If feeling depressed, take a walk in the woods

**weary** · 10-12-2007, 11:41

Regular exercise could help lift the cloud of major depression as effectively as an antidepressant, new research shows.

"A lot of people know from their own experience that when they exercise, they feel better," says James A. Blumenthal, a professor of psychology at Duke University and lead author of the study.

Blumenthal conducted a placebo-controlled clinical trial, the first time the gold standard of research has been used to compare exercise with antidepressants for treatment of major depression.

He sorted 202 patients into four groups. After 16 weeks, 47 percent of the people who took the antidepressant Zoloft improved . But some 45 percent of those who exercised in supervised groups improved, and 40 percent of those who exercised on their own improved, a statistically insignificant difference from the drug group result.

About 30 percent of those in the placebo group improved, a finding consistent with the placebo effect.

Exercise, Blumenthal speculates, might increase endorphin or serotonin levels, so-called feel-good brain chemicals.

The study was published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Weary

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 11:43

How about if you feel mad all the time. I know I am looking forward to a nice long one to hopefully cure that.

**saimyoji** · 10-12-2007, 11:47

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

How about if you feel mad all the time.

Bust up some wood. Just don't do it around any internegators. Feel free to mutter loudly to yourself.

**Brrrb Oregon** · 10-12-2007, 11:48

A friend of mine just told me about a very old man, who was asked how he stayed so healthy and so happily married for so long.

The man explained that he and his wife had decided as a couple that they would not fight. Discuss, maybe even argue to some extent, but not fight. He said, "So, when things got a little too hot, I'd go for a walk. We never fought, and over the years, I got a lot of fresh air!"

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 11:48

I have a chainsaw. I can screem as I cut with that thing.

**saimyoji** · 10-12-2007, 11:50

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

I have a chainsaw. I can screem as I cut with that thing.

Well, thats cool and all, but doesn't give you the same satisfying sense of having destroyed something with your bare hands.

**Alligator** · 10-12-2007, 11:50

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

How about if you feel mad all the time. I know I am looking forward to a nice long one to hopefully cure that.

Logging on to WB a lot is a great cure for that. It works wonders for me.

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 11:54

Originally Posted by saimyoji

Well, thats cool and all, but doesn't give you the same satisfying sense of having destroyed something with your bare hands.

I like shooting things.

**Sly** · 10-12-2007, 11:56

Blowing up frogs with a firecracker stuck in their mouth, (especially deformed ones) is a great stress/depression/madness reliever. It's been about 40 years and I'm still doing fine.

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 11:57

last time I blew something up it was a little bigger than a frog.

**Sly** · 10-12-2007, 12:01

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

last time I blew something up it was a little bigger than a frog.

LOL... I can imagine.

**Brrrb Oregon** · 10-12-2007, 12:02

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

How about if you feel mad all the time. I know I am looking forward to a nice long one to hopefully cure that.

Let's start with the fact that you "feel" mad, and not deal with the fact that most of us get angry because we have some combination of legitimate expectations that aren't being met and unrealistic expectations that we need to re-examine.

My theory is that some people are lap dogs and some people are like collies..."working dogs". Smart dogs from active breeds that don't get enough work are not happy dogs. Some dogs, though, are perfectly happy to just lie around all the time, even if the exercise would do them good. I think people like that. All of us benefit from exercise, but some of us need it to keep from getting into trouble!

I have twin boys, and my saying is that they are great at doing stuff, but as for what I tell them to "not do"....not so much. They need expectations to be stated in terms of what they need to DO. If they don't get enough exercise, they bicker and get defiant and all that kind of thing. Nobody can make them happy. Get them enough exercise, though, and they are as sweet as can be.

My impression is that you, Sgt. Rock, are what I call a "working dog"! Go with that! When you feel mad, go do something strenuous. Get a hit of endorphins, let your brain become sane again. Then deal with whatever it was that was the trigger: that is, whether you were being realistic in your expectations or not.

**Footslogger** · 10-12-2007, 12:02

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

last time I blew something up it was a little bigger than a frog.

=====================================

...and I'll bet you didn't use a firecracker either !!

Just love the smell of napalm in the morning ...

Hooah !!

'Slogger

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 12:06

Yes, I am a working dog. The fast time I ever did my 2 mile run in I was ready to strangle someone.

**Brrrb Oregon** · 10-12-2007, 12:09

Originally Posted by Footslogger

=====================================

...and I'll bet you didn't use a firecracker either !!

Just love the smell of napalm in the morning ...

Hooah !!

'Slogger

I know you're joking, but as for the sargeant, soldiers blow things up when they decide to, not when they "need" to.
You can't run a military on people who can't control their own destructive capacity, any more than you can run a military on people who don't have one.
All the guys I know in the military like stuff that blows things up, but they have a bit more self-control than they did when they were ten. (When we were kids, ten-year-olds could get their hands on M-80s and some serious cherry bombs, so we're not talking just firecrackers, either.

)

**SGT Rock** · 10-12-2007, 12:11

Last thing I blew up took C4, det cord, and I used MDI shock tube.

**Brrrb Oregon** · 10-12-2007, 12:13

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

Yes, I am a working dog. The fast time I ever did my 2 mile run in I was ready to strangle someone.

Working dogs are higher maintenance, but I'd take them any day over a "rat on a ribbon".

Originally Posted by SGT Rock

Last thing I blew up took C4, det cord, and I used MDI shock tube.

So you see! Dreams do come true.

**Footslogger** · 10-12-2007, 12:13

[quote=Brrrb Oregon;424421]I know you're joking, but as for the sargeant, soldiers blow things up when they decide to, not when they "need" to.
======================================

Not sure I understand your meaning there. As an old soldier myself I recall "needing" to blow things up quite often. But maybe that's just me.

'Slogger

**Brrrb Oregon** · 10-12-2007, 12:15

[quote=Footslogger;424426]

Originally Posted by Brrrb Oregon

I know you're joking, but as for the sargeant, soldiers blow things up when they decide to, not when they "need" to.
======================================

Not sure I understand your meaning there. As an old soldier myself I recall "needing" to blow things up quite often. But maybe that's just me.

'Slogger

Yeah, well, a man has "needs", but that doesn't mean they are satisfied at the exact moment he feels the urge to indulge. If those "needs" weren't there in the first place, a great deal of the necessary would not happen. If you get my meaning. (I don't mean that you can expect a collie to play dead forever.)

**woodsy** · 10-12-2007, 12:15

Regular exercise could help lift the cloud of major depression as effectively as an antidepressant, new research shows.

It works for me, don't know if it's major depression but, a walk in the woods is always uplifting for me. Nature works wonders IMO

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