At least 69 percent of women with depression don't feel particularly sad; their symptoms are mostly physical. Here are your body's signs that it needs some TLC - and the get-happy strategies that can erase the blues.
Look for these suspicious symptoms
According to University of Washington researchers, struggling with two or more of these symptoms is a tip-off that you could be struggling with depression and not even know it:
- Persistent fatigue or sluggishness
- Vague aches and pains that never seem to go away
- Frequent cravings for sweets or starches -- even when you’re full
- Difficulty controlling your eating
- Fuzzy or unfocused thinking Anxiety or trouble coping with day-to-day stresses
- Afternoon drowsiness, even if you’re getting enough sleep at night
- Frequent bouts of irritability, tension or anger
- Trouble finding the energy or ambition to tackle daily to-dos
- Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
Take your multi with breakfast
Taking a basic multi containing folic acid and vitamin D helps your brain produce antidepressant hormones like serotonin and oxytocin, triggering a 30 percent improvement in moods in as little as two weeks. For best results, take your multi with breakfast. According to University of Texas researchers, morning is when your ability to absorb nutrients peaks - so taking your folic acid and vitamin D in the a.m. can cut your risk of depression by as much as half.
Go for a midday walk
Almost 96 percent of our lives are spent indoors. “Yet, hands-down, the most effective way to increase your production of mood-boosting serotonin is to combine sunlight with motion,” says Marie-Annette Brown, Ph.D., author of When Your Body Gets The Blues. “It’s such a powerful combo, it improves people’s outlook for five hours straight.” The good news: Just 20 minutes of leisurely outdoor activity - like sweeping the porch or going for an easy walk - can help tamp down your symptoms in as little as one week, say researchers at Washington’s Georgetown University.
Adjust the lights
There’s a direct nerve connection between your eyes and the biological clock buried in your brain. And research at New York’s Columbia University shows that keeping your environment in sync with that clock - so you’re surrounded by light during the day, and dimness in the evening - doubles the effectiveness of any mood-boosting program. To do: Keep your home and workplace cheery and bright during the day by using high-wattage light bulbs and opening the curtains. Then, dim the lights and switch off your computer and other light-emitting electronics one hour before bedtime. Be friendlier to your brain.
Add avocados
Enjoy 1/2 an avocado daily, and you’ll cut your risk of depression (and your symptoms, if you’ve already got it) by 25 percent or more, UCLA researchers say. The reason: These tasty gems are loaded with monounsaturated fats - nutrients that prod your brain to make the blues-busting hormone dopamine. Some tasty options: Use guacamole as a veggie dip, add avocado slices to burgers and sandwiches, toss cubes into salads, or puree and mix into soups, stews and chili recipes.
Hit the dance floor
In a recent Swedish study, it only took nine weeks of dancing to cut subjects’ depression scores by 67 percent - an improvement that’s tough to match even with antidepressant meds! “Dancing’s combination of exercise and rhythmic motions prompts your brain to produce a larger, steadier supply of mood-steadying hormones,” explains Brown. For best results, dance for 30 minutes, four times weekly. Time to sign up for that salsa class?
Ask for massages
Getting a couple of 20 minute massages each week can trigger a 30 percent increase in your brain’s production of feel-good hormones called endorphins, cutting your aches and pains and other physical symptoms by 25 percent, according to University of Miami studies. Regular massages shift brain wave activity from the right side, which churns out negative emotions, to the left side, which handles positive feelings, the study authors say.
