October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and it still feels very much like we need this time to highlight the serious problem of violence within intimate relationships. But one thing we can say about the 2020s is that, at the very least, we now recognize that domestic violence is a violent, serious problem. There was a time when domestic abuse was hidden behind closed doors, and considered a private matter. But there were groups of women who set about to change that in the 70s, and while the problem has obviously not been solved, they helped bring us to the point where we are today. And now we can shine a light on the problem and continue to work towards changing things.
Putting a Name to a Problem
Domestic violence, or domestic or intimate partner abuse, is by no means a new problem: in fact, it’s probably one of the oldest problems plaguing modern humanity. But the, well, problem was that we didn’t recognize it as a “problem.” Up until the 1970s, domestic violence was virtually ignored by the legal and medical professions, and by society in general. If the subject did come up in a scholarly way, it was usually briefly mentioned in a journal of psychiatry, as a rare occurrence that was due to a psychological disorder. And often, it was written about as something that was women’s fault, something that they somehow “provoked.”
And outside of the scholarly world, society at large generally saw violence against women in the home as a private matter, something that should stay behind closed doors. That meant police and medical professionals were reluctant to get involved. And, just as horrifyingly, it was also seen as a joking matter. Popular cartoons and TV shows made what were meant to be lighthearted references to hitting wives; another disturbing example is an ad for a Michigan bowling alley that sported the big, bold pun: “HAVE SOME FUN. BEAT YOUR WIFE TONIGHT.”
So the pre-1970s world was a time when violence against women was not recognized as a problem, even if it did exist, and so there was almost no help to be had. The idea of the category of an “abused woman” looking for help did not exist, and even the few and nonspecific resources for people who were in crisis and unhoused were completely inadequate. For example, in the early 1970s in Los Angeles, there were homeless shelters that provided 1000 beds for men, and only 30 for women.
There were no resources for women who were suffering, and they weren’t even afforded the dignity of having their suffering recognized. But then the world began to change, and women took matters into their own hands.
The Activism and Organizations that Began to Change Things
We can give much of the credit for changing the seemingly hopeless situation laid out above to the women involved in the feminist movement of the 1970s. They saw the 2-4 million women who were beaten in their homes annually (in fact, many of the women in the early “battered women’s movement” were survivors of domestic abuse themselves) and took up the banner at a time when women were agitating for change.
In the mid-1970s, these feminist activists and survivors organized under the banner “We will not be beaten,” and launched a nationwide campaign to expose what was really going on – as well as to demand change from law enforcement, the medical profession, and all of society.
Demanding is one thing, and taking matters into your hands and finding practical solutions is another. These women also set out to do that, in addition to trying to change policy and get the attention of people in power. They set out to create support networks and shelters for abused women, and they were admirably successful. Between 1975 and 1978, more than 170 battered women’s shelters opened across the country; by 1978, there were over 300 shelters, hotlines, and groups advocating for abused women.
Many of these initiatives were started by collectives of women. They include:
Women Against Abuse
This organization was started in 1976 as a part-time domestic violence hotline in a neighborhood women’s center. Based on what they heard from the women who called in, they worked to open an emergency shelter in 1977. This shelter started out in a small row home, and despite no publicity, was filled to over capacity overnight. WAB eventually expanded to a space given by the city of Philadelphia, and also began to offer legal support. They have only continued to expand their services since then, and are still going strong.
Chicago Abused Women Coalition
Now known as Connections for Abused Women and Their Children, CAWC began after a kitchen-table meeting in 1976 to address the problem of domestic violence. This one meeting formed a task form that created the first domestic violence program in Chicago, which eventually became a hotline and an emergency shelter. They are also still going strong; in 2018 alone, they provided over 30,000 hours of domestic violence services.
Women’s Advocates
Known by many as the first shelter for women and their children escaping domestic abuse, Women’s Advocates was formed as a collective-based nonprofit in 1972. They operated out of a legal assistance office, then one of the founding volunteers’ homes, then in a rented office space. It began essentially as a divorce rights information line – a number for women to call to get legal information and advice about leaving their abusive partners. But the volunteers soon realized that the biggest obstacle for these women was the lack of a safe place to stay. So they decided to write letters asking friends, family, and members of the community for funds in order to purchase a permanent shelter. And within two years, they had collected enough funds to make a down payment on a house in St. Paul, Minnesota. According to their website, “Today, Women’s Advocates provides shelter and services for up to 50 victim-survivors and their children daily, conducts crisis interventions and safety referrals via the crisis line daily, and educates students and professionals about domestic abuse awareness, prevention and services.
