DEV Community: Alison Lee

Looking to Diminish Depression?

Alison Lee — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 18:06:46 +0000

Depression can make your dev work a struggle. As the Mental Health Foundation notes, it’s a common mental health condition that leaves with you little motivation, interest, or pleasure. And it can even cause you to feel guilty or worthless. Combine all that with a restless sleep routine, altered appetite, and the inability to concentrate, and you’ll find that you can barely stay aware of your surroundings, let alone help your team with programming.

How do you know if you have this condition, though? If you’ve been dealing with the majority of the following symptoms for an unusual amount of time, you might want to consider the fact that you are likely dealing with depression:

• Fatigue
• Energy loss
• Poor self-esteem
• Concentration troubles
• Low interest in previously enjoyable activities
• Constant anxiety
• Difficulties with sleep
• Frequent feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, and hopelessness
• Inability to function
• No appetite
• Aches and pains throughout the body
• Thoughts about suicide and death
• Self-harm

You might feel silly for considering that you have depression, but you shouldn’t. There are more than 300 million people like you around the world who are affected by this condition. And it’s not anyone’s fault. Depression’s main cause is not well-known, but some research has shown that it may be caused by low neuron production in the hippocampus area of the brain.

So, what can you do about it? It won’t be easy, but give the following suggestions some thought. They just might help you diminish your depression.

Consider a free program like SuperBetter for relief and motivation.

Depression is a catch-22 sort of condition. While you may desperately want to be free from it, the very nature of depression makes it difficult for you to motivate yourself to do just that.

One way to handle this tricky motivation matter is by going for an incredibly convenient form of help, such as SuperBetter. Developed by game designer Jane McGonigal, SuperBetter is a free online tool that helps you build up your ability to remain motivated and optimistic despite life challenges.

All you have to do is sign up on the SuperBetter website and explain what challenge you’re dealing with. Then, the tool will give you ways of turning that challenge into a real-life game, where your hurdles will seem less like insurmountable tasks and more like fun mini games that you know you’ll get past eventually.

This tool might seem a bit childish to some, but a few studies back up its ability to improve the lives of those with mental health conditions like depression. So why not give it a try?

Once motivated even a little, try out different physical activities.

Whether you found that SuperBetter helped you out or you found motivation through another method, once you feel a bit more prepared to take on other everyday challenges, take a look at different physical activities you might enjoy.

While depression makes it seem counterintuitive, exercise is actually great for depression relief. Exercise won’t cure your depression, but it does encourage your body to create endorphins, which are hormones that can make you feel better. It can help beat down the overall feeling of doom and gloom that depression promotes. So, start thinking about what exercises might suit you best! You might choose to just go out for a short, daily walk. Or maybe a more contemplative form of exercise, such as yoga, is more your thing. Whatever it is, getting out and exercising will be sure to add some extra positivity to your day.

Have a therapist help you out.

When you can’t think of any workarounds for some of your daily challenges, you might want to think about going to a therapist. A mental health professional can offer you a new perspective that just might change how you typically react to certain situations, which can, in turn, lessen how much depression affects your perception.

For strong results, look for a licensed therapist near your neighborhood who conducts cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). With CBT, you’ll work with the therapist to help modify any dysfunctional feelings, actions, and thoughts you might have a tendency for. With DBT, you’ll get a modified form of CBT. You and your therapist will still practise techniques to modify your behavior. But you’ll also be given skills in mindfulness, acceptance, and stress tolerance.

Whether you end up going with CBT or DBT, you’ll gain new skills that will allow you to view life from a new perspective and handle challenges that might have seemed overwhelming otherwise.

Don’t forget the benefits of prescription drugs.

The increasing costs of prescription drugs might make you wary of going on medication that could help you with your depression. But what if prescription drugs are the only treatment your moderate to severe depression responds to?

Well, first off, discuss prescription drugs with your doctor to make sure they are appropriate for you and your situation.

