The Government is not here to help, so we have to help ourselves Six ways to relieve your anxiety and depression

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Trust me; I get it!

Life has become extremely overwhelming. If you’re feeling anxious or depressed because you can’t afford to fuel up your car (good Lord; at these prices, who can), or buy groceries, you aren’t alone. With the cost of living at an all-time high in Canada, and individuals still pulling together the pieces from pandemic lockdowns, who could blame you? Now, there is no instant remedy for our current economic situation, but we have to ensure that these stresses are not breaking us down mentally.

According to a 2020 report presented by CAMH (Mental Health in Canada: COVID-19 and Beyond) COVID-19 continues to have a negative impact on Canadians’ mental health, with many seeing their stress levels double since the onset of the pandemic. People are struggling with fear and uncertainty about their own health and their loved ones’ health, concerns about employment and finances, and the social isolation that comes from public health measures such as quarantining and physical distancing. It is interesting, despite hearing these reports, the government continued with their rolling lockdowns, instead of taking another approach. Hmmm!

A recent poll found that 50% of Canadians reported worsening mental health since the pandemic began with many feeling worried (44%) and anxious (41%). One in ten Canadians polled said that their mental health had worsened as a result of COVID-19. Similar results were found in a survey of Canadian workers, where 81% reported that the pandemic is negatively impacting their mental health, indicating a significant drop in overall worker mental health since the beginning of COVID-19.

This is the part of the report that I found most interesting; substance use is on the rise in Canada during this extended pandemic. A 2020 poll found that 25% of Canadians aged 35-54 and 21% of those aged 18-34 had increased their alcohol consumption since social distancing and self isolation due to COVID-19 began. Another study found that Canadians who described their mental health as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ were more likely than those with better mental health to have increased their use of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco during the early stages of the pandemic. Yet, our government decided that gyms should be closed, but the LCBO was considered an essential service. This topic is a whole other story, but I truly believe that the government needs to be held accountable for their direct involvement in the declining mental health of their people.

Thankfully, there are simple actions you can take to stay sane and even boost your mental health. Research shows that there are simple strategies and lifestyle changes that can improve anxiety and depression symptoms. Here are six evidence-based ways to combat these common mental health problems so you can keep your mental health relatively intact even as the gas, food, and life prices soar.

Get off your Couch and get Outside!

Getting outdoors is a great return on investment. Research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015 found that walking outside for 90 minutes reduced rumination, which is a pattern of negative, repetitive thoughts (also known as “doom spiraling”). People who walked in nature also showed a decrease in activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, which is part of the brain associated with emotion, compared to people who walked in a busy urban area, suggesting there’s a unique benefit to natural space.

Get up and get out!

Get off your Couch and Exercise!

When you’re feeling depressed, exercise is usually the last thing that you want to do, but moving your body brings great benefits to the mind, sometimes to a surprising extent. In a 2007 study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, people with major depression were randomly assigned to a group exercise program, home exercise, an antidepressant or a placebo pill for sixteen weeks.

At the end of the study, 45% of people in the group exercise classes and 40% of the home exercisers no longer met the criteria for major depressive disorder. Amazing! This was statistically similar to the 47% rate of recovery seen in the antidepressant group. This means that it doesn’t matter how bad you feel; get up and move. It will make you feel better.

Get off your Couch and go meet up with Friends!

The pandemic has made isolation a norm, but this is not normal for human beings. We need to be around people. Loneliness is linked to depressive symptoms as well as a whole host of health problems, from poor sleep to poorer immune function to death.

Research does show that loneliness can be beaten back, though: Interventions such as support groups or increased opportunities for social interaction can help people make connections. Even easier, pick up the phone, and give that person you haven’t spoken to for a while a call. Set up a time to meet them safely and exchange all that good energy.

Get off your Phone!

PLEASE PUT DOWN THE PHONE! Stop the doom scrolling. Certain types of screen time definitely take a toll on mental health. For example, in young people with high levels of “FOMO” (fear of missing out), stress can lead to overuse of smartphones, which, in turn, can lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as sleep disruption (Journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021). What is the bottom line? If you’re already stressed, turning to your phone for relief may backfire. 

Get up and Hug Someone!

Hmmmmmm!

Nothing is better than a warm hug from someone who you care about. It’s deceptively simple, but human touch can make people feel less lonely. Researchers found that people in the U.K. — a “low contact” society — reported less neglect in their personal relationships if they had just been touched (a light rub on the back of one hand) compared with people who hadn’t been touched (Nature Public Health Emergency Collection, 2015).

A study conducted during COVID-19 social restrictions found that those who had been deprived of intimate touch (meaning physical contact with a family member or romantic partner) reported the most anxiety and depression.

Don’t get up; get some Sleep!

My favourite. I do this just because I love some sleep. Lack of sleep, especially deep, non-rapid eye movement sleep, impairs the medial prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that is responsible for many of our self-referential thoughts and emotional processing (Nature Human Behavior, 2019).

Sleeplessness also disrupts the communication between this higher processing centre and the limbic system, a network in the brain that controls fight-or-flight responses and other basic functions of survival. Stick to a regular schedule, avoid electronic devices in bed, watch your caffeine intake and get some exercise during the day.

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Forecast: cloudy life, with breaks of community sunshine.