Keeping the “Black Dog” at Bay: Cycling and Depression.

[tellyho]

I KNOW that my daily commute has a giant impact on my mental health. Getting out nearly every day is crucial as it gets dark. Also enables gear purchases to support cold weather cycling

[shoota]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

I take offence to this thread!

So does my dog!

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by tellyho

I KNOW that my daily commute has a giant impact on my mental health. Getting out nearly every day is crucial as it gets dark. Also enables gear purchases to support cold weather cycling

Indeed

[benb]

I missed this one but it's a great thread.

I think I have escaped via cycling almost my whole life. I moved a lot as a kid. Ended up in a relatively rural area where I had no friends living near me and rode my bike a lot cause I was the "new kid" and had the double whammy of living out on the edge of town. I was hammering away by 12 for sure, I remember a few years later I did have friends and there was a whole lot of "*** slow down what are you doing" out riding bikes.

The most clear cut case of it I guess was on 9/11. We were all at the office and no work was happening, literally the whole company just sat in the cafeteria/kitchen the whole morning watching the news... they sent us home in the afternoon. So what did I do, I went out and rode about 50 miles, didn't talk to anybody. Distinctly remember I saw a bunch of deer. Rode home and felt a lot better.

Too much cycling is the opposite though.. probably the only thing that actually makes me start to feel something approaching depression.. It makes my mood immensely better up until a point and then it definitely doesn't. It's definitely a longer term thing.. it's not like a bad ride effects me much at all.

[bigbill]

I use cycling as an outlet, and when I don't have time for a ride, I go for a walk. For me, anything that takes me away from a stressful situation that involves some kind of exercise is good. I have also ridden myself into a funk. One year, during the national bike challenge, I did no rides less than 30 miles from May 1st to September 30th. If I didn't have time for 30 miles, I didn't ride. In hindsight it was dumb and defeated the best reason to ride. The next year, I did a "every day in May" ride schedule. I rode no matter what, including thunderstorms and tornado watches. I didn't set a minimum distance so a few bad weather days were less than ten miles. While not as dumb as setting a minimum distance, it was more stressful than necessary.

This year I will have fewer miles than last year and I'm okay with it, because I've put more emphasis on enjoying the ride. I carry a point and shoot camera and look for opportunities with good light and epic views.

I did 20 deployments, I deal with some things but as the years pass, they fade.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by bigbill

I use cycling as an outlet, and when I don't have time for a ride, I go for a walk. For me, anything that takes me away from a stressful situation that involves some kind of exercise is good. I have also ridden myself into a funk. One year, during the national bike challenge, I did no rides less than 30 miles from May 1st to September 30th. If I didn't have time for 30 miles, I didn't ride. In hindsight it was dumb and defeated the best reason to ride. The next year, I did a "every day in May" ride schedule. I rode no matter what, including thunderstorms and tornado watches. I didn't set a minimum distance so a few bad weather days were less than ten miles. While not as dumb as setting a minimum distance, it was more stressful than necessary.

This year I will have fewer miles than last year and I'm okay with it, because I've put more emphasis on enjoying the ride. I carry a point and shoot camera and look for opportunities with good light and epic views.

I did 20 deployments, I deal with some things but as the years pass, they fade.

Bravo. Long walks are great for mental and physical health. I ride now when I can and feel like it but sometimes long walks are even better.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Bravo. Long walks are great for mental and physical health. I ride now when I can and feel like it but sometimes long walks are even better.

Walking allows me to gather my thoughts and think through things better than riding, even mountain biking. Today, I finished a rough draft of my thesis, went for a walk, read through it again, did some edits, and submitted. Sometimes we stay too close to a problem when we need to step away and approach it again with a clear head.

BTW, my son did his required 8 Gs in the centrifuge with no G suit or oxygen, so he's good to go for F-35s and legacy Hornets.