Vigorous exercise boosts critical neurotransmitters and may help restore mental health.

Have you tried exercising outdoors? I've had mood problems forever and found that walking outside actually helps a lot. I live right next to the forest so I take my dog on hikes/to go trail running about 4X a week and sometimes more if I have the time. I feel much worse when I don't actually get out in nature and just work out in a gym or treadmill. For me working out indoors does not have anywhere near the same positive impact on my mental health as working out outdoors does. I know it sounds like new age hippy bs, but there is actually research linking exposure to nature and mental health. Here, here, and here are articles about it. Maybe consider doing the cardio portion of your workout in a nice park or hiking trail if you live close to something. In the summers I put on ankle and arm weights to intensify my workout! There are also a lot of outdoor activities you could do like biking, kayaking, rock climbing, and so on. Even just getting outside to watch a meteor shower or something will help. You can do this with friends obviously, but I personally think it's a good idea to try and go somewhere outdoors completely away from people at least a couple times a week.

You might also want to look into different forms of meditation and yoga. I mention yoga because if you find a decent class they focus on both the physical aspects and mental aspects. At the end of all the yoga classes I've taken we did a short round of meditation and sometimes even guided meditation or visualization exercises (like "walking" us through a forest, sitting on a boat in a lake, and so on). It's actually where I first learned how to meditate. We also learned some breathing techniques that have helped me with stress management and anxiety. I moved out of the country and really miss my old class. I found one class with an instructor who had full sleeve tattoos, put on bands like Incubus the whole time, and really made the class both strenuous and a lot of fun, but then also put quite a bit of focus on meditation at the end. I loved it and haven't been able to find anything even remotely like it in the country I now live. Depending on where you live I bet you could find some classes that are just as awesome. Some different meditation techniques you might like are mindfulness (which I linked and is my favorite), Tummo (this is what that guy Wim Hoff, the "Ice Man", does), and Transcendental Meditation which I've never tried but it's pretty popular. I also listen to meditation music (I can recommend some if you want), do visualization exercises which actually help a lot, and sometimes listen to white noise if I'm having an exceedingly shitty time or can't sleep because it helps drown out negative thoughts. The white noise is obnoxious as hell at first, but then your ears and mind just go numb and you feel at peace.

I also read in the past that eating probiotics, like probiotic yogurt or supplements, might help alleviate symptoms of depression. Here and here are two articles discussing the potential health benefits of probiotics. I eat a lot of probiotic yogurt, but I started eating it around the same time I started trail running more frequently so I honestly can't tell whether or not it helps. I have noticed that it totally changed my cravings, though, which is weird and I haven't seen any scientific literature talking about that side effect. It's really a bizarre feeling and makes me wonder who exactly is in control of my body. Me or bacteria >:-|

Anyway, I rambled, but you get the idea. Try going out somewhere alone in nature once this week and casually walk, sit alone and meditate, or even just sit and breathe and see if it helps at all.

/r/science Thread Parent Link - psypost.org