Six Healthy Lifestyle Practices to Alleviate Depression Symptoms

Causes of Depression

Depression can arise from a multitude of factors, such as genetic, environmental, psychological, and biochemical ones.

Risk factors for depression

A person is more likely to experience depression if they have trauma, significant life changes, stress, a family history of depression, physical illnesses (like diabetes, cancer, or Parkinson’s disease), or as a side effect of certain medications.

Diagnosis of major depression disorder

A minimum of two weeks must pass with some of these symptoms and signs being presented almost daily to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder:

Common symptoms of depression
The common symptoms of depression include.

• Persistent sadness,
• Hopelessness,
• Pessimism,
• Emptiness,
• Lack of energy,
• Feeling guilty or unworthy. The lack of interest or pleasure in pastimes,
• Alterations in appetite that result in either weight gain or loss,
• Slower speech, movement, or thought.
• Increased fidgeting
• Difficulty focusing, thinking coherently, or making decisions
• Suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts, thoughts of death, or self-harming behavior

Lifestyle Practices to Alleviate Depression Symptoms

1. Self-care. Practice stress-reduction techniques like tai chi or meditation. Get enough sleep, exercise, and eat a balanced diet. For the most part, adults require 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Refrain from using recreational drugs and alcohol, as these can exacerbate symptoms and complicate the treatment of depression.
2. Educating family and friends about depression: They can assist you in identifying early indicators that your depression might be relapsing.
3. Maintain your treatment regimen. Continue taking your medication and attending therapy sessions even after you feel better. Sudden medication discontinuation may result in withdrawal symptoms and a relapse of depression. If necessary, work with your physician to modify your medication or dosage to adhere to your treatment plan.
4. Make modest, achievable goals: realistic goals to increase motivation and self-assurance. During the first stages of care, you might want to walk, have lunch with a friend, or make a bed. Gradually increase your goals as you get better.
5. Identify the warning signs: Determine what triggers your depression, and if you notice any unusual changes in your feelings, thoughts, or behavior, speak with your doctor or a mental health professional. Keep a journal of your daily emotions, feelings, and reactions to identify trends and identify the things that lead to depression.
6. Seek support. Maintaining relationships with people is crucial, especially during difficult times or periods, regardless of whether you receive support from family or a support group.
   Successful interventions for managing or reducing effects of Postpartum depression (PPD)

   Postpartum depression (PPD) presents a significant public health concern, affecting not only the physical and mental well-being of mothers but also that of their infants. Research suggests that approximately 13 million women worldwide are diagnosed with PPD annually (Xu et al., 2023). Mild depressive symptoms are experienced by around 50% to 75% of mothers, with 10% to 15% developing postpartum depression within the first week after childbirth (Xu et al., 2023).

   Understanding preventive measures to reduce its prevalence is very crucial.

    1. Exercise intervention has proven effective in preventing PPD disorders. In a 12-week exercise intervention study, aerobic exercise was found to relieve postpartum depression symptoms in PPD patients. Engaging in suitable aerobic exercise during pregnancy has been reported to promote pelvic mobility and improve birth canal space to relieve maternal labor pain. However, it also aids in preventing pregnancy complications. Studies suggest that PPD symptoms may manifest during pregnancy, with a similar 12% occurrence rate of depression reported, which indicates that preventive measures during pregnancy may have a significant impact on reducing PPD (Xu et al., 2023).

   Moreover, research indicates that the antidepressant effects of exercise can persist beyond the cessation of physical activity. Therefore, research suggested that incorporating aerobic exercise into prenatal care may substantially prevent PPD more than exercise as a postpartum treatment strategy.

   Engaging in moderate exercise during pregnancy can reduce the likelihood of developing postpartum depression (PPD) among expectant mothers. Partaking in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week significantly enhances the efficacy of physical activity in preventing and treating PPD (Xu et al., 2023). Moderate aerobic exercise prompts the release of endorphins, which uplift mood and alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additionally, it helps regulate hormone levels, improve sleep quality, and enhance self-awareness and self-esteem, thereby positively influencing the mitigation of postpartum depression (Xu et al., 2023).

   Also, social support plays a vital role in maintaining the mental well-being of pregnant and postpartum women, with supervised exercise and team-based exercise serving as effective avenues for providing such support. For instance,

   • Team exercise fosters a positive environment for maternal emotional communication, and sharing maternal emotions enhances mothers’ childbirth knowledge and skills, reduces fear of labor pains, alleviates negative emotions, improves interpersonal communication, and enhances self-efficacy (Xu et al., 2023).

