2 ms·

I've experienced what this guy has experienced. I don't think that's unique. Being an athlete who gets injured and has mental health suffer because they lose th

I've experienced what this guy has experienced. I don't think that's unique. Being an athlete who gets injured and has mental health suffer because they lose their sense of identity and purpose is not anywhere near the same thing as clinical depression. It's a poor term in a way. You can be depressed or feel depressed and those are perfectly legitimate uses of the term, but it's not "depression," not in the same way. It's closer to grief. It's a response to loss. In any case, I'm not exactly up to date on the state of the art in terms of standard of care, but as far as I understood the role of a psychiatrist, it is specifically to write prescriptions. Exercise is not a controlled substance. You don't need a prescription to do it. Any doctor or even just a clinical therapist, counselor, anyone with a license to listen to you and make recommendations, can recommend exercise. And I'm sure they do. If you make it to a psychiatrist, it's because the less controlled options didn't do the trick.

techblueberry 3mo ago
I think one of the problems is like if you have t experienced it, it’s hard to know what it’s like _and_ ironically we don’t talk enough about how sort of traumatic regular life can be. Not in a terminally online like psych speak trauma dumping kind of way, but just a pragmatic this is what pain can feel like kind of way. When I was a teen I had severe can’t get out of bed, suicidal ideation kind of depression. As an adult, I still have moments, but it’s a few hours every six months. I think many people experience this a few or even many times in their life, and if you have a low point you can think people who are really deep into depression are just having a low point. Right now, I’m sort of in the headspace where I’d declare diet and exercise as panaceas because they are fundamentally where I am right now; but I know they’re not because of where I’ve been before. That all being said I think two things about what this person wrote. 1: less than half of therapists have never talked to their patients about exercise, so we’re not starting from zero. 2: trying to have some structured guidance around it isn’t bad assuming, I think as the author did that you’re not saying 100% exercise over therapy and medication. That said, I think therapy is probably the write place to put this. Just that therapy can include exercise as one of its mechanisms. I’m not sure you’d want a third thing, because if you’re truly trying to treat depression severe enough to need professiobal help, it should be under the supervision of a mental health professional.

techblueberry 3mo ago

I think one of the problems is like if you have t experienced it, it’s hard to know what it’s like _and_ ironically we don’t talk enough about how sort of traumatic regular life can be. Not in a terminally online like psych speak trauma dumping kind of way, but just a pragmatic this is what pain can feel like kind of way. When I was a teen I had severe can’t get out of bed, suicidal ideation kind of depression. As an adult, I still have moments, but it’s a few hours every six months. I think many people experience this a few or even many times in their life, and if you have a low point you can think people who are really deep into depression are just having a low point. Right now, I’m sort of in the headspace where I’d declare diet and exercise as panaceas because they are fundamentally where I am right now; but I know they’re not because of where I’ve been before. That all being said I think two things about what this person wrote. 1: less than half of therapists have never talked to their patients about exercise, so we’re not starting from zero. 2: trying to have some structured guidance around it isn’t bad assuming, I think as the author did that you’re not saying 100% exercise over therapy and medication. That said, I think therapy is probably the write place to put this. Just that therapy can include exercise as one of its mechanisms. I’m not sure you’d want a third thing, because if you’re truly trying to treat depression severe enough to need professiobal help, it should be under the supervision of a mental health professional.