6th February, 2013
It’s been eight days now and Lara has not said a word to her neighbours. She leaves home every morning and gets back late in the evening.
“This is very unusual of Lara,” Mariam says. ” I feel like walking up to her this evening whenever she comes back to find out what the problem really is.”
“You better mind your business,” Nana warns Mariam.
” For God’s sake aren’t we suppose to be our sister’s keeper? You know what? I’ll do it. The worst she may do is to ignore me,” Mariam insists.
“Alright, I wish you good luck.” Nana declares.
Mariam actually did approached Lara and surprisingly Lara opened up. She had been through a tough time, it came as a shock and is still a shock. She wishes it’s a dream. But it was real. Her boyfriend of eight years broke up with her for reasons she could not explain. It’s been a very hard time for Lara. But for the timely intervention of a good neighbour like Miriam it would have been a different story.
What Lara experienced could be depression. Have you been there when you have feelings of agitation, restlessness, and irritability,becoming withdrawn or isolated.
Do you have difficulty concentrating,dramatic change in appetite, often with weight gain or loss, fatigue or lack of energy.
Do you have feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, feelings of worthlessness, self-hate, and guilt, loss of interest or pleasure in activities that you once enjoyed, sometimes thoughts of death or suicide,trouble sleeping or oversleep.
Although the exact cause of depression is not known, many researchers believe it is caused by chemical changes in the brain. This may be due to a problem with your genes, or triggered by certain stressful events. More likely, it’s a combination of both.
Depression can appear as anger and discouragement, rather than feelings of sadness.
Some types of depression run in families. But depression can also occur if you have no family history of the illness. Anyone can develop depression, even kids.
The following may play a role in depression:
•Alcohol or drug abuse
•Certain medical conditions, including underactive thyroid, cancer, or long-term pain
•Certain medications such as steroids
•Sleeping problems
•Stressful life events, such as:
•Breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend
•Failing a class
•Death or illness of someone close to you
•Divorce
•Childhood abuse or neglect
•Job loss
•Social isolation (common in the elderly)
People who have depression usually see everything with a more negative attitude. They cannot imagine that any problem or situation can be solved in a positive way.
From experience, I strongly believe that exercise will go a long way to help the depressed if they can embrace the culture of exercise.
How can exercise provide Mental Health Benefits.
There are numerous positive psychological outcomes associated with engaging in regular exercise. A few of the most important include the following:
Stress Relief
Whether you have had a bad day at work, feel overwhelmed by financial or family pressures, or are agitated as a result of fighting traffic, the stress you are feeling is very real and it has a very real impact on your physical and mental well being. Give this negative energy a positive outlet by engaging in aerobic activity for a while. T
Depression Prevention
People who exercise regularly also report decreased rates of depression, lowered pain, and less anxiety. Exercise works in this case by increasing endorphins and neurotransmitters, decreasing immune system substances that may make depression worse, and increasing body temperature.
Enhanced Mood
Engaging in regular exercises can also help improve your mood. There are many reasons for this, including the facts that exercise leads to an increase of endorphins, helps you better cope with the stressor of daily living, and reduces anxiety.
Confidence Boost
Being active inevitably builds confidence in your physical abilities. If you get stronger in the gym or shave a couple minutes off your jog, you have hard proof that you’re capable of meeting and surpassing real goals. If you are able to pull this off in the gym, you can probably do it elsewhere too. Likewise, when you experience temporary setbacks and disappointments in your workout, you learn to overcome them the next time around. This is another area that translates well from the field of exercise to social life or the professional world.
Increased Self-Esteem
Exercise can help you control your weight and tone your body. These improvements in your physical appearance that result from exercise can also have a significant positive impact on body image and body satisfaction, both of which lead to an increase in self-esteem. This association has been well documented in numerous studies, including one published in Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sports Psychology.
Improved Sleep
Insomnia and poor sleep are often related to residual stress that didn’t get the needed outlet. You can’t revive missed opportunities at work by obsessing about them at 2 a.m., yet that is often what people end up doing. Not only does exercise provide a direct outlet for that pent-up stress, but you also get the immediate, tangible effect of physical tiredness that can help you go to sleep when you need to do so. If you spent the day in an office chair and the evening on the couch, your body never enjoyed real movement. Swim a few dozen laps after work, and at least you will be physically tired when hitting the sack.
