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  1. You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • Gatsby3 years ago

      Thank you for sharing this piece! It’s hard to ignore the endorphins I feel after a good run, especially on a ‘downer day’.

    • dukie43 years ago

      Important piece

    • Florian3 years ago

      The U.S. health care system famously incentivizes procedures and pills over a holistic approach.

      That’s the crux of it, I’d say.

      • dukie43 years ago

        Yes. These are the outcomes a privatized healthcare system will inevitably produce.

    • Pegeen
      Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
      3 years ago

      I want this AOTD - it’s that important! My health care “team” of doctors all know about diet and exercise as a form of self care and “medicine”. They understand how movement, especially in nature, is essential to health. How what you eat, how you think, impacts all the trillion of cells in your body that are “listening” to you - that are the recipients of what you choose to feed them. When I broke both bones in my wrist 4 years ago (roller skating), my young doctor told me he would try his best to put it back together for me. I said that I NEEDED to be able to do pushups, since I did not like lifting weights. He never even questioned such a request, instead, he looked at me and said, I think I can guarantee that you will be able to do them on your knuckles, like in Karate (straight wrist). On the morning of my surgery, he came into the surgicenter with his nap sack on his back, having just left the gym. He said he felt great and was ready to give me back the use of my left hand, my dominant hand. I can now do full push ups, with no residual arthritis. I love feeling responsible for my health and for choosing a team whose values mirror my own.

      • thorgalle
        Top reader this weekScoutScribe
        3 years ago

        Awesome! Good to see that there are many positive experiences in this thread too. Did you still strap on your roller skates after the accident?

        • Pegeen
          Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
          3 years ago

          OMG, Never again! It was the most pain I have ever experienced - ever! And I gave birth twice naturally! Luckily, I have many different, fun and exciting ways to work my body. Thanks for asking!

    • jeff3 years ago

      It's disappointing that the US is so far behind on this.

      • Pegeen
        Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
        3 years ago

        Great find and AOTD!

        • jeff3 years ago

          Thanks, had to get my scout badge back!

    • TripleG
      Top reader this weekTop reader of all timeReading streakScoutScribe
      3 years ago

      I’m no respecter of most doctors. It seems they just herd people thru their office and out with a prescription in their hand or multiple prescriptions to counteract the side effects of the first drug. Holistic is for me. Exercise, diet and positivity has worked for my old but strong body and mind!

    • Abarlet3 years ago

      Reading some of the comments here it seems there is a belief that doctors are somehow compensated by Pharma companies and that is the reason they prescribe pills over exercise. There may have been a day when doctors received compensation or kickbacks but that day is long gone. Drug reps know they are not permitted to leave or give any “gifts” to a medical professional.
      I went to a primary care doctor one time who actually did a literature search and looked up something while I was sitting right there. I was so impressed, and he was not of the Google generation either. He was a few decades older than me and yet he was perfectly comfortable with the perception that he didn’t know everything off the top of his head and needed to look up something. That’s the kind of doctor I want — one that prescribes a solution based on the evidence.

    • slapdash3 years ago

      It’s all about the money and the big corporations that trickle up incentives throughout the supply chain. There was this interesting article about how expensive and financially draining it is to go to a med school. No wonder the pills are prescribed as the first choice.

    • ChetD3 years ago

      I have struggled with seasonal depression (SAD) for 20+ years and exercise is definitely part of my battle gear along with light therapy and meds. I was fortunate to have Psychs who always recommended getting out and getting natural sunlight and exercise as much as possible.

      I think for some people who are deep in their depression, the meds are needed to get them out of the doldrums before they even contemplate venturing out of their hibernation cocoon. The same can be said for talk therapy. You need to be brought up to some level of cognition before you are engaged in the battle.

      • Alexa3 years ago

        I'm with you. In my thickest depressions even getting out of bed is a challenge, so exercising is a big challenge. No one stop solution but whatever gets you there is good in my book.

      • Pegeen
        Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
        3 years ago

        Excellent point! I would love to possibly offer a reframe of the last sentence - “before you are engaged in the many possibilities offered for your journey to recovery.” I prefer a more encouraging, loving approach but I’m laughing to myself realizing, some people prefer the battle! When I was ill and “fighting” my disease, “battling it” only made me more anxious. Again, different approaches to a challenge. Both work.

    • Alexa3 years ago

      A bit mind-blowing but such is the state of US medicine--drugs are always the first reach solution before anything else is entertained, and often to our detriment. Good reason to get my butt moving right now.

      • Florian3 years ago

        Unfortunately it’s all about financial incentives. Maybe gyms could offer referral bonuses to doctors in order to compete with the kick backs from the pill companies

    • jbuchana3 years ago

      My doctors/therapists have always recommended exercise for depression, but never as a first-line approach.