Good article. I deal with clinical depression everyday, but do not take RX meds. I just deal with it.

Triathlon gives me something to focus on and the training keeps me focused. It has been great for building mental fortitude and a greater ability to deal with stressful mental situations.

Thank you.

Sometimes it is great to post / respond inside the article so she can see it too.

Will do, and will read it more in depth when I get home.

Did she talk about depression sometimes hindering training? Sometimes the depression is so great it makes training difficult.

Good interview herbert. Would you mind linking the Julie Furtado article you referenced? Thnaks!

Will do

stress and depression are two very challenging things to deal with

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Personally depression is so strange

When I have it I can’t see how it will ever end, even though I know it will

When I do not have it I can’t fathom how I ever was depressed and can’t see how I will get it again

100% agree, when I was in the Army I think the stress did a good job at masking mine, once the deployment tempo slowed and I was retiring it hit hard

Same for me

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I always feel the same way. However, when I am not in the depths of depression I am always worried that it is waiting around the corner to suck me back in its throes. I compare it to being injured as a triathlete. When you are injured you swear you are never going to be healthy again and your future in triathlon is over. When healthy, I am terrified of being injured again.

Rob Krar has been amazing about talking about his struggle with depression.

This is me. When I am really feeling good, I know the depression is right around the corner. During the depression, when it gets really bad, I know it is about to end. It's an endless cycle of up and down.

Anhedonia is one of the most common symptoms of any depressive disorder.

I don't miss being unable to deal with the basics of life, but I do miss how depression could allow/force me to push through a lot. I was a better triathlete when I was depressed.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Yes when you are depressed sometimes you think, "Why am I depressed, no reason for that". When happy, "Why am I happy life seems no different than when I was depressed." This of course is not including people who have had bad things go on in their life that make push them into depression.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

And folks who do nor have it, have a had time imagining it. Especially depression of folks who seemingly have it all.

This is so true. I hide it and never talk about it. People just assume you can choose not to be depressed. Crap, even I think I can choose not to be depressed.

Its best for me to suffer in silence. Im a master at hiding it, since it is mostly an internal feeling anyway. This is one reason I train alone - run by myself, ride by myself, swim by myself. But then bask in the "kudos" on Strava.

There is a range of depression, sure, but from having seen folks with real clinically diagnosed and treated depression, it's very clear that most of these folks CANNOT train sports/triathlon on any regular basis. It's not a matter of distracting yourself enough to HTFU through the training - those folks' brains simply cannot motivate to do anything constructive or enjoy anything. It was really, really hard for me to see this was possible until I met these folks outright and spent a fair amount of time with them.

Clinical depression differs from a depressed mood, which is no fun, but which is actually a pretty normal situation given certain circumstances and variability in personality.

I could not train on the medication. I was pretty much forced to take RX meds in 2013 when my depression really reached the tipping point. They worked! But I was worthless in my working out and running. SO, I had to get off of them after about a year - which was not a fun experience.

I also have trouble training at certain periods of depression. For me it isnt HTFU. Training has actually become my RX medication to get through it. Its more of an obsession to have to train, and that obsession overpowers the depression (Yeah I know, I am really screwed up). But like I said, it is an up and down thing. It comes in waves (crests and troughs) over periods of days/weeks.

My 1st full IM is in Sept. That is what I have been training for the past few months. What really scares me is... what happens after the IM? I have nothing else to train for. Then what?

I wish there were like button I would give out so many in this thread

Yes it is like telling someone with a migraine

You have no reason to have a migraine lol Feona good

So true above post. Things can be going pretty bad relationship, economically and physically but have no depression.

Then again can have everything basically perfect and be depressed.

For sure a tie in with brain chemicals.

Obviously there isn't much tie to external circumstances. Depression and suicide are much more common in wealthy countries, rare in poor ones. Very rare in war ravaged areas where people are fighting to survive. I suspect it has something to do with the leisure to contemplate the meaning of existence, even if this only happens on a subconscious level.

I don't know if I've ever experienced severe depression, but I've experienced very acute despair that I allowed to overwhelm me (no resistance), and it shifted to extreme ecstasy in a split second. I was so high for several days after, that I could barely function. The external circumstances that triggered the despair were exactly the same as before.

Anyway, the mind is a very weird place. If you identify with your thoughts, your reality will be controlled by them.

Yes, that works If you can flip the switch to focusing what you CAN do from what you CAN'T

But suppose that switch is broken?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Spartan -- if you have a support system, try to get it mobilized for post-IM. I've also struggled with this disease my whole life. I found that after my IMs, I would have a huge high that would last about a couple of days to a little over a week, and then a big, big drop. Now that I know this is likely for me, when that dip comes, I keep repeating to myself, "this is sick brain talking, not reality, just get through sick brain," like a mantra. I set up a basic fitness training schedule and do whatever I can to keep it (I lie like crazy to myself -- e.g., I'll just run for 5 minutes and stop then if I can't handle it, etc.). If you have a friend/friends you can talk to, warn them to be on alert to check on you, communicate with you. The good news is my big post-IM drop never lasts too long (maybe a couple of weeks) versus a "where the hell did this come from" dip.

Sick brain's a serious bitch. I'm fortunate in that I've always found a way to train through it, as I think that's a primary thing that has prevented me from going to a place from which there's no return. That said, training while depressed is not the same as training healthy. While down, I hate everything I'm doing, my results are awful, and I have no hope I'm getting anything out of the time. Again, I use the "sick brain" mantra, even though I don't believe it at the time, and force myself to do it, like brushing my teeth in the morning.

Of course, all this is easy to say while I'm in my current healthy phase. It's so hard, because healthy-brained people don't see it, because we have to become masters at hiding it to survive, and don't understand how impossible it seems to get help when you're down.

Reach out here. It seems like there are a number of people here, including myself, who can listen and understand when you need it. And good luck in your IM! Enjoy the high -- it will be completely real and earned.