Sunlight is proven to improve health indicators and have a positive impact on depressive traits.
It alone won’t cure you.
However if someone is drowning because they’re weighed down by wet clothing you may not save them by removing the weighted hoodie they’re wearing but you will have helped them.
There is no one cure for depression but almost ALL of the suggestions actually work in small incremental ways.
One of the hardest parts about escaping depression is making the deliberate decision to compel yourself to make the small incremental changes that will help remove the weighted wet clothing that is drowning you. You may not be out of the sea but your ability to not drown will be much improved.
Sunlight + Sleep + Exercise are quite literally one of the best tools you can enact on your own in an effort to combat depression. They are not fixes.
AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Not the go outside part but exercise helps a lot. Most people like to ignore the part where a lot of people with depression work three jobs and dont have time/money for a gym
TheDoozer@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Also, telling a depressed person their answer is to exercise is like telling a homeless person that they just need to get a job. The not having a home prevents the getting a job. If they had the ability to find a job, they wouldn’t be homeless (except obviously the people who don’t make enough from their job to support themselves, but that’s a whole different issue that shouldn’t exist).
So even if someone does have the time, getting the depression under control may be necessary before the exercise seems like a reasonable possibility.
capt_wolf@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Dealing with a client at work who is going through this. Severely depressed, suicidal tendencies, will not exercise despite knowing it has helped him in the past. He knows what he needs to do, but we also know damn well that he’s going to go straight up to his room and play video games all day.
Motivating is extremely difficult when it comes to severe depression. You can’t just point out what they need to do. Doing so will likely just deepen their depression because they already know. Getting people to understand that not every brain works the same or responds to the same kind of reinforcements is incredibly frustrating.
zea_64@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Exercise can help a lot depending on the source of the depression. My walking fast for an hour a day only helped a little (don’t worry, I’m better now).