Hard to get to pool due to blues

It is good to know I'm not alone. My waistline is testament to the fact that you are not alone in not making it to the pool as much as you want. ;) Skip

Swimming cures my depression. When I feel blue, I get myself in the pool for a few hours, and by the time I'm out I feel happy again. If I miss a day I get all mopey and grumpy, which is why this tapering thing sucks. BTW, my motivation for getting to the pool when I'm depressed (besides knowing it will help, since that isn't always enough) is my girlfriend. She refuses to talk to me when I haven't been in the pool or the gym.

Hi, Isobel. I suspect many, many of us out here in swimming land have -- and in some cases currently are -- in your shoes, or perhaps zoomers. My own mood problems tend towards agitation and anxiety along with depression, so getting to the pool has not been a problem. I get so restless it is hard NOT to keep moving around, hoping to bludgeon my mood into exhaustion. It sounds like you might have the other morph--low energy, desire to withdraw, aversion to movement, almost a form of hibernation setting in. I guess my recommendations would be to swim with a team if you are not already doing so, as your fellow teammates can be powerfully reinforcing and helpful; tell yourself you don't have to do any more yards than your comfortable doing, or go any faster than is soothing, that you are in self-comforting mode for the time being; spend as much time as you want in the hot tub, sauna, or any other fun area of the swimming center you go to, assuming they have one; and don't miss the opporunity to go out with your teammates for a beer or whatever (though drinking heavily is a mistake in this state of mind.) Sometimes just kind of sharing your mood with teammates can be relieving. I remember when--in a fairly deep depression myself--I found out that the nicest guy on our team, and fastest swimmer by far (a former 23 time all american div. 2) had suffered from serious Seasonal Affective Disorder for decades. It was really helpful to talk to him about my own travails, and definitely did a lot to eliminate the stigma that's hard to shed. I wish you luck. Just tell yourself you're going to go and swim the warm up, say hi to some swimmers, take a shower, and go home. You might end up staying longer, but the key is to just get back into the habit. This episode will pass, they always do. And even though they seem interminable at the time, the truth is your life is almost certainly much more non-depressed than depressed. Think of it as an emotional cold--obnoxious, yes, annoying, to be sure. But eventually it goes away.

If you can't force yourself to get to the pool, perhaps you could do some alternative training at home. For example, do some stomach crunches or stretching or weight work for your shoulders. These can be done at home and you can even watch TV while you do them. That way you can at least feel like you are still making some progress and not allow the inability to get to the pool make you feel worse. Good Luck. -LBJ

Since my return to swimming several years ago, I have built up a series of informal "buddies" that I swim with, occasionally scheduling our workouts but most often just overlapping at general times. This very informal community has helped. (Swimming at 5:15 am with the local Masters group is not in the cards, unless I completely rotate my natural rhythms.) This may seem like an obvious statement, but clinical depression is treatable. Medicine is one thing, and can help, but Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT is another treatment with proven results. Many patients can get by on one or the other, but the combination is often the most effective. Medicine or no, CBT provides a lasting set of tools to get perspective on depressive episodes and to self-assess. The value of exercise is indisputable, both for high-RPM anxiety folks and sluggish depressed ones. I am empathetic. Good luck getting to the pool!

My husband suffers from depression and drugs helped...for a short while. So I can understand your point about BTDT with the meds. Studies show that exercise is just as effective anyway. Anyway, if there is anyone you can recruit to come by your house and take you to the pool, maybe that would help. I think it's also good advice that was given above to just go and say "just 10 minutes" and then get out. But I bet after 10 minutes you'll be thinking..I want to stay. But even if you don't..it's still a great exercise to get out the door when you are in a funk like this. Or just get out and walk. The intertia of doing anything will help immensely. Another suggestion is to get out and serve somebody. Help at your church if you attend one, volunteer at a soup kitchen, the Red Cross, youth programs, schools, etc. It helps get your focus off of yourself and your misery. I know the challenge is gettin' out the dang door but maybe something different might be motivation enough to get going. Best wishes to you. It's a tough thing to deal with. :(

I was going to suggest something similar to what Mary1912 said. I have a "20-minute rule" for myself. If I'm leaning toward skipping swim practice because I don't feel well, or my throat's a little sore, or I think I might be coming down with a cold, or whatever, I tell myself that I'll go but I can get out after 20 minutes if I still don't feel well. In all the years I've done this I've never gotten out after 20 minutes. Usually I completely forget that I wasn't feeling well!

I have trouble getting to the pool in Canada. I have a monthly membership to all of our city pools. There are 2 within 10 minutes of my home. I manage to get there about 10 or 12 times a month. TV consumes much of my day now this is blue depression. Soon I will be in Mexico I go to the pool there at 9am til 10am then Chuckie and I walk up town and back about 2.5 miles each way. (I should tell you the pool is about 100 feet from my motor home). I hit the pool again about 4pm til 5pm. I also teach swimming in Mexico for 3 or four hours a day. When in Mexico I do not watch TV. I do not listen to the doom and gloom that is on CNN or CNBC. Politics do not enter my mind.

I agree with suggestions. Building on suggestion that Mary made about having someone stop by to accompany you to the pool. If that is not possible do you know someone who will call you each day at the appropriate time to remind(urge ) you to go to the pool.

Like Jim, I've battled depression (on meds and doing well now). The thing that helped me the most with the lethargy is arranging to meet someone at the pool. It's an amazing motivation to know that someone else tumbled out of bed at 4:30 on a freezing Chicago morning just to meet you at the pool. Good luck.