W
ith the blinds drawn and a blanket pulled over
her head, Marquita lay on the couch, refusing to
get up. “This isn’t like you, Marquita,” her friend
Beverly urged. “C’mon, let’s go out and get something to
eat—maybe you’ll feel better.”
“All I wanted to do was sleep,” Marquita recalls. “For the
previous few months, I had been struggling with depression.
I didn’t want to do any t hing, go any where or ta l k to anyone.
I was in a dark, lonely place, which made it tough to care for
my sister, who has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound.
Even ever yday chores li ke grocer y shopping and cleaning or
spending time w it h my daughter were cha l lenging —and I
couldn’t seem to find a way to get myself out of it.Totally hopeless
“That was seven years ago. My mom had only recently
passed away after being diagnosed with cancer just six
months earlier, and I’d become a primary caregiver for my
sister. I was struggling to manage it all, including caring
for my own daughter, when I started to have my own health
problems. I suffered a mild stroke, which caused the left
side of my body to become wea k. My fat her helped out w it hDepression and caregiver stress left
Marquita Wilson feeling helpless—until she found a workout that’s more
effective than antidepressants!“You’ll notice improvements in mood and mental
clarity the same day you exercise,” asserts Lindsey
Hopkins, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who researches exer-
cise and mental health. Strength training—even if you don’t
use barbells—is particularly effective, says Hopkins. “The
physical and emotional discomfort of training helps you learn
to tolerate discomfort in general,” she explains. “Your mind
and body learn that you can persist and cope healthfully in
the face of discomfort, and that is a huge part of overcom-
ing depression.” Indeed, in a Harvard study of depressed
adults, 80% experienced a significant reduction in depres-
sive symptoms after strength training just twice a week for
10 weeks. To get the benefits, follow Marquita Wilson’s lead
and start by trying these exercises twice a week.HOW STRENGTH TRAINING
Marquita
Wilson, 43,
Richmond, VA