When the body’s foundational habits are disrupted, they cascade into systemic vulnerabilities affecting psychological well-being, energy regulation, and emotional resilience.

“The accumulation of unmanaged psychological stress and repeated trauma permanently alters the sensitivity and regulation of the central nervous system, leading to pathological metaplasticity, impaired emotional regulation, chronic hyperarousal and the entrenched clinical manifestations characteristics of PTSD.” Van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.

Depression affects billions of people across the globe, from as early as childhood until adulthood.

Study by The Lancet Psychiatry, Age of onset and cumulative risk of mental disorders: a cross-national analysis of population surveys from 29 countries revealed the following:

Key Findings

Lifetime Prevalence: Found to be 28.6% for male respondents and 29.8% for female respondents across 29 countries.

Cumulative Risk: Around 50% of the population develops at least one mental disorder by age 75 years.

Age of Onset: Peak incidence occurs around age 15 years, with the median age of onset at 19 years for males and 20 years for females.

Reference: Elsevier The Lancet Psychiatry Volume 10, Issue 9, September 2023, Pages 668-681

1.      How to manage your mood

It is important to organise a regular and consistent exercise routine supported with a healthy and nutrient rich diet as this will stabilise blood glucose levels and enhance neuroplasticity.

Your mood is directly linked to “biological stability” where the food you eat enhances the relationship between neurochemistry and physical movement.

A diet high in refined sugars is unbalanced and, triggers anxiety, irritable behaviour and, helps to anchor symptoms of depression.

Neurotransmitters like serotonin, “The Mood and Happiness Regulator” and dopamine “The Reward and Motivation Molecule” are important chemical messengers the brain needs as building blocks to make these chemicals. Eat a diet rich in whole food and plant based foods.

Aerobic exercise triggers the release of endorphins which are natural mood stabilisers to make you feel good.

2.      Self- motivation is an inside job

Imagine your brain like your home and, there is a lot of work to be done.

When you are in recovery from depression or other anxiety related experience, imagine yourself like a house with many rooms.  Where the rooms have been neglected with dusty furniture, faulty wiring and a dangerous leaky roof.  You have lost touch with the home you once fell in love with. Lack of self-care can feel like a huge effort to believe in yourself again.

Deep down you are aware of your responsibility to reclaim your home. The connections you need, mean everything for your existence. However, this comes with daily challenges experienced as internal and external distractions. You owe it to yourself and, feel motivated to do the work and, commit to take action. Somehow you activate will power: self-belief, emotional clarity and, physical effort.

 Now... to tackle scaffolding, restoration and, the rebuild

The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that you engage to initiate and maintain your goals. Poor sleep patterns make you sluggish and, your will feels defeated from the start!

·        Restorative sleep

To increase brain capacity, restore your sleep schedule for better rest, avoid late-night caffeine binges and heavy meals.

·        Goal setting

Organise your health with setting goals and, this combination supports health and cognition in a step-by step framework. Goals can be short-term, medium term and long-term. The main thing is to keep moving!

3.      The setbacks

Positive psychology is the key to reframe setbacks.

Adopting positive reframing techniques help your nervous system adapt better without the emotional burden, while helping you build your resilience.

Tip - Place post-it sticky notes around the house to remind you of your goals.

How to cope

Involves adapting your psychology to build your resilience

Alcohol and other addictive substances are only short-lived coping mechanisms which in the long-term disrupt the communication and messenger relay systems in brain cells.

Finding a support system to nurture positive coping strategies is important on your recovery journey.

Find ways to adapt: explore “exercise moments,” journalling, mindfulness, restorative rest, and structured problem-solving, this helps reinforce your psychological adaptation.

4.    Intuition

Intuitive processing and gut feelings connect with the enteric nervous system (second brain), which communicates with the central nervous system via the vagus nerve.

A healthy lifestyle incorporates proper nutrition and, stress reduction that clears inflammation in the body. To restore the mind-body connection that allows individuals to trust their intuitive signals

Eat a diet of nutrient-dense fibre and whole foods which supports the health of your gut alongside adapting your stress management technique - to assist your mind and remove cloudy judgement.

5.    Manage Your Energy

The foundation of energy management is discovering how to optimise energy levels. This includes a balance of food nutrition, physical activity and sleep hygiene.

Unhealthy meals , irregular exercise and poor sleep hygiene disrupts your circadian rhythms. This compromise will affect your energy levels causing chronic daytime fatigue.  Managing your energy means understanding your own biological rhythm.

Why not challenge your mind to learn how to embrace better health - engaging harmony and flow from sunrise to sunset?

6. The Stress

Habits are often used to mask a habit that you will need to adapt:

·        Smoking

·        Alcohol consumption

·        Poor diet

Chronic stress activates sustained elevations in cortisol which damage metabolic and neurological health. Replace stressful behaviour with healthy habits that are clinically proven for health and wellbeing:

·        Restorative sleep

·        Having a mindful practice

·        Regular physical exercise

7. How Pathways Link Depression with Addictive Behaviour

Depression and addiction share overlapping neurological pathways because they compete for the brain receptors to make you feel good. When loss of self-determination (dopamine depletion) and inflammation develop inside the brain, this impairs brain function, causing you feel to feel off key, sluggish with mood swings.

Sleep deprivation heavily impacts neurotransmitter release, this makes you prone to compulsive behaviours and crave substances and, sugar and high-calorie foods to try and restore your energy.

AI References and recommended books

J. R. Dietz, Lifestyle Medicine and Chronic Disease Prevention (Academic Press, 2021)