Depression is a mental disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. And while some symptoms are the same in all people, some of them are different. While someone would have a hard time getting up and going to work, others find no difficulty in doing this. But they can both have depression.
Depression can be identified and diagnosed only by psychologists, psychiatrists or other mental health counselors. But everyone can notice the signs of depression such as the loss of appetite, having trouble falling asleep, difficulty concentrating, fatigue or tiredness.
Even though depression can be treated with medication, more and more mental health professionals are looking for more natural ways to cope with depression. So, they recommend going out in nature, learning swimming or doing sports.
According to experts from college papers and essay papers, doing your chores while having depression is more difficult than ever. But swimming is a great way to cope with the symptoms of depression and to improve the quality of your life.
Swimming might not be enough to treat depression on its own, but it surely has some positive effects on your mind and body. People with depression who swim regularly have reported mood improvements. But how can swimming make you be more positive and alleviate some of depression’s symptoms?
1. Biochemical ChangesÂ
It is known that sports affect your nervous system. It triggers the release of endorphins, the feel-good hormones that give you that amazing feeling after a good sports session. They ease the feelings of anxiety and stress and they can help you fight depression. Swimming is influencing the growth of new cells that make the learning and remembering processes easier.
New cells are also helpful when you want to learn and acquire new skills, so it seems that swimming is perfect for coping with depression. For people with depression, it is harder to mobilize their resources and follow a strict schedule. But it would be helpful to introduce swimming sessions in your weekly schedule.
Because practicing swimming on a regular basis has positive effects on your mood improvement. For example, you can plan to have two sessions of swimming per week and practice it for a few weeks. You will soon notice that you feel so good that you will want to swim more often. And then, you can make swimming your daily pleasant activity.
2. Swimming Encourages You to Be MindfulÂ
When you are depressed, your mind is constantly focusing on negative stimuli. It directs and focuses your attention on all kinds of negative and anxious thoughts and it prevents you from enjoying the moment. This can make your depression even worse and it prevents you from feeling happy or joyful.
But swimming is a great way to cope with depression. No matter your swimming level, this activity requires your full attention. You need to coordinate your breath with your body movements and keep you afloat. It is repetitive and it is also calm, so swimming is a great activity that promotes mindfulness. For example, you can set yourself a goal, but not too difficult and complicated. You can set a number of laps to do in a pool in an hour. But do not force yourself, swim at your own pace.
You will see that your brain is now focusing on the swimming part, on your breath and body movements. And doing this for an hour per day will make you feel better, it will improve your mood and it will give your depressed mind a much-needed break.
Swimming is among those activities that require your full attention and concentration and it helps you not focus on negative thoughts. Aydan Joyce, a writer at an essay writing service, says that swimming helped him overcome depression by offering a relaxing focus for attention. This made him more mindful.
3. Pleasant Activity Scheduling
People with depression often feel overwhelmed and stressed by the abundance of choices and activities they have. This can negatively contribute to one’s mental health, so having a schedule to follow regularly can help people face the challenges of depression. It is not rare when people that deal with depression choose to plan and follow a pleasant activity schedule.
Why? Because it provides you with a series of funny and nice activities that will boost your mood. It also makes you focus on more positive stimuli and forget about your anxious and negative thoughts.
Swimming is a great way to deal with the challenges of depression. Depressive people often isolate themselves and do not engage in pleasant activities anymore. But swimming is a great solution. If practiced regularly, it gives you a sense of comfort and security and you will look forward to the swimming days.
It is also a pleasant activity that makes you feel good and that distracts your mind from negative thoughts. And having pleasant activities in your weekly schedule makes you look forward to them and benefit from the experience. It means that for at least a few hours per week your focus and attention will be directed to positive experiences. Swimming will boost your mood while exercising.
Conclusion
In recent years, mental health professionals started to look for more natural ways to cope with mental disorders. They have started to prescribe walks in nature, and not always medication, but it is up to every human how his brain reacts to this.
What we know for sure is that swimming can alleviate the symptoms of depression. It can turn out to be an experience you are looking forward to because it improves your mood. Swimming also helps you focus on more positive stimuli, on your breath and on how your body moves. If you introduce swimming in your weekly schedule as a regular activity, the benefits will be enormous.
