Lifestyle and Mood
Lifestyle choices and unavoidable situations create the foundations of the biochemistry of your mind and body. When I say lifestyle, what I mean is the basic requirements of life—food, exercise, sleep, stress, and substance use. In short, it means the way you live—too much excitement or stress, too little sleep, forcing your body to deal with constant alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or poor diet. Changing your lifestyle is the most foundational way to influence your mood. It’s where you have the most control, and it’s often free.
Situations, such as making a living, having multiple jobs to support a family, relationship changes, or illness can also contribute to the biochemistry that influences mood. Most of us thrive when we keep our pace of life in the slow to medium range. Unfortunately the modern lifestyle doesn’t make this easy for us, because we are often saturated with responsibilities, work, tasks, information, commutes, and expectations to keep up with the pace of others.
What's Causing Your Depression?
When I say lifestyle, what I mean is the basic requirements of life—food, exercise, sleep, stress, and substance use. In short, it means the way you live—too much excitement or stress, too little sleep, forcing your body to deal with constant alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or poor diet. These contributors are the foundation of the chemistry of your body and mind, and will influence how your brain chemistry operates; and they may contribute to episodes of depression along the way if they are out of balance.
Most of us thrive when we keep our pace of life in the slow to medium range. Unfortunately the modern lifestyle doesn’t make this easy for us, because we are often saturated with responsibilities, work, tasks, information, commutes, and expectations to keep up with the pace of others. Depression can develop when dealing with difficult life situations, especially when the situation is long term.
Neurotransmitters are the main chemical messengers of mood, and they include "uppers", which lift your mood and stimulate excitement and activity, and "downers" which calm and relax. Neurotransmitter imbalances are pivotal treatment areas for mood disorders, and they can be tested and treated individually. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can result from many areas, included genetics, gut health issues, and hormone imbalances in the adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones.
Depression can be a result of several different neurotransmitter imbalances, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The two main branches of depression are serotonin dependent, which presents as a weepy, sad, melancholic 'blues' type of depression; and dopamine/norepinephrine dependent depression, which presents as a tired, lethargic, brain-fogged, and unmotivated type of depression.
Lifestyle and Mood Mini-Course
Did You Know?
The Standard American Diet, a.k.a. “S.A.D. Diet” (a diet high in sugar, salt, fat, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, fast foods, dairy, wheat, corn, and meat; and is low in fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber, whole grains, fish, nuts and seeds) is one of the biggest contributors to gut and brain inflammation, mood irritants, abnormal gut microbiome, nutrient deficiencies, neurotransmitter imbalances, and inflammation
Caffeine overuse and stress damages the adrenal glands, one of the most important glands for dealing with stress and a big influencer of brain biochemistry and neurotransmitter production
Regular alcohol use depletes critical brain nutrients, especially B-Vitamins and several minerals
Recreational drugs all affect your neurotransmitters and can contribute to mood disorders.
20 minutes of moderate intensity walking, 3 times a week has been shown to reduce symptoms of mood disorders
Lack of sleep reduces the brain’s ability to produce neurotransmitters; and lack of sleep, or insomnia, is a sign of several hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances.