can it be contrasted with physical activity and lifestyle? – breaking latest news

In 2020 I had a bout of mild depression (generalized anxiety, low mood and recurring negative thoughts) which resolved spontaneously. After a few months another crisis, similar but milder (lowered mood for 3-4 hours a day and rarely anxiety). This second episode happened when I started exercising: 45 min. running 3 times a week. By maintaining this lifestyle, with the addition of a healthy diet, is it possible to avoid further relapses? If it were to happen again, are antidepressants needed?

He answers Giancarlo CerveriDirector of the Complex Operational Unit of Psychiatry, ASST of Lodi (GO TO THE FORUM)

A transient depressive state is not an illness. The condition of depressed mood for all human beings is a factually inevitable experience throughout life and represents nothing more than that an adaptive response (present among other things, in different forms, also in many animals), in the face of events that force us to face difficult issues, such as those of suffering, frustration or loss. Sometimes the depressed mood becomes a symptom of a psychiatric syndrome and, in the case of major depressionrepresents the cardinal symptom together with the loss of pleasure in the experiences of daily life (anhedonia). But by itself it is not sufficient to define the pathological condition. There must be other symptoms that concern both the physical sphere (sleep, appetite, concentration) and psychic (thoughts of death, anxiety, obsessions) and everything must last long enough and be of such intensity that it causes marked discomfort and a reduction in our ability to function.

In short, when you define a depressive pathology, you mean it a very well-characterized condition with a major impact on the lives of sufferers, thus excluding all those physiological depressive responses to life events. To this is added a further differentiation between the mild, moderate and severe forms. If on forme moderateand especially on those severethere are no doubts regarding the need for psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions in order to obtain regression of the clinical picture, in mild forms, in which the symptoms are less marked and with a limited impact on daily life, it is advisable to carry out careful reflections on the most appropriate intervention methods. In many documents produced by the World Health Organization and by the English NICE (National institute for health and care excellence), psychopharmacological intervention is not considered first choice in these cases.

Lifestyle modificationsimproving the quality of sleep, changing habits with respect to the consumption of alcohol and other substances of abuse, increasing physical activity, are considered useful and effective to reduce the risk of relapses. In research recently published in the American journal Jama Psychiatrythe authors observed that regular moderate physical activity three times a week would lead to a 25% reduction in all depressive episodes. In conclusion, an intervention on lifestyles is a very valid tool for treating some mild forms of depression. The introduction of some dietary supplements could provide further help. I advise you to carry out a visit with your trusted doctor, preferably a psychiatrist, to evaluate together the intensity and duration of the episodes described by you, any risk factors, familiarity and other information useful for building a care project which is the most useful for maintaining a condition of sustained well-being.