
Gardening, Hobbies, and Improved Mental Health
There is a growing (pardon the pun) perception that gardening, especially community gardens, may have an important benefit on general well-being, and specifically on elevating depressed mood.
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There is a growing (pardon the pun) perception that gardening, especially community gardens, may have an important benefit on general well-being, and specifically on elevating depressed mood.
Achieving a goal, like losing weight, following your meal and exercise plan, earning a degree while you’re working, or raising money for a cause you believe in, can feel euphoric, especially when you’ve overcome significant challenging obstacles to get there. We know logically that it’s hard to make the changes required to reach a goal. So why, then, when the going gets tough, are we unprepared and wonder why the journey is not pain-free? Part of it has to do with our desire to avoid pain, seek pleasure, and take the path of least resistance. Being aware of this triad can help you better accept, and tolerate, the obstacles you’ll face.
Clinical depression can be associated with confusion and cognitive impairment. Processing speed, creativity, memory, and mental focus can be compromised in the setting of depression. Cognitive decline associated with depression can look like dementia in the elderly. Treatment for depression, and social support and compassion, can be a way to improve cognitive function.
An enduring problem associated with strategies aimed to reduce obesity, or at least to make the obese healthier, is the “one size fits all” approach. It is rarely cost effective to work with an individual patient to figure out why weight was gained or perhaps regained. It takes time to figure out how lifestyle may contribute to overeating. Does the patient get enough sleep, or eat to stay awake? Is the patient overwhelmed by work or caregiving, perhaps for an elderly parent or disabled spouse? Is the overeating a response to depression, anxiety, social isolation, marital, financial, or other problems — or simply loneliness? Could intuitive eating work for everyone? The reasons for weight gain are not intuitive; nor, it seems, is the solution.
Those with mental illness and their families are aware of the stigma associated with these disorders. We share information about other medical conditions with friends, co-workers, and casual acquaintances without worrying that we might be rejected as employees, friends, or participants in volunteer, religious, and charitable organizations. The Me2Orchestra is a stigma-free zone for people affected by mental illness to focus on joy and who they are rather than being defined by their diagnosis.
By eating healthy, low fat carbohydrate options like sweet potatoes and whole grain crackers rather than candy, you’ll eat less, have the benefit of nutritious foods, your cravings will be satisfied sooner, and you’ll be more likely to avoid unwanted weight gain due to SAD.
You are as worthy as everything and everyone else you care about. The key is to balance how you spend your time so that you are at least on equal par with other things and people that matter to you in your life.
We might overlook the pleasure that our taking pleasure in something (or someone) gives others. A shared laugh, story, or experience, even with a stranger, improves the moods of everyone. And often, if we hold onto the memory of the fun experience, watching a parade of ducks or meeting an old acquaintance while going about the mundane experiences of the day, it makes the stress of those less fun encounters so much more bearable.
Many of us are experiencing a situational depression during the pandemic known as adjustment disorder with depressed mood. Talk therapy and social support can help people cope and build resilience.
There are effective tools for you to reverse and prevent weight gain caused by antidepressants whether it’s your first time on these medications or you’ve resumed taking them.
In an ideal world, when individuals suffer from depression, they would be treated with both medication and therapy. Typically, medication is prescribed by psychiatrists or
It should come as no surprise that the stress of the pandemic may be affecting Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) symptoms, which include changes in mood, sleep,