And the above three organizations are just a few examples of the collective organizations that came from women, for women. Others, to name just a few, include:
First Step (Wayne County, MI)
Women & Children First: The Center Against Family Violence (Little Rock, AK)
The Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
Partnership Against Domestic Violence (Atlanta, GA)
Austin Center for Battered Women
The hard work of the women who fought against domestic violence, and those who started these organizations, did pay off, and they did get a whole lot of attention for their cause. In fact, according to activist Susan Schechter in her account of the battered women’s movement, by the early 1980s, “in contrast to just one decade earlier, battered women are no longer invisible.” Thanks to them, we have hotlines, shelters, other resources, and a name for what is happening to far too many women.
But Schechter, and anyone who has their eyes open, would agree that we need to keep going.
Where We Are Today
While the work that the women of the late 20th century did was crucial and monumental, we’re still nowhere near where we need to be. Considering that it took until the 1990s to get an act passed by Congress to address violence against women (the 1994 Violence Against Women Act), it can often feel like women are still not really being heard. And the statistics surrounding domestic violence are still staggering.
Consider the following stats from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:
On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.
1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner.
Only 34% of people who are injured by intimate partners receive medical care for their injuries.
Fortunately, thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of women both past and present, we can name this violence, and we can fight back against stigma and indifference. But there’s no denying that domestic violence is still a problem. So let’s get aware, not just this month but every month, and lend our support to organizations both old and new that are still working hard to combat this very real problem.
Diets can get a bit tiresome. All that telling you what you can and can’t eat, right? So maybe you’ve changed tactics, and have settled on an “eating protocol” instead of a diet, which probably means that you’re doing intermittent fasting, or IF. So if you’re on the IF train, you know that this type of eating protocol doesn’t necessarily dictate what you eat (like keto or paleo, for example), although it’s suggested that you should still eat a healthy diet to get the most benefits, it’s instead all about when you eat. Ok, sounds simple enough, but you might still have questions about what you can put in your mouth (if anything at all) during your fasting time, so read on for a handy guide to what breaks your fast.
Intermittent Fasting Options
While studies are still being done on intermittent fasting, it’s become popular as a weight loss tool, as well as one for boosting health, since the studies we do have suggest that IF promotes ketosis (and thereby increases fat burn), boosts cognitive functioning, reduces inflammation, and might even boost longevity.
Time-restricted eating – This eating pattern involves fasting every day for 12 hours or longer and eating in the remaining hours. A popular example is the 16/8 method, which means that you have a daily 16-hour fast and an 8-hour eating window, during which you can fit in 2, 3, or more meals.
The 5:2 diet – The 5:2 diet involves eating as you normally do 5 days of the week, and restricting your calorie intake to 500–600 on the remaining 2 days.
Eat Stop Eat – Eat Stop Eat involves a 24-hour fast once or twice per week.
Alternate-day fasting – With alternate-day fasting, the goal is to fast every other day.
Meal skipping – This type of IF is generally good for beginners, since it involves choosing one meal a day to skip.
The Warrior Diet – On the other hand, this type of IF is a little more extreme, and probably better for people who have tried other types of IF already. It involves eating minimal amounts of raw fruit and veggies during the day and eating one large meal at night.
What Breaks a Fast?
So if one of these types of eating has become your cup of tea, what should your fast look like? Can you, for example, have an actual cup of tea during your fasting window? Let’s look at what actually breaks a fast according to experts, what kind of flexibility you might be able to add to your fasting routine, and what you should definitely avoid.
Can you have any calories during a fast?
First of all, when we say “fast,” how strict are we talking? Can you have more than just water, one of the only true calorie-free things that we consume? Experts are actually a bit split on this question, and tend to talk about this debate in terms of two of the known and sought-after benefits of IF: ketosis and autophagy:
Ketosis is a process that happens when your body doesn’t have enough carbohydrates to burn for energy, so it burns fat and makes things called ketones, which it can use for fuel. In other words, putting your body into ketosis (which is also the goal of the “keto” diet), increases fat burn.
Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. This process is less on the weight loss side of IF, and more on the health boosting side (although losing weight will boost your health, as well!)
Talking about these processes, which are the goals of IF, is where things get a little unclear when it comes to how many – if any – calories you should be consuming during a fast. Some experts, like Benjamin Horne, Ph.D., a genetic epidemiologist who has published research on the effects of intermittent fasting, say that while “technically, consuming any calories breaks a fast,” ketosis might actually remain active with the consumption of certain macronutrients (or carbs, fat, and protein). According to Horne, “One mechanism that is known to remain active when a small amount of food is consumed is ketosis—as long as you consume less than 50 grams of carbohydrates [in a day].”
Autophagy, on the other hand, seems a little trickier. According to Horne, “In humans, it appears that autophagy does not remain as active when any food is consumed.” He thinks that even the 2-5 calories in a cup of black coffee could throw the process out of whack; other experts aren’t so sure, though.
Says Vincent Pedre, M.D., an integrative physician and gut health expert, “I’ve heard good debates about whether coffee can break a fast. We don’t have any good evidence to show either way. I would say if you’re drinking organic black coffee—no cream, no sweeteners—then you should be fine. That said, I would say stick to as close to zero calories as you can during your fasting hours with plenty of clean filtered water; herbal teas are also good.”
Is “dirty fasting” the key to consistency?
Clean fasting is when you eat minimal calories during your fast.
Unfortunately, we can’t give you any definitive answer about having any calories at all during your fast, but it seems as though getting close to zero calories should be your goal if you want to get the full benefits of your fast. You probably know that already, though, and maybe it’s been holding you back from going no holds barred on intermittent fasting – which in turn is keeping you from getting any benefits at all!
So, with that being said, some experts actually recommend consuming small amounts of calories from certain foods, if the choice is an all-or-nothing one between water-only fasting and not staying consistent with your IF at all. So, if you’re not sure that “clean fasting” is something you can stick with, you could consider what’s known as “dirty fasting.” Check out the difference:
Clean fasting means that you are consuming the minimal number of calories that you can during your fast, by generally sticking to water or other noncaloric beverages.
Dirty fastingis a form of modified fasting that allows the addition of a certain number of calories during the fast. Experts don’t fully agree on what is the best way to do a dirty fast, but many say that you should stick to foods under 100 calories that are high-fat and won’t spike blood sugar. For example, integrative physician Amy Shah says of her own dirty fasting method, “For me, I like to fast as long as possible with just water—that might be 13 or 14 hours of a water fast—then I’ll have my tea with almond milk (the start of my ‘dirty fast’) and end at around 16 hours.”
Dirty fasting is definitely an option if it’ll keep you happy and consistent, just keep in mind that fewer studies have been done on this type of fasting. According to Samantha Cassetty, M.S., RD, nutrition and wellness expert, “keep in mind that there are almost no studies on this form of fasting, and without evidence, we can’t say whether this modified fasting protocol would produce similar benefits as might be experienced through other intermittent fasting protocols.”
If you’re going to consume calories, where should they come from?
If you’ve decided that you are going to consume some calories during your fast to help keep you on the intermittent fasting train, it’s not only important to remember that there are fewer studies on the effects of that type of fasting, but also that you shouldn’t just be grabbing whatever’s in reach. When we say “dirty fast,” we don’t mean it’s time to bust out the Oreos!
There are some things that have calories (and therefore technically break your fast) that might still allow you to get some of the benefits of IF. For example:
Tea and coffee – Yes, these innocuous, water-based hot drinks technically have a few calories! That means they might (MIGHT) throw you out of autophagy, but that’s not even all that clear. In fact, in studies with mice, it looked like coffee actually induced autophagy, so we’re going to give that one a big shrug. And, since these drinks don’t seem to interfere with ketosis, and in some cases, coffee can even have an appetite-suppressing effect, we’re going to give the thumbs up to some black coffee or a comforting cup of tea.