   • Supervised exercise, which involves physical activities piloted and supervised by healthcare professionals or fitness trainers, ensuring that exercises are safe and suitable for individual pregnant and postpartum women. Participating in supervised exercise classes or programs also offers opportunities for social interaction, which is critical for mental well-being and can lighten feelings of isolation by connecting with other new mothers and professionals in a supportive setting (Xu et al., 2023).

   2. Music therapy, when used as an adjunct to conventional psychotherapies, has been shown to improve physiological symptoms and effectively reduce negative emotions without any adverse side effects. It can positively impact and alleviate symptoms of PPD, offering a safe and affordable substitute to standard treatments. Music therapy is considered to reduce the need for pharmacological interventions during PPD treatment. Research has indicated that music therapy interventions such as music listening, improvisation, songwriting, singing, relaxation and meditation, and lyric analysis effectively reduce the risk of prolonged PPD and it can encourage strengths, empower individuals, and foster connections with themselves and others (Patch & Short, 2022).

   References

   Xu, H., Liu, R., Wang, X., & Yang, J. (2023). Effectiveness of aerobic exercise in the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression: Meta-analysis and network meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 18(11), e0287650–e0287650. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287650

   Patch, M. C., & Short, A. E. (2022). Addressing the “Baby Blues”: Developing a Music Therapy Model for Prevention and Treatment of Postpartum Depression. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 33(2), 82–90. https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=e5bc3ad9-8160-4ed8-bb4f-752141ecd9c5%40redis

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   The impacts of Marital Burnout on health and well-being.

   Marital Burnout refers to the distressing state of emotional, physical, and psychological exhaustion experienced by couples when they realize that, despite their sincere efforts, their relationship cannot fulfill their life’s purpose. This condition poses numerous challenges for the couple’s children and other family members. Over time, it erodes the love and connection between partners, gives rise to mental health issues, and sets the stage for both emotional and formal divorce. The extent of marital Burnout is influenced by the alignment between the couple’s expectations and the reality of their relationship. This phenomenon arises from a discrepancy between the expectations harbored by the couple. Studies suggest that the prevalence of marital Burnout tends to be higher among women than men. This disparity has been associated with significant repercussions, potentially affecting the well-being of the offspring of these women. The increased risk for women can be attributed to the heightened stress they endure, stemming from the numerous responsibilities they shoulder, including childcare, household duties, and employment both within and outside the home. As a result, women find themselves more vulnerable to the challenges posed by marital Burnout. In relationships where issues and conflicts persist, couples often display negative communication behaviors, with a deficiency in positive communication.

   The Phases of Marital Burnout Include:

   Psychological Burnout: Involves manifestations like low self-esteem, a negative mindset toward one’s partner, feelings of hopelessness and irritation with them, and an awareness of personal shortcomings.

   Exhaustion, fatigue, persistent headaches, stomach discomfort, irregular sleep patterns, loss of appetite, and overindulgence characterize Physical Burnout.

   Emotional Burnout: Encompasses a range of emotions such as anger, dissatisfaction, melancholy, frustration, emptiness, lack of motivation, feeling stuck, absurdity, emotional turmoil, and even suicidal thoughts.

   Evidence-Based Strategies to Decrease Marital Burnout

   Based on evidence from research conducted by Jafari et al. (2021), the following interventions have been identified as effective means to reduce marital burnout.

   1. Deploying impactful interventions can foster a robust emotional bond between spouses as a preventative measure against marital burnout and conflicts.
   2. Implementing premarital or post-marital education programs produces positive results for couples, improving their quality of life and marital satisfaction while reducing the likelihood of marital burnout.
   3. Applying educational interventions based on couple therapy significantly reduced marital burnout within the experimental group. Furthermore, it correlated with a decreased rate of divorce among married women.
   4.  Providing communication skills training can reduce marital conflicts and alleviate physical burnout among couples navigating marital issues. The reinforcement of these skills not only diminishes marital burnout but also tackles various facets of burnout within couples, ultimately enhancing their overall marital quality.
   5. Proficient communication skills are pivotal in reducing marital conflict, alleviating burnout, and improving marital quality. Consequently, it becomes crucial to reinforce these skills through premarital education programs to enhance the quality of marital life for couples. Women who feel they lack communication proficiency can actively strengthen these skills alongside their husbands

   The Impacts of Sleep on Health and Strategies for Improvement

   Sleep is essential for the health and well-being of children, adolescents, and adults. Quality sleep supports emotional well-being, metabolic health, cognitive function, mental health, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health. Additionally, getting sufficient, high-quality sleep helps reduce the risk of fatigue-related accidents and injuries, such as motor vehicle accidents and workplace incidents.