If you have been prescribed medication, don’t panic about its cost. Just go online to an international or Canadian pharmacy service that only sources from high-quality licensed pharmacies. Once there, look for and order your particular prescription, which might be something like sertraline. When ordering, you’ll find that you’ll be able to order your prescription from licensed international and Canadian pharmacies, where prescription drugs are typically less expensive compared to their American counterparts.

With cheaper prescription drugs, you’ll have an easier time keeping your depression and life under control.

If prescriptions aren’t for you, there are still quite a few other treatments out there.

No matter what method of depression treatment you use, know that you’re taking productive steps to enhancing the environment for yourself, your dev work, and the rest of your everyday activities.

5 Ways You Can Use Technology to Enhance Your Health

Alison Lee — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 22:06:37 +0000

While you may be enjoying your dream job working on optimizing an app or programming a new bit of game-changing software, there are some well-known downsides to it. Whether you work on development at home as a freelancer or at an office with like minded coworkers, you are still likely working at a desk with little movement in-between. And that means you are at a much higher risk for health problems. Chances are, later down the road, you’ll run into issues with muscular-skeletal disorders, obesity, and many other painful conditions.

Despite the downsides, you don’t have to give up your dev career. Instead, you can twist how technology affects you. Technology can encourage sedentary preferences and other forms of unhealthy activity, but it can also be used to do the opposite. Just consider using technology in the following five ways to give your well-being a bit of a boost.

1. Have an app remind you when you need to take your prescription.

If you already have a lot of medication to look after for a number of health conditions, the last thing you want to do is forget to take them. Unfortunately, this is an incredibly easy thing to do. You might convince yourself that you only need one more minute of work before you take your medication. But then several hours fly by before you know it!

To make sure your focus is in the right place, you should consider a free app like Medisafe. Such apps were designed to remind you of what medication you need to take when. This notification system will give your working self a gentle nudge, reminding you that your work isn’t the only important part of your life.

2. Order your medication all from one place online straight to your doorstep.

If work tends to make you forget about anything involving medication like when and where you should start getting a refill, then ordering from an online Canadian pharmacy referral service like Canada Med Pharmacy might be in order.

Such a service allows you to order your prescription drugs online from licensed international pharmacies at a much more affordable rate from one place. That way, if you were generally a multi-pharmacy-goer, you don’t have to worry any more about what pharmacy you should go to for what prescription or how much it would have cost you. Instead, you can focus more on your dev time, knowing that all of your prescriptions will get to your home on time without costing you an arm and a leg.

3. Get a fitness tracker to stay active.

Another way to stay healthy and happy is by maintaining at least 150 minutes of exercise weekly. You can do this by moving around during your work breaks and getting more active after work or on the weekend.

It can be difficult to motivate yourself to move, though, especially after working hard for several hours. But you can give yourself a bit of motivation through a fitness tracker like fitbit. This type of digital fitness tracker will let you know how active you’ve been throughout the day, showing you how much of a great impact some of your routine activities, such as walking to the grocery store, can have on your health.

4. Add a browser extension that encourages break time.

Staying healthy isn’t all about being active and productive, though. Your body deserves a break every now and then. In today’s workaholic environment, this can be difficult. So to make it just a little easier on yourself, look for free browser extension apps like Strict Workflow. These apps enforce a short break time on your computer, where some websites are blocked from access for a short period of time. That way, you can take a small mental vacation to give your mind a well-earned rest without invading your work time too much.

5. De-stress with a meditation app.

Many short breaks from work might help your mind rest a little, but if you have a condition like general anxiety disorder, you likely need more of a break once you get off work. Without a longer rest, you might start to feel that your work routine is overwhelming or that you’re floundering under tasks that used to be a breeze.

Neither feeling is great for your mental or physical well-being. But you can prevent it by focusing on meditation. Meditation is a method that teaches you to think in the present and distance yourself from what-if anxieties. While a hard method to practise just by yourself, you can find apps like Headspace that offer guided sessions to help walk you through your meditation.

