Eat, Run, Sleep, Repeat

I've taken antidepressants for anxiety. You make an appointment to see your provider, discuss your feelings of being anxious and sometimes sad, and leave with a script for a random medication that, hopefully, will help alleviate the noise you experience in your head every day. This is a common experience. Seems like a scenario that provides someone with the needed medication and a possible solution to help their mental well-being. For some, this is their saving grace.

It is unfortunate, but, diet, exercise, sleep, behaviors that may be contributing factors, are rarely discussed without explicitly being the intended focus of the interaction. Mounds of research have shown how a healthy diet, exercise, and adequate sleep can greatly improve anxiety and depression symptoms. Some studies have even shown that exercise alone, is comparable to an antidepressant.

Eat better, feel better. Exercise, feel better. Sleep well, feel better. Basic needs of people are somehow tied to our happiness (imagine that). These are not quick fixes. They are not something that can be implemented and then forgot about until the next day. These are behaviors changes that can bring about massive improvements in your life. And when the area of improvement involves your mental health, it seems most people would be eager to discover how. But who has time for drastic changes that require more effort than we have to give each day?!