Better Energy
It may seem like a paradox, but you actually get more energized the more energy you use. This isn’t a short-term effect, of course, but over the span of months and years, your body will adjust to your new activity level. You’ll have more overall energy, both physically and mentally.
Mental Alertness
Many of the other psychological benefits associated with exercise combine to have a positive impact on mental alertness. Because regular exercise can give you more energy, help you sleep better, and provide an increased flow of oxygen to your brain, it can have an impact on how alert you feel.
Increased Motivation
As you begin to experience the positive physical, emotional, and psychological benefits from exercise, you are likely to continue exercising in order to continue to realise its positive effects in your life. This increase in motivation can translate to other areas of your daily life as well.
Health benefits of exercise are considered for enhancing the physical activeness. Being active and doing regular bodily exercises can prevent major chronic diseases such as heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, back pain, osteoporosis, joint pains, obesity, and even some forms of cancer. For best health benefits, medical experts advise people to perform minimum half an hour of aerobic exercise at least 2 to 3 times in a week. You may also do half an hour of good physical activity in a day.
Health benefits of exercise ensure physical and mental human health. It boosts up the immunity system and promotes proper sugar levels in blood. It is good for normal functioning of bones and protection against osteoporosis. Risks of high blood pressure, heart ailments and even cancer are reduced with good regular dose of exercise.
A balanced diet and daily exercise may do wonders for your over all health and fitness. According to the Body Confidence exercise Plan,30-minutes exercise schedule everyday is capable of keeping a person fit. And 60-minutes for weight loss.
The Physical and Mental Activities that Really Counts:
Most of the people believe that only vigorous forms of exercise and playing outdoor sports could be called as a healthy exercise. But, reports suggest that even regular mundane activities such as cleaning the house, brisk walking, moving the lawn, sweeping, washing clothes and utensils can be termed as forms of exercise. The main aim is to stay fit and active throughout your life.
You need not join a gym or do marathons in order to stay physically fit. Mental activities can involve doing some crossword puzzles, reading newspapers, helping your child in his/her homework, calculating your bills in your mind instead of reaching for the calculator. Researchers have studied and concluded that regular exercise is helpful in treating depression.
Everyday Activities Include:
•Walking up the stairs.
•Walking to the market stalls instead of using any vehicle.
•Doing maximum daily housework by yourself in place of a maid.
•Taking a brisk early morning walk or in late evenings.
Attending dance classes.
Benefits: Doing regular physical is immensely beneficial for health. Some of the health benefits of exercise are as follows:
Heart Diseases: Regular physical exercise strengthens the heart muscle, lowers LDL levels, improves the blood flow to the heart and prevents heart disorders.
Obesity: Daily dose of physical activity considerably reduces body fats, uses up excess calories and in general controls the body from putting on weight.
Back Pain: Exercise improves the muscular strength, helps you maintain good posture, reduces fat levels, and thus prevents back pain and related conditions.
Better Sleep: Good exercise regime helps you sleep faster and get good quality deep sleep without any dream sequences. The natural downscale in body temperature after a strenuous physical workout may help you fall asleep faster.
Sex Life: Daily exercise could help you get energized and can have good positive result on your dull sex life. Exercise improves blood circulation and better sex performance. In recent studies, it has been found that men who do regular work outs are less prone to sex related problems such as erectile dysfunction.
Depression: If you are feeling depressed, then a good round of physical exercise can stimulate the brain nerves and make you feel elevated, relaxed and happier. You can feel really better after an exercise session. It helps boost confidence levels and reduces undue stress.
Exercise doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to do it out of force; a dance session is also a form of exercise. Going trekking, playing around in your child’s play area or just dancing in the room- everything counts as a healthy physical work out.
Send relevant questions to me at [email protected] or send me a personal message at www.facebook.com/BodyConfidenceFitnessClubI’ll answer the best questions and I’ll post it in the members’ area, just for you! I