Recently a patient, call him Dave, commented that he’s struggling more with depression now than before because of a hamstring injury that limits his ability to run or jog. He had been enjoying his morning run, and felt a real connection between exercise and his generally more positive mood. Then the injury. Recovery has been slow, and he misses the ability to just go out and run.
Exercise, of course, is a tried and true counter to depression and anxiety. It has robust support in research, and many peoples’ personal experience to promote it as an important part of any treatment plan. But it’s not easy to establish an exercise routine, and, once established, it’s not easy to change.
For Dave, we can suggest alternative exercise routines, like strength training at a gym, and we also strongly recommend that he persevere with whatever exercises his physical therapist has recommended. Physical therapy can be hard and painful, and results may not be immediately visible, but it pays off more in the long run. But other types of exercise weren’t filling the space he felt missing in his life without daily runs.
At this point, it may be helpful to go back to the beginning. Not just how to replace one coping strategy with another, but how coping strategies are built up with the goal of living better with depression and anxiety. Going back to basics means re-evaluating your whole approach. What coping strategies (besides running) are you currently using? How is your medication adherence? How about support structures, family and friends? Have you reached out to anyone to share your frustrations since the injury? How about your sleep and diet patterns?
How did running fit in to this whole framework? Once this question is considered, there is a way forward. Maybe join exercise routines your friends are doing. Maybe find other ways to get the right amount of sleep at the right times. Each person will move forward in their own way, but the goal is to expand the possible coping strategies, not to passively allow them to contract. Learned helplessness is not your friend. There is a whole world of coping strategies out there, and you can find them and manage them to suit yourself.
Dave’s next approach will be different from his last, because his circumstances are different, but the tools for a new strategy are already in his hands.