Certain fats – Just like you can choose to do a dirty fast, you can also choose to do a “fat fast,” or one that includes hot drinks blended with fats like coconut oil, ghee, or grass-fed butter. This type of fasting is recommended less for weight loss. According to integrative dietician Ali Miller, R.D., “Low body fat levels can drive imbalances in hormones, so a ‘fat fast’ would be appropriate for people looking for moderate body composition changes or maintenance,” But it certainly won’t be bad for your waistline: this type of fasting allows you to push off hunger and cravings (so you don’t eat a full-blown meal) and allows for ketosis, so it is still good for maintaining a healthy weight. Plus a little fat (especially in the morning) helps keep you regular! You might not get the full benefits of autophagy, though, since you will be breaking your fast.
Bone broth – Again, bone broth does have calories, so it will technically break your fast, but even renowned IF expert Jason Fung, M.D. says a bit of bone broth is a great way to keep you on track, while giving you the electrolytes and minerals that your body might need during a longer fast. Consuming water alone, especially if your fast is longer than 16 hours, can reduce electrolyte levels in the body, leading to potential complications such as low blood pressure, confusion, nausea, muscle spasms, and fatigue. Just be careful with too much bone broth, as it seems to interfere with autophagy (as a lot of protein does).
Is there anything you definitely shouldn’t have?
A lot of things are off the table during your fasting window, but there is one little thing that you might not even be worrying about, which experts say to avoid on IF: artificial sweeteners. Yes, they technically have zero calories, but experts pretty much agree that just because something doesn’t have any calories, doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect your body.
According to Miller, “Just because something is noncaloric doesn’t mean it is free of metabolic influence. The taste of sweet impacts GLP-1 receptors on the tongue, which enhances insulin release—this is not ideal, as insulin has a negative impact on fasting and may drive blood sugar drops.” And blood sugar spikes are exactly what you’re trying to avoid while fasting!
If you’re doing intermittent fasting, hopefully it’s feeling like the right alternative to traditional diets to you, and you’re feeling good! But if you’re also feeling confused about the “right” way to do it, know that there is some flexibility – and also remember that the way you choose to eat should make you feel good. If you feel like you can’t do the whole full-blown water fast thing, you can try one of the above alternatives if it’ll keep you happy and consistent. But you can also try tweaking what you’re doing during your feeding window: make sure you’re eating enough and eating the right foods. Bottom line: do what works for you! And make sure you tell us how your IF journey is going!
It’s October, and school is back in full swing, with all the trials and tribulations it brings to kids and parents alike. And with that in mind, October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a time to reflect on how we can all take steps to do something about the worst-case scenario of those trials and tribulations.
Bullying is such a common and damaging problem – and it has only evolved as technology has also evolved – but it often gets brushed aside or not spoken about or dealt with. And that’s often because we, as adults, sometimes just don’t know what to say or do. But this month, we want to really talk about what’s going on with kids, and what parents can do to help.
The Same Old Problem
Bullying among children is certainly not a new problem. Just because older generations didn’t have to go through the tortures of being bullied both at school and online, doesn’t mean that they didn’t have their fair share of bad experiences with that one kid (or group of kids) who just wouldn’t leave them alone. But what does the problem look like today? Check out these eye-opening statistics:
One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied.
41% of students who reported being bullied at school said that they think the bullying would happen again.
Rates of bullying vary across studies (from 9% to 98%). A meta-analysis of 80 studies analyzing bullying involvement rates (for both bullying others and being bullied) for 12-18 year old students reported a mean prevalence rate of 35% for traditional bullying involvement and 15% for cyberbullying involvement.
One in five (20.9%) tweens (9 to 12 years old) has been cyberbullied, cyberbullied others, or seen cyberbullying.
49.8% of tweens (9 to 12 years old) say they have experienced bullying at school and 14.5% of tweens shared they have experienced bullying online.
Students who experience bullying are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.
Bullied students say that bullying has a negative effect on how they feel about themselves (27%), their relationships with friends and family (19%), their school work (19%), and physical health (14%).
Tweens who were cyberbullied shared that it negatively impacted their feelings about themselves (69.1%), their friendships (31.9%), their physical health (13.1%), and their schoolwork (6.5%).
70.1% of LGBTQ students were verbally bullied (e.g., called names, threatened) in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 59.1% because of their gender expression; those numbers are 28.9% and 24.4% respectively for physical bullying.