   Recommended Sleep Duration

   The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) recommend that adults aim for at least 7 hours of sleep each night to promote optimal health. Similarly, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) advises adults to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, with older adults requiring 7 to 8 hours.

   Prevalence of Sleep Disorders and Mental Health Impacts

   About one-third of the population experiences insomnia symptoms, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep. Additionally, 4% to 26% of individuals report excessive sleepiness, and 2% to 4% have obstructive sleep apnea. Insomnia is associated with a significantly increased likelihood of mental health issues; individuals with insomnia are 10 times more likely to experience clinically significant depression and 17 times more likely to experience anxiety compared to those without insomnia. Poor sleep is also linked to post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, and psychosis spectrum experiences, such as delusions and hallucinations.

   Improving sleep Quality

   Improving sleep quality benefits mental health, and research reports that sleep plays a causal role in mental health challenges. Better sleep positively affects future mental health, even those without clinical symptoms.

   Strategies for Improving Sleep Quality

   • Creating a relaxing sleep environment
   • Limiting daytime naps
   • Managing stress and worries
   • Being mindful of food and drink choices
   • Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
   • Incorporating physical activity into daily routines.

   Coronary Heart Disease risk factors: Measures for Reduction

   Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a chronic and intricate ailment associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, primarily attributed to atherosclerotic lesions in coronary vessels, ultimately leading to myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. Unhealthy eating habits, often influenced by chronic inflammation, are closely linked to CHD (Wu et al., 2022). Also, According to CDC (2019), various health conditions, lifestyle choices, as well as your age and family history can elevate the risk of developing heart disease; approximately 47% of Americans have at least one of the three primary risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, and smoking. Certain risk factors for heart disease, such as age or family history, are beyond your control. However, you can proactively reduce your risk by changing the factors you can control.

   Behaviors that heighten the risk for heart disease are

   • Smoking: The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that cardiovascular disease causes 800,000 deaths and 400,000 premature deaths per year (Brown et al., 2023). About one-fifth and one-third of these result from smoking, respectively. Additionally, research reported that smoking resulted in a 51% increased risk of coronary heart disease in patients with diabetes (Brown et al., 2023). According to the CDC (2019), Cigarette smoking has the potential to harm the heart and blood vessels, amplifying the risk for heart conditions like atherosclerosis and heart attacks. Even nonsmokers face an increased risk of heart disease when exposed to secondhand smoke.
   • Excessive alcohol consumption can elevate blood pressure and elevate the risk of heart disease. It also leads to increased triglyceride levels, a fatty substance in the blood associated with an elevated risk of heart disease.
   • Sedentary lifestyle: Insufficient physical activity is a precursor to heart disease and can strengthen the likelihood of other medical conditions that serve as risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Engaging in regular physical activity can effectively decrease the risk of heart disease.
   • Unhealthy Eating Habits: A diet rich in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol has been associated with heart disease and related conditions like atherosclerosis (CDC,2019). Recent research has provided more explicit evidence that trans-fat significantly raises the risk of cardiovascular disease by adversely affecting lipids, endothelial function, insulin resistance, and inflammation. For each 2% increase in calories consumed from trans-fat, there is a 23% higher risk of coronary artery disease (Brown et al., 2023). Recent studies and systematic reviews have focused on red and processed meat consumption. The research consistently demonstrates an increased risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular events. The risk ranges from 15% to 29% higher with red meat consumption and 23% to 42% higher with processed meat consumption (Brown et al., 2023).

   Measures for Reducing the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

   •  Educating children and adolescents about the dangers of smoking to deter the initiation of tobacco use. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) reported that the risk of coronary artery disease decreases to the level of lifetime nonsmokers within four years of quitting and within ten years. 
   • The DASH, Mediterranean, and vegetarian diets have the most evidence for cardiovascular disease prevention. The DASH diet has been shown to lower systolic blood pressure by up to 11.5 mmHg in adults with hypertension. Additionally, reported findings indicate a 21% reduction in coronary artery disease risk with adopting the DASH diet (Brown et al., 2023).
   •  The American Heart Association suggests substituting saturated fat with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. A 5% shift from saturated fat to polyunsaturated fat consumption is linked to a 10% lower risk of coronary artery disease (Brown et al., 2023).
   • Engaging in about 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity significantly lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is characterized by activity that maintains a heart rate between 50 to 70 percent of the individual’s maximum heart rate, calculated as 220 beats per minute minus the person’s age (Brown et al., 2023).

