnerable and lacking instruments to react; the unforeseen causes us to collapse and in us there is a profound sensation of unease and loneliness that can push us towards the depressive syndrome or even increase it.