I recently wrote about the depression epidemic and why self-help is largely bullshit. Now I’m going to write on what I think the real solution to this problem is.
Several weeks ago I stumbled across a TED talk from author and psychologist Stephen Ilardi about his method for beating depression (which he has written of in more detail in his book The Depression Cure). Ilardi’s argument is this: depression occurs frequently in modern day societies but occurs only rarely in modern hunter-gatherer societies. Why depression? Genetics cannot completely account for this phenomenon (why is depression prevalent across several different races of people in 21st century America?), so lifestyle differences are probably to blame.
Ilardi pinpoints six differences between the American lifestyle and the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and shows that peer-reviewed studies have shown each of these factors has been demonstrated to cause depression. Ilardi’s six factors are:
1. Omega 3 fats.
2. “Anti-rumination” strategies.
3. Exercise.
4. Sunlight exposure.
5. Social connection.
6. A good night’s sleep.
After several weeks of doing all of these things, I have been amazed at how much better I feel. I’m going to do a blog series on the specifics of each step, but for now, we’ll just go over the easy stuff.
He recommends getting at least 30 minutes of exercise 3 times per week. It doesn’t have to be a strenuous workout. A fast walk is enough. I have decided to take my walks out in the sunshine so that I kill two birds with one stone (exercise is number 3, sunlight exposure is number 4). I know how unspeakably deluded and silly it sounds: someone feels like their life is a nightmare, they may even be considering suicide, and are completely in the death grip of pain… So they should just take a walk in the sun? The truth, though, is that it will help more than you think. More importantly though, you should think of exercise as one-sixth of the solution, not the full cure.
What separates Ilardi’s solution from the crummy psychotherapy and self-help solutions is it’s empirical and logical validity. Ilardi’s argument can be very easily justified with Bayes’ theorem, and that’s something I may blog about in the future, if anyone is interested in it.