23% of African-American students, 23% of Caucasian students, 16% of Hispanic students, and 7% of Asian students report being bullied at school
A meta-analysis found that students facing peer victimization are 2.2 times more likely to have suicide ideation and 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide than students not facing victimization
When we read things like the above, we should all sit up and take notice. There are a lot of kids out there who are suffering, and many of them don’t really even know how to talk about what’s happening to them, much less what they should do to try to combat the problem. So what can parents do? The first step is recognizing that there is a problem.
Recognizing the Signs of Bullying
As we pointed out above, kids often won’t talk about being bullied, and will end up suffering in silence. They might think they’ll be blamed, or be worried about retaliation – but whatever the reason for their silence, they still need you to be there to support them, so it’s important you recognize the signs that something is wrong in their life. Some of the signs that a child is being bullied include:
Complaining of physical issues like stomach aches, headaches, or diarrhea, which can be caused by anxiety and stress
No longer mentioning friends they used to spend time with
Not wanting to go to school
Changing moods – they might seem anxious, sullen, clingy, or withdrawn, for example
Seeming to suffer from low self-esteem, or blaming themselves for things and saying they are not good enough
Changing sleep patterns
Dropping grades
Losing interest in activities they once enjoyed
Coming home with a lot of lost, damaged, or misplaced items
Getting upset when going online
If you notice these signs, or if your child does confide in you, don’t minimize, rationalize, or explain away the experience – be there to listen and support your child. But it can be hard to know how to do that, so let’s take a look at some suggestions for how to handle the situation.
What Can You Do If Your Child Is Being Bullied?
Before we talk about some steps for dealing with a bullying situation with your child, let’s go over what exactly bullying is. Bullying is:
Deliberate – Bullies intend to hurt others.
Repeated – It’s more than just one mean comment, or cutting someone in the lunch line. Bullying is a repetitive behavior – or it at least has the potential to be repeated over and over.
Includes a power imbalance – Bullies choose victims who they see as vulnerable.
So if it seems like your child is being bullied, try the following steps:
1. Listen to them
In order to help your child, you will have to be there for them and listen to them.
The first thing you need to do is just hear them out. It might be painful for you to hear what they’re going through, but it’s important that you are open and able to hear what they have to say. Try to stay neutral but supportive as you listen, and stick to simple reactions like, “What can I do to help?” as opposed to anger or being upset. Remember, as well, not to minimize the situation, either.
And if your child is not opening up to you, but you’ve noticed the signs of bullying in them, try asking open-ended questions like “How was your bus ride today?” or, “Have you ever seen anyone being mean to someone on the bus?” Then move to questions that directly affect your child, such as, “Are you ever scared to get on the bus?” or, “Has anyone ever been mean to you on the bus?”
2. Make a few things clear right from the start
Once you’ve heard them out, stress that bullying is never their fault, and it’s always more about the bully themselves than about your child. It’s also not up to them to prevent bullying. Once you’ve made that clear, you can talk about how you together can have a plan in place to address the problem and hopefully keep it from escalating. In addition, you can teach them to name what’s happening to them as “bullying,” which can help them feel empowered, since “bullying” is a negative word in most schools now, so they will know that their bully is the one in the wrong.
3. Talk about ways they can respond
Being bullied is really stressful, and it can be hard for anyone of any age to think straight in the moment. It can be helpful to offer some direct, but non-antagonistic phrases they can practice and use to tell someone to stop bullying behaviors. These can include really simple things like “Back off,” or “Leave me alone.” Your child might feel like they need clever retorts, but sometimes less is more.
4. Try some role-playing
You can try to help your child build confidence in their reactions to bullies by role-playing bullying scenarios with them. Talk about their options: giving the simple phrases from above in a firm, confident voice, or not reacting at all if the bully is one who is looking for kids who will get upset and take the teasing to heart. Either reaction will at the very least give them time to remove themselves from the situation and find someone to talk to, especially if they feel unsafe. It’s important to note that you should work with your child’s strengths when suggesting reactions to situations. This will help them build confidence.
