Depression and how I am feeling, finally I may have an answer...

As an athlete and health and fitness blogger, I feel like you guys may not want to know the ends and outs of daily life However, every once and a while, things get real over here on 0to26point2. Maybe one of you guys can relate...

I sometimes find myself in this little small black hole. Not a real hole but a fictional hole made up in my mind to keep me from going CRAZY! There is always a light at the end, but I find myself having to crawl out of it...

For pretty much my entire life, I have felt like I could do it all at certain time and other times its all I could do just get out of bed.

I have always had a lot of friends, great family and have been happily married for almost 10 years with 3 great kids. You would think life would be perfect, and for the most part it is. However there are those times that I just can't pinpoint what is bothering me. I start to distance myself from friends and functions for no real reason. I noticed that in these moments I would stop working out, calling it a "break" and my diet would pretty much go to shits! Which I think is the worse part.

I called it "Functional Depression" for a LONG time and until recently just lived with it. I just thought I would eventually crawl myself out of the hole and everything would be fine. But was it really ok? NOPE!

I recently decided to mention it to my doctor when I went in for a physical. She asked me a few questions and I was like YESSSSSS, All of the above, so she told me that it sounded like I was more in the category of Dysthymia. I had never heard of this form of depression, so when I got home I started to research it. Here is what I found...

According to WebMD...

Dysthymia, also called dysthymic disorder, affects 2 percent of the American population in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Like most types of depression, it strikes more women than men. And while dysthymia is usually less severe than major depression, the symptoms — low self-esteem, sadness, fatigue, and more — are very real.

What Causes Dysthymia?

Experts are not sure what causes dysthymia or depression. Genes may play a role, but many affected people will not have a family history of depression, and others with family history will not have depression problems. Abnormal functioning in brain circuits or nerve cell pathways that connect different brain regions regulating mood are also thought to be involved. Major life stressors, chronic illness,medications, and relationship or work problems may also increase the chances of dysthymia in people biologically predisposed to developing depression.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Dysthymia?

The symptoms of dysthymia are the same as those of major depression but fewer in number and not as intense. They include the following:

• Sadness or depressed mood most of the day or almost every day
• Loss of enjoyment in things that were once pleasurable
• Major change in weight (gain or loss of more than 5% of weight within a month) or appetite
• Insomnia or excessive sleep almost every day
• Being physically restless or rundown in a way that is noticeable by others
• Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
• Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness or excessive guilt almost every day
• Problems with concentration or making decisions almost every day
• Recurring thoughts of death or suicide, suicide plan, or suicide attempt

Getting an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment is a major step in feeling better with chronic depression. Being treated with talk therapy or mile anti depressants are reecommended. In addition, ask your doctor about the benefits of healthy lifestyle habits such as eating a well-balanced diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding alcohol and smoking, and being with close friends and family members for strong social support. These positive habits are also important in improving mood and well-being.


This makes total sense to me and how I pretty much felt my entire life. So I decided that I would make an appt with my doctor again and sit down with her and figure out what I should do. In the meantime, I have started back my cleaner diet and will be heading back into some major training in the next few days.

To all of my friends, thank you for not killing me when I "disappear" sometimes and for those of you that didn't stick around and may be reading this, I hope one day we will be close again.

Now on to bigger and better things in life with hopefully no depression. IRONMAN SOMEWHERE, I'm coming for you!