If you’re feeling depressed, there is one thing I recommend to lift your spirits: WEED.
It’s probably legal where you live — as long as you do it on your own property. So get out there and weed. It’s good exercise and your depression will disappear faster than an unlocked bike in New York City.
Well, not exactly, but exercise can apparently do wonders for depression. It may be just as effective as psychological therapy in reducing symptoms of depression, according to a review of evidence by researchers connected to Cochrane, a London-based network of health researchers and professionals. They also found that exercise may be just as effective as antidepressant medication, but more evidence is needed for the researchers to feel confident enough about this finding to get the drug companies upset with them.
Researchers from the University of Lancashire in Preston, England, conducted the review, examining 73 randomized controlled trials involving a total of almost 5,000 adults with depression.
“Our findings suggest that exercise appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression,” said Professor Andrew Clegg, lead author of the review. “This suggests that exercise works well for some people, but not for everyone, and finding approaches that individuals are willing and able to maintain is important.”
The phrase he used — “willing and able” — is important. You may be willing to climb Mount Everest tomorrow, but are you able to do it? Will they put you on a stretcher and call an ambulance for you, while handing you a certificate for almost making it to base camp?
You may be able to participate in a daily aerobics class, but are you willing to do it? For me, the answer is “no.” I prefer to follow my own exercise routine and pretend that I’m as coordinated as Simone Biles (soon after she had her wisdom teeth pulled).
According to the review, light to moderate intensity exercise may be more beneficial than vigorous exercise. Light to moderate exercise is any activity that gets your heart beating faster — and I don’t mean looking at photos of Timothée Chalamet. You need to be slightly out of breath, not panting.
If you’re out of shape and have not exercised in a long time, it’s important to start with something that’s not too challenging. Don’t take the stairs to your ninth-floor apartment — take the elevator, but do jumping jacks on the way up.
Once you have established a habit of exercising regularly, you can gradually increase the duration or intensity of your exercise, but try not to overdo it.
As psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Mateka told NPR, “When it comes to exercise, it’s about just finding the exercise that works for you, such as something like yoga or tai chi versus something like walking and jogging.”
Even if you have to pay a membership fee to a gym, exercise will cost you less than therapy and you won’t have to reveal any sordid family secrets. It won’t work for everyone, but it’s worth a try.
“Exercise is something that is extremely low cost,” Mateka said. “It’s very accessible. It has very minimal side effects. And it has the opportunity to impact you positively, mentally, emotionally, socially and physically.”
Depression affects more than 280 million people worldwide. That’s equal to the entire population of Indonesia. Imagine if we could get them all to start playing pickleball. The only depressed people would be the ones living next to the pickleball courts.