5. Take the lead in asserting that bullying is not acceptable at your child’s school
Schools need to take responsibility for their environment and culture, and you can contact your child’s school about the bullying that is going on, and suggest that they implement anti-bullying and anti-violence programs – you can even take the lead in spearheading these programs. It might feel frustrating that you need to do this, but it can be worth it in the end.
According to Joel Haber, a psychologist and author who is an expert on bullying prevention, “Schools that create a culture of inclusion, train staff about bullying and follow clear protocols rewarding efforts to create a community for all faculty and students have better outcomes against bullying and greater safety. Schools that ignore bullying in their student body and faculty and don’t take steps to protect the community allow those who bully a place to use their power to marginalize others. They create a culture where those toward the bottom of the social ladder are victimized.”
6. Build their confidence
Encourage your children to do things that they enjoy, and things that make them feel like they’re building skills.
The better your child feels about themselves, the less likely it will be that bullying will affect them in a serious way. Encourage them to do things that they enjoy, things that bring out the best in them, and things that make them feel like they’re building skills. And don’t forget to praise them and honor their strengths, which will also help improve their self-esteem. Remember that, according to Steven Pastyrnak, Ph.D., the Division Chief of Psychology at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI, “As parents, we have a tendency to focus on negative situations, but kids actually listen better when their good behaviors are reinforced.”
But it’s not all about your praise. Tell them to remind themselves of all the positive things about them when someone says something negative about them.
7. Report Repeated, Severe Bullying
Your child might be afraid of retaliation, but in the end, it’s up to adults to keep kids safe. You might need to go with your child to speak to a teacher, counselor, principal, or school administration to deal with the situation. Know your school’s policy on bullying, and be ready to follow up.
Finally, we’d like to note that another important thing you can do is to teach your child to be an “upstander” whether they are the victim of bullying or not. This means that you can encourage them to not be a passive bystander in bullying situations. We’re not talking about aggressive behavior; rather, talk about how taking positive action can make a difference. Ask them how it feels to have someone stand up for them, and encourage them to do for others what would feel good for them. As Walter Roberts, a professor of counselor education at Minnesota State University, Mankato and author of Working With Parents of Bullies and Victims points out, “When it’s the kids who speak up, it’s 10 times more powerful than anything that we’ll ever be able to do as an adult.”
Bullying should never be considered acceptable behavior, no matter how it’s done or what age the children involved are. We can’t sit back and assume that it’s all just normal childhood stuff that will work itself out. But it’s also absolutely normal to be unsure what to do if the situation presents itself to you. Just know that there are steps you can try – the most important thing to do is listen, support, and build up your child as best you can. Now let’s all get out there this National Bullying Prevention Month and be upstanders – and teach our children to do the same!
The human brain is such a complicated thing. And human feelings? Forget it. For most people who don’t have advanced degrees in studying the brain, it can sometimes feel like a complete mystery why we like what we like, want what we want, feel what we feel – especially when something like depression hits.
So that might be why it’s felt almost comforting to look at depression as a “chemical imbalance” in the brain, something that could be reduced to a simple equation – you have this much serotonin, but you should have this much. But, for better or worse, the chemical imbalance theory of depression, which has long been questioned by a lot of experts, has well and truly been debunked. Let’s take a look at a new study that is the nail in the coffin for this theory that so many of us still believe.
The History of the “Chemical Imbalance” Theory
Again, depression is complicated. Experts have been struggling for a very, very long time to explain it, and thus find an effective way to treat it, and make the lives of those living with it better. While there are sometimes obvious reasons for someone to become depressed – trauma, childbirth, loss, extended periods of chronic stress – there are many other people who feel the crushing weight of depression with no known cause associated with a life event or situation.
So experts, especially in the 1970s and 80s, began looking at biological causes of depression. Could it all just be deviations in brain structure, neurochemistry, and genetics? And so what eventually evolved was what has become popularly known as the “chemical imbalance” theory of what causes this condition. Many thought that too much or too little of essential signal-transmitting chemicals – neurotransmitters (such as serotonin) – were present in the brain of people who were suffering from depression, so treatments like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressant medications began to be prescribed.
But it turns out that the whole serotonin-based theory of depression is pretty much dead among experts, and a “new” study has put the final nail in the coffin of it for some – although, for others, it’s simply been an unsurprising confirmation.
