It sometimes can be very hard to think of ways of getting out of a lurking depression. A recent email from Moodscope (a site with a mood tracking program that many people find very useful) highlights one very useful strategy: instead of staying stuck in your brain, switch your focus to physical activity.
This strategy can be surprisingly effective. If I am trapped in worry about something, putting the problem aside and going for a brisk walk or cleaning or organizing some part of our house can help me regain a sense of positive perspective.
It turns out that the tendency to want to do physically active things is one good measure of how depressed (or not depressed) you are. But it may also be one of those ways that you can (sometimes) power out of depression.
The key to making it work is to act without thinking too much about it. If you start to think about what the “right” or “best” activity is you are well on the way to not doing anything. Do something, and then modify it after you start (see my post on “Tacking“).
Here is more from Moodscope –
“I know I feel far from energetic when I’m going through choppy seas. I feel like doing, well, very little to be honest…. When your mood is better, you feel active. But it’s also true that getting active is a pretty sure-fire way of lifting your mood in the first place….The sign that you’re not feeling very active ought to be akin to a red warning light on your dashboard. And for many, it’s an easyish one to fix through doing nothing more complicated than getting your body working a little more than it might usually. We’re not talking marathon running here, simply suggesting that it’s good to walk, and fine to undertake an energetic bout of housework, garden leaf-picking or car washing. Take care of your body. Unless you’ve been keeping something from me, it’s the only one you’ve got. Thoughts on the above? Please feel free to post a comment on our Blogspot: h
t t p : / / m o o d s c o p e . b l o g s p o t . c o . u k “