Post: #1

Exercise vs. Prozac – A Battle for Survival

by Drawk Kwast – July 30th, 2010

A guy who is 100 pounds overweight, with no friends, girlfriend, or job, who sits at home playing video games is supposed to be depressed. That’s the way nature has evolved us. In the game of survival of the fittest, it feels good to be the alpha male and it feels bad not to be. If it wasn’t that way, what reason would a guy have to go out and succeed? Failure is supposed to hurt, so we avoid it. Success is supposed to feel good, so we seek it. If a person can sit at home, loaded on Prozac, completely happy with their worthless life, what reason do they have to better themselves? None. This is a huge problem, not only for them, but for the society they should be contributing to.

Consider this. One hundred years ago, antidepressants didn’t exist, and natural selection was still functioning relatively well. Girls who were extremely emotionally unbalanced had a difficult time finding a man willing to marry them and have kids. In other words, through natural selection, the girls with the most problems had the least kids. This is a good thing because our species got stronger as the weakness was bred out. In the 1950′s when the first antidepressant Iproniazid hit the public, everything changed. It didn’t take long before every housewife in America was loaded on happy pills. Shortly following the women, guys started taking them also. Today we are literally breeding weakness into our species by sweeping it under the rug with drugs. The emotionally unfit can simply cover up the symptoms, mate just as easily as the fit, and have lots of children. The result is a greater percentage of the population with the very same problem these drugs were created to combat, and it will get worse generation after generation.

Am I saying that depressed people need to be weeded out of society? Not exactly. What I’m saying is that antidepressants need to be prescribed only when every other option has been exhausted. Rather than allowing pharmaceutical companies to spend billions of dollars on advertisements asking the public if they ever feel “down” (which is everyone) and paying doctors every time they give out Prozac like it’s candy, we need to prescribe exercise.

A study conducted at Duke University in the late 1990′s divided depressed patients into three treatment groups. The first group was treated with exercise only. The second group was treated with exercise and antidepressant medication. The third group was treated with antidepressant medication only. At six weeks the drug only group was doing only slightly better than the other two groups. After 10 months however, the exercise only group was doing the best. Yes, even better than the exercise and drug group. Like I said, for the vast majority of people suffering from depression, antidepressant drugs hurt them.

The bottom line is that studies show 30 minutes of high intensity aerobic exercise 3 to 5 times a week will cut depressive symptoms by over 50%. That is very impressive when you consider that exercise is free and has a plethora of other health benefits. This is why in some countries like the UK, antidepressants are not used as the first line of therapy for mild to moderate depression. Doctors there write out a prescription to see an exercise counselor instead.

Besides regulating the happy chemicals in your brain, serotonin and norepinephrine, after about two weeks exercise turns on genes that increase galanin, a neurotransmitter that lowers your body’s stress response. Testosterone also increases naturally, and the more of that a guy has in his system, the less of a chance you will find him in the corner of a dark room crying like a little girl. And let’s not forget those endorphins. I love endorphins, they are the number one reason I go to the gym. I do between one and two hours of weights, followed by one hour of cardio that holds my heart rate at 80% to 90% of my maximum heart rate. By the time I leave the gym, I’m feeling nothing short of euphoria.

We live in a world where everyone wants a pill to make them look good and feel good. The truth is our bodies evolved over thousands of years to do one hour of strenuous exercise a day which gives you all that. Healthy, happy, and sane is paid for in the gym with sweat, end of story.

Post: #2

I constantly battle major depression.

If I don't work out 3 to 5 times a week then I can feel the difference. I had a doctor prescribe anti-depressants but they leave me feeling more like a zombie and I hated that feeling. I gave them up and just started hitting the gym and haven't needed the drugs since.

I noticed weight lifting helped the most.

I can tell when I missed the gym for a week when I start craving chocolate. I know that is a sure sign I better get my ass in the gym or I will be hurting. ha

I think today most people use drugs as a crutch to avoid changing. No reason to fix what is really wrong when you can take a pill. Doctors over medicate at the drop of a hat instead of getting people to change their habits.

I see people in their 30's and 40's on cholesterol medication, the same people getting lung clouts and having to be on blood thinners the rest of their lives. They still don't change their bad habits since the drugs will allow them to continue.

Post: #3

I work in the healthcare industry so i kow for certain that doctors purposely get patients hooked on medications so they keep coming back, it returns customers. Doctors are nothing but dealers. Are you a junkie or a patient? It just depends on who you give your money to LOL!

Post: #4

people use antidepressants wrong. I'd been on and off of antidepressants up until about 3 years ago, when I basically hit rock bottom, took it like a man, and bounced back. Exercise does it partly, but partly it's also you have to re-train your brain, you have to actually make your brain make you happy (i.e., cognitive-behavior therapy). Even just exercise doesn't cure it. if it's situational (which mine was mostly), you have to cure the situation; if it's chemical, you might need something LIGHT in ADDITION to exercise to help restabilize yourself so your natural chemistry can take over. People take too much prozac and go zombified, because it's a last resort.

Part of the problem, especially in the US, is the shittiness of US living. We're usually on a treadmill running uphill working long hours at something we don't enjoy as hard as we can just to break even and keep what we have. That's not natural, that's wage slavery. I recall a few weeks ago seeing an article posted here saying that the modern college student has as much stress as a 50s mental patient.

Post: #5

Part of the problem, especially in the US, is the shittiness of US living. We're usually on a treadmill running uphill working long hours at something we don't enjoy as hard as we can just to break even and keep what we have. That's not natural, that's wage slavery. I recall a few weeks ago seeing an article posted here saying that the modern college student has as much stress as a 50s mental patient.
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This is so true!

