Depression and training (part two)

Some advice from a fellow traveller…

If you are experiencing depression yourself, some of the points below may be helpful. This is not an exhaustive list, and it’s not medical advice. These things are what I aim for in periods of depression; I certainly don’t manage it all the time. Remember, relapse is part of recovery- this is not a checklist to judge yourself against.

– The first thing to do is stand up straight. Keep your head high, roll your shoulders out and back, fill your lungs with air and breathe out slowly. And again. Think about how important posture is for our physical strength, then remember it’s equally important for your mental strength. I know I often experience depression as a physical sensation (among other things.) My backbone literally feels heavy, like it’s made from lumps of rock. I feel like this stone-spine is pulling my chest down and making me slouch. Which obviously makes me feel worse. You’d be surprised how helpful posture can be for your mood. So whenever you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, pay attention to how you’re standing.

– Ask yourself, ‘Have I been training too much?” If the answer is yes, or even maybe, take two or three days off. In a row. Then, dial it back a bit. Many of the symptoms of overtraining syndrome are exactly the same as the symptoms of depression. You may have just been overdoing it. Remember to manage your rest. Without sufficient rest, your muscles simply will not be able to rebuild before you tax them again: it will make you weaker. Rest is equally important for your mental health. Functioning under constant fatigue will hinder your ability to make precise and swift decisions, it’ll weaken your concentration and will sap the joy out of your training.

– Talk to your doctor. Make an appointment for as soon as possible. The first thing to do is rule out physical causes for your mental state. There’s no point in just ‘putting up with’ depression or anxiety, and sometimes simple things like a vitamin D or B12 supplement can go miles to alleviate your symptoms. (A quick note; some GPs don’t have much experience with mental illness, and most are overworked. I’d recommend making an extra-long appointment if you can. If your regular doctor doesn’t understand, find one that does.)

– Minimise use of drugs and alcohol. Good advice at the best of times, the best advice at the worst.

– Here, I have to be blunt. If you have been experiencing suicidal thoughts, now is not the time to train at height, or work on the riskier stuff. That’s when you need your sub-consciousness and your consciousness to be on the same team. That jump will still be there when you’re feeling better. (This deserves much more than a side-note, but if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, and I can’t stress it enough, talk to someone immediately. If talking about this with your family and friends is not possible for you, talk to your doctor, psychologist or counsellor, or call a help-line. If you are in imminent danger of taking your own life, go to the Emergency department of your nearest hospital.)

– Avoid attaching too much importance to changes in your weight in times of depression. Rapid loss or gain of weight is a common symptom. Remember, it’s just that, a symptom. Overloading yourself with pressure to diet away some weight gain, or to kick yourself back up to a fighting weight when you’ve lost interest in eating, ignores the cause of that change. Try to maintain healthy and regular eating patterns, as always, but it’s more important to focus on your recovery. You’ll return to your normal weight soon enough.

And, if you do lose weight, try not to set that as a new goal weight for yourself, or to view gaining the weight back as a failure. Remember, the weight loss was due to illness.

– Keep in mind that your training will probably have to change when you’re depressed, and this is not a sign of weakness. If you sprain your ankle, you don’t drill 500 jumps. You might work on handstands instead. So, if you’re in a period of depression, you will have to find the style of training that is best for you right now. I know when I am very depressed, I have a constant stream of negative self-talk in my mind, and if I am faced with consistent failure to break a particular jump, that negativity is reinforced in a vicious circle.

You may not have the mental capacity to break jumps right now. It might be time to focus on technical foot placement drills. Or, if your concentration is shot, beasting conditioning might be the path for you. Everyone is different, and the breadth of possibilities within parkour training means there is always another option. This is not about avoiding what is hard- your training should still be difficult, and should challenge you every day. The key is to find what is most productive for you right now, and what is not going to exacerbate your condition. See above, re: sprained ankle.

– Be proud of your achievements. It’s not the size of the obstacle that matters, it’s how you overcome it. And when you’re experiencing depression, there will be days when simply getting up and going for a walk in the park takes more effort, energy and persistence than pyramid sets of climb-ups ever could. Don’t berate yourself for imagined failures; be realistic, recognise your achievements and be proud of them.

– Get out of the house. When you’re depressed, you might try to convince yourself that a few rounds of tabata alone in your bedroom is just as good as playing outside, with the sun (or rain) on your face and your friends by your side. It’s not. So remember to get outside as often as you c