   Citations

   Wu, L., Shi, Y., Kong, C., Zhang, J., & Chen, S. (2022). Dietary Inflammatory Index and Its Association with the Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease among 45,306 US Adults. Nutrients, 14(21), 4553. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214553

   CDC. (2019, December). Know Your Risk for Heart Disease | cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm#print

   Brown, J. C., Gerhardt, T. E., & Kwon, E. (2023, January 23). Risk Factors For Coronary Artery Disease. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554410/

   Ways Domestic Violence Impacts Health and Wellbeing

   According to Justice.gov, Domestic violence refers to a pattern of abusive behavior in which one partner uses the other as a means of gaining or retaining control over another intimate partner. Intimate partner relationships can involve physical, sexual, emotional, financial, psychological, or technological abuse of another person, as well as threats of abuse or other coercive behaviors. And it encompasses any actions that cause fear, terror, intimidation, isolation, coercion, threats, harm, injure, or wound someone.

   Ways domestic violence impacts health and wellbeing

   1. Effects on Reproductive Health: Domestic violence can harm reproductive health, increasing the risk of gynecological issues, STIs, and unplanned pregnancies. An abusive partner’s control may also impair access to reproductive healthcare.
   2. Mental Health Concerns: Mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts are closely linked to domestic violence. Emotional abuse and ongoing fear can have a lasting impact on mental health.
   3. Physical Injuries: Domestic abuse victims frequently sustain physical wounds, such as cuts and bruises, as well as more severe trauma, like broken bones or head injuries. These wounds might need medical attention and have immediate health effects.
   4. Seclusion and Social Disengagement: Isolation strategies are frequently used in domestic violence, which reduces a victim’s social network. Social disengagement can worsen mental health conditions and cause feelings of loneliness.
   5. Substance Abuse: Substance abuse is a coping strategy used by victims of domestic violence to dull their pain or cope with stress. Substance use disorders may result from this, further jeopardizing general health.
   6. Sleep disturbances: Living in an abusive environment can cause stress and fear, which can lead to sleep disturbances such as nightmares and insomnia. A further factor in both physical and mental health issues is inadequate sleep.
   7. Identity and Self-Esteem Problems: One’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem can be undermined by verbal and emotional abuse. Negative messages may be internalized by victims, which can cause long-term identity problems and make it difficult for them to build healthy relationships.

   Seeking resources and support is essential for victims of domestic abuse to address the psychological and physical effects. To lessen the negative impact of domestic abuse on one’s health and to encourage recovery, professional assistance such as legal support and medical attention counseling—can be extremely helpful. It’s critical to get in touch with a local domestic violence hotline or support group if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse.

   For information to the domestic violence hotline, follow the link .https://www.justice.gov/ovw/domestic-violence

   

   Stages of Marital Burnout

   According to Jafari et al. (2021), Marital Burnout is the term used to describe the excruciating state of emotional, physical, and psychological tiredness that couples experience when they realize that, despite their best efforts, a relationship cannot and will not provide their life’s purpose. It causes many issues for the couple’s children and other family members and ultimately results in both emotional and formal divorce among couples. They will eventually weaken a couple’s love and bond, result in mental health issues, and pave the way for both emotional and formal divorce. The degree of marital Burnout is determined by how well the couple’s beliefs and reality align. It arises from a disparity between the expectations held by the couple and the actual reality they encounter. The incidence of marital Burnout appears to be higher among women than men, as indicated by studies. This phenomenon has been linked to severe consequences, potentially contributing to similar issues in the offspring of these women. The elevated risk in women can be attributed to the heightened stress they experience due to the multitude of responsibilities they bear, encompassing child-rearing, domestic tasks, and employment both within and outside the home. Consequently, women find themselves more susceptible to the challenges of marital Burnout.

   Three stages of marital burnout.

   Physical Burnout: Symptoms of physical Burnout include exhaustion, fatigue, persistent headaches, stomach

   discomfort, irregular sleep patterns, appetite loss, and overindulging.

   Emotional Burnout: Refers to a variety of emotions, including anger, dissatisfaction, melancholy, frustration,

   emptiness, lack of motivation, feeling stuck, ridiculousness, emotional upheaval, and even suicidal thoughts.

   Psychological Burnout: This describes low self-esteem, a negative mindset toward your partner, feelings of

   hopelessness and annoyance with them, and your shortcomings.

   Reference

   Jafari, A., Alami, A., Charoghchian, E., Delshad Noghabi, A., & Nejatian, M. (2021). The impact of effective communication skills training on the status of marital burnout among married women. BMC Women’s Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01372-8