day forty-four - aarrgghhh!
In the past, I’ve been told by so many people that exercise is great for mental health. And they’re not wrong. There is a huge amount of research into it, and the positive findings published in respected, peer-reviewed journals. It’s often been at a time when I just couldn’t hear it, and didn’t have the mental wherewithal to take the first step.
I felt fat, exhausted, sick, and that I was using every ounce of energy just to be a functioning human, try to be good at my job, and be good for my family… sometimes just trying to get out of bed. The thought of adding exercise to that was, seemingly impossible and unjustifiable. It felt about as important as mowing your lawn whilst your house was on fire.
Then, from a friend that I’d recently confided in about being prescribed medication for my depression and anxiety, I got tagged in this meme with the message “Just go for a run dude”.
I was furious! I felt attacked, like I was some lesser human for being medicated for a mental condition. And for someone with no medical training and no understanding of my medication to simply say I didn’t need them was unconscionable. Hearing that was seriously the most counterproductive, infuriating, misguided piece of ‘well-meaning’ ignorance imaginable (Yes. If you couldn’t tell, it still gets to me). Worst of all, I felt guilty, Guilty that I needed medication. Stupid for being open and honest about it all. And with that, my depression worsened.
My meds were one of the few things at the time that was making a positive change on my mental health, and allowed me to enjoy some of the other good things in my life. Ultimately, the medications were one of the key components that got me to a stage when exercise became a reality, and they’ll be an important part of my future.
Forests are great. Exercise is great. Taking the right medication as prescribed by a trained and experienced medical professional who understands you is great. Telling or inferring that someone shouldn’t be taking medication isn’t great… unless you’re their Doctor or Psychiatrist.
I’ll just leave this here…
Kilt of the Day - A new Sport kilt that puts in the leod in Macleod
Soundtrack of the day - We are all on drugs - Weezer (prescription ed.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0OVpyvey4U
Link of the day - Antidepressant medication factsheet - Beyond Blue
http://resources.beyondblue.org.au/prism/file?token=BL/0125
Disclaimer of the day/year - To be exceedingly clear, I’m not advocating that any specific person should, or should not be medicated. As someone whose closest thing to medical training is a First-Aid certificate, I am in no position to comment on an individual case, but there are people that are, and they’re the ones to talk with.
Dedicated to “Brenda” - (and apologies to any real Brenda’s reading this).
