OCD and If You Feel Blue- Get Off Your Butt and Move!

If you feel blue, get off your butt and move! Put on some music and walk, dance, run - and I bet you will feel better. Of course, severe depression is no joke and treatment should be sought. But, it seems as if we have forgotten the simple way to deal with things. There are so many people on unnecessary medications that it is mind-boggling. I know personally, that when you are depressed it is very difficult to get up and exercise, but doing that can have great benefits. Now that spring is here, it should be easier to do.
Here is an article I came across By Catherine Donaldson-Evans, titled, Exercise, Magic Drug for Depression"Looks like Prozac has some competition.
Researchers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Boston University are calling exercise a "magic drug" for depression and anxiety.
It has long been known that working out boosts the production of serotonin and other happiness hormones, which are in short supply in the brains of depressed people. But the SMU report, which examined the results of numerous other studies, found that the effects of physical activity on depression are even more powerful than had previously been believed.
Researchers recommended that mental health care providers prescribe exercise as a supplement to the usual treatments including therapy and prescription drugs...

Smits and Boston University psychology professor Michael Otto based their findings on the analysis of dozens of clinical and population studies on the links between mental health and exercise and the reduction of anxiety using physical activity.
They characterized exercise as a "magic drug" because its effects resemble those of medicines prescribed for depression.
"It seems like it can do something similar to what the antidepressants can do for depression," Smits told AOL Health. He said exercise works well as a supplement to psychotherapy and medication for those with severe depression -- and can even be used as the sole remedy for those with milder symptoms.
Patients who were down or anxious had fewer symptoms and less stress and anger after working out, according to Smits."
"Exercise appears to affect, like an antidepressant, particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain, and it helps patients with depression re-establish positive behaviors," he said in the press release. "For patients with anxiety disorders, exercise reduces their fears of fear and related bodily sensations such as a racing heart and rapid breathing."
So, before you reach for a pill, put your sneakers on instead!