Post: #6

i have never used anti -d's but I have seen them work wonders on both a few people i know over the years.. The drugs completely helped them get their lives back on track. So i am not going to bash them as i believe there is a genuine place for them. Mental health is something most of us can't understand. If a drug can help a person overcome mental issues then i dont have a problem with it. I guess the issue lies with irrepsonsible dispensing.

Post: #7

I've always been moody, and struggled with bouts of depression. I attribute it mostly to my overactive brain and the standards I impose on myself. I usually feel awesome about myself, but when I'm low, it can get bad.

When I was young it was from social anxiety, and tension in my household (parents having crazy insane fights daily). In my teens I got addicted to alcohol and that was my main source of good feelings for years. But anyone who knows about that will attest that drinking leads to deeper depression, which leads to more drinking, etc. I sorted that out eventually.

Another problem for me has been seasonal affective disorder (SAD lol). I get pretty bad in the winter if I'm somewhere cold.

This year I made a commitment to not let the winter get me down. Here's what I do:

Minimize the drinking. Once a week at most, and then it's in moderation.
I take brain supplements - gingko, vitamin b, fish oil, zma
Low glycemic carbs, and lots of fat (along with protein)
I work out 4 times a week: fast, intense strength training, followed by a long, slow run. I'm up to 7 miles without a problem. Usually my legs start hurting before I feel winded, so this is good.

I have felt AWESOME thus far. No depression problems. In fact, I feel very clear headed and happy most days. Super productive (when I'm not distracted by the damn forum lol).

Drugs are a short term fix. I've been on anti-depressants. They are BAD. They fucked me up and made me feel like a zombie.

My antidepressant story:

My senior year of college was the first year since I was 5 that I didn't play soccer. I was injured, but when I recovered, I had lost my passion for playing.

At this point, I felt I had lost my core identity (I was the "soccer guy" for years). I didn't know who I was, and I had crazy hormones raging through me. I began fighting with people, stopped doing my school work, and basically became anti everything.

I got put on Zoloft. This shit should be banned from the planet. Kids are killing themselves from it.

First of all, it made me not care about anything - not in an alpha way, but like "fuck this I'm going to bed." Also, I was in a fog - couldn't think, couldn't pay attention.

The WORST effect though, was I began having serious problems getting it up for my GF who was actually a total nympho slut (she had been fucking grown men since she was like 14 - dad's of her girlfriends even).

She'd blow me to get me going, but it took forever to get hard, and I could not cum. I'd lose my hardness while trying to put on a condom. Really frustrating.

She told some friends in class, and they spread the rumor around and it was a huge embarrassment. Of course I couldn't say "well I'm on zoloft because I'm supposedly depressed."

Long story short, we broke up because of this rumor. A couple months after school was out I was so lethargic that I just stopped eating, AND taking my medication.

Best thing I could have done. A couple days later I woke up with a raging hard on, convinced my ex to come over when my dad wasn't home, and proceeded to fuck her mouth and pussy 8 times. It was insane. She said, "fuck, we could have been doing this all year!"

What pisses me off is how many adults saw what I was going through, but no one ever stopped to talk to me. When they did, it was to tell me off or ridicule me.

School counselors and teachers were the worst - they just figured I was a "bad kid." My parents thought it was due to their divorce, which it wasn't.

I got sent to this asshole psychiatrist who didn't bother to look at my life as a whole - recent changes, what am I struggling with right now, etc.

They just gave me zombie pills that made me impotent and lethargic.

I'm all for heart medication, or other stuff that helps with real physical ailments. I know depression and ADD can be real, but a lot of diagnoses are bullshit just to make money for doctors and big pharma. Kids fucking kill themselves on zoloft - look it up. I wonder how many people who suffer depression are seriously getting exercise and have a decent diet. I also wonder how many of them are serious about actually changing their thought patterns. The mind can change the brain, but depression can kind of be a comfortable place after awhile, especially if it gets you pity.

Post: #8

(01-18-2012 10:52 PM)Anon-A-Moose Wrote:  people use antidepressants wrong. I'd been on and off of antidepressants up until about 3 years ago, when I basically hit rock bottom, took it like a man, and bounced back. Exercise does it partly, but partly it's also you have to re-train your brain, you have to actually make your brain make you happy (i.e., cognitive-behavior therapy). Even just exercise doesn't cure it. if it's situational (which mine was mostly), you have to cure the situation; if it's chemical, you might need something LIGHT in ADDITION to exercise to help restabilize yourself so your natural chemistry can take over. People take too much prozac and go zombified, because it's a last resort.

Part of the problem, especially in the US, is the shittiness of US living. We're usually on a treadmill running uphill working long hours at something we don't enjoy as hard as we can just to break even and keep what we have. That's not natural, that's wage slavery. I recall a few weeks ago seeing an article posted here saying that the modern college student has as much stress as a 50s mental patient.

"That's not natural, that's wage slavery."

I agree and so does this fellow in the vid below,but you've got to do what you can in your lifetime too!

As for Anti D's ...always go the exercise,look at your life,change habits,situations,goals etc route first.
Having said that ,there are some more serious cases where a chemical kick in the ass is needed to reboot and rebalance the system as the brain is shattered from a breakdown/psychotic phase.
This happened to my mother more than once, and she was hospitalised from 2 breakdowns.
Very scary stuff when you're a kid seeing this happening to your mother.You're pretty much helpless other than just being there for them.
Luckily she got back to her old self,thanks to a world class clinical psychologist who basically put her into a coma like state for a week or so to shut down /slow down her brain and give it a rest.

So Anti D's have there place but for serious disabling depression and not as a habit but as a kick.

Low mood,feeling bad about how your life is going more action(as I said above) and talking openly with someone to find a solution is better.

Now for Noam