Making the most of technology like this can help you maintain, and even enhance your health, without you needing to lose your dream dev career. So if you feel a bit under the weather at work, you might want to keep these five practices in mind.

How to Exercise (for Lazy People)

Alison Lee — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 19:28:36 +0000

Am I the only one who has trouble finding the energy to stay fit after sitting at a desk all day?

Originally posted here.

Do you hate exercising?

Did you hate gym class as a kid? Do you dread being sweaty and hot? Do you loathe all the exercise advice you get from your friends, the internet, and that over-achieving guy at the gym who’s convinced all your life’s problems will be solved if you “just lift, bro”?

People who give advice about fitness are usually people who love fitness. But gimmicks like “you just need to find a sport you enjoy!” and “once you get into it, you’ll love it!” don’t work on the chronically lazy. Moreover, not everyone has hours to kill and bucks to spend on a fancy gym membership or have a suitable place to jog in their neighbourhood.

Thankfully, there are cheats around this. What we need to understand is that no matter how much you hate it, exercise has a myriad of benefits. You may literally live longer. So here are a few tips to get some exercise into your day without sweating (too much).

Walk everywhere. And build walking into your day. Many of us don’t want to exercise because we don’t want to carve out a portion of our day for it. It doesn’t count as waste, though, if you build exercise into your day.

For example, you need to get to work anyway, so why not build walking into your commute? If you transit, you can get off several stops earlier and walk the rest of the way. Live within 30 minutes of your workplace? Walk the whole damn way! And choose the stairs, not the elevator, when you get to the office.

Do tiny little workouts throughout the day.
You don’t have to slog through a 5km jog to reap the benefits of exercise. Doing a little thing here or there counts, and you may even end up expending more effort and energy into each 10-minute chunk than if you’d grinded through an hour-long run.
Watch your favourite show during a workout.
Admit it: exercising is painful. But you can mind-over-matter that by distracting yourself with a TV show. Just put on your favorite comedy or thriller while doing squats and push-ups. While studies suggest that entertainment during workouts may lower your rate of exertion, if you’re aiming to just get off the couch, it’s worth trying without missing the much-awaited season finale of your favorite binge. Just be careful not to injure yourself if you need to crane your neck to see the screen!
Hang outside with a friend
Instead of inviting your friend over to sit down on the couch and gossip with you, why not go on a walk and gossip instead? Much like the TV trick, when our brains are occupied by something interesting, we often forget about physical discomforts like aching legs and sweaty arms. If you live near a park or a trail, even better. More studies show health benefits of simply being in nature. In fact, there’s even an Association of Nature & Forest Therapy that trains people to guide others in nature for the therapeutic effect.
Get a DDR pad.
If you’re a fan of video games, you might want to invest in a Dance Dance Revolution pad. Garage Band isn’t bad too, especially if you bang on the drums. DDR, however, can really get your heartrate up. Loads of people, mostly gamers, have touted the benefits of the popular rhythm-based video game and its offshoots, such as StepMania.
Find an active activity you like.
Okay, I know I said in the beginning that for many of us, this is worthless advice, but have you really explored all your options? Have you tried…

Birdwatching?
Skimboarding?
Cricket?
Archery?
Darts?
Rock climbing?
Horseback riding?
Roller derby?
Fencing?
Scuba diving?
Skateboarding?
Ultimate frisbee?
Capture the Flag?
Laser tag?
Tai Chi?
Juggling?
Curling?
Paintball?
Quidditch?
Dining table table tennis?
Skipping stones?
Jumping up and down on a trampoline?
Running around screaming?
(Okay, avoid the last one).

Yes, some of these sports are more expensive and less accessible than others. Some of them will also require you to join a team. But there’s a reason why weird sports like Quidditch exist – they have a following, people think they’re fun, and who knows, you might agree!

Now, while these are all great ways to get you moving, you probably shouldn’t rely on walking the dog as your main workout. It’s still important to do the odd hike, jog, or swim. But if you’re struggling just to motivate yourself off the couch, every little thing counts.

Originally posted on my blog.