A New, But Unsurprising, Study
A major new review of the research – the first of its kind to exhaustively review the evidence of whether serotonin levels play a major and provable part in depression, was published just this past summer in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. And this study confirms the beliefs of all those who’ve been skeptical of the chemical imbalance theory of depression.
In “The Serotonin Theory of Depression: A Systematic Umbrella Review of the Evidence,” University College London Psychiatry Professor Joanna Moncrieff and a team of five other top European researchers found “there is no evidence of a connection between reduced serotonin levels or activity and depression.” In fact, they found evidence of higher levels of serotonin in people with depression, most likely because of the widespread use of SSRIs. They also found no difference between the genes of people with depression and people without it, and found that stressful life events were much more likely than anything else to play a part in developing depression.
But another interesting finding of their study was how “influential,” according to the researchers, the serotonin theory of depression still is. They noted that “85-90% of the public believes that depression is caused by low serotonin or a chemical imbalance,” despite the fact that, according to their study of the many studies out there that there is “no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations.”
And some experts say this is leading most of us to look at depression and its treatment in the wrong way, and to want to find a simple medical “cure” to a more complicated problem. For example, Daniel Carlat, the editor of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, told National Public Radio, “I’ll often say something like the way Zoloft [an antidepressant drug] works, is, it increases the level of serotonin in your brain (or synapses, neurons) and, presumably, the reason you’re depressed or anxious is that you have some sort of a deficiency. And I say that not because I really believe it, because I know the evidence really isn’t there for us to understand the mechanism—I think I say that because patients want to know something. And they want to know that we as physicians have some basic understanding of what we’re doing when we’re prescribing medications.”
So are antidepressants, then, about to be tossed out like the chemical imbalance theory?
Are Antidepressants Still Relevant?
As we pointed out above, the rejection of the chemical imbalance theory of depression is not uncommon among the scientific community, with most experts saying that the “chemical imbalance” theory was tossed out long ago, it’s just that we, the public, weren’t fully informed about it. And maybe that’s because depression is just so complicated, and still so little-understood, that we need something to help us make sense of it.
But now the logical conclusion for some people (in both the everyday public and the scientific community) is that maybe antidepressants are not the answer. And yes, SSRIs by no means guarantee relief from the symptoms of depression. In fact, according to some studies, they are ineffective for as many as 50% of patients with depression. And some experts have questioned whether the claims of the makers of these drugs are actually backed up by enough scientific evidence. In other words, as two prominent researchers put it back in the early 2000s, “Are the claims made in SSRI advertising congruent with the scientific evidence?” – to which their answer was a no that they felt was “remarkable and possibly unparalleled.”
But to some experts, the answer to this question of whether antidepressants are still relevant lies in looking at the beginning of the chemical imbalance theory in a different way. Because they do actually work for some people, right? We wouldn’t have started using them otherwise – but it’s interesting to note that the original antidepressants weren’t developed as a treatment for serotonin levels.
Actually, one was originally used to treat TB, and the other was an antihistamine. But in the 1950s, it was observed that they improved mood; further study showed that one of the things they did was block the reuptake of serotonin after it had been secreted (like an SSRI), so voila. A simple hypothesis that has stuck around in our minds for ages was born: if antidepressants were shown to boost levels of serotonin, then low levels of serotonin must be to blame for depression. Pharmaceutical companies then developed SSRIs, and shouted that message from the rooftops – and now SSRIs are under a lot more scrutiny, especially with this big, new study.
But while a lot of experts – the researchers of the above study included – seem to think that SSRIs are not the way to go at all, others think they can play a part in treating some people, until something better comes along. It’s just that we don’t really know how they work, just that for some, they perform better than a placebo. Is that enough? Are they doing harm?
Christopher Davey, head of the department of psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, is on the fence about antidepressant use, but certainly not anti-SSRIs (as the authors of the new study seem to be), but is totally on board with the final debunking of the chemical imbalance theory. And not just among the scientific community, but among all of us, so we can all be more equipped to find the right combination of things that can help relieve the symptoms of this incredibly complex condition.
Davey says, “when contemplating whether an antidepressant might be an option for someone with depression, it is of little consequence that its mechanism of action is incompletely understood. So let’s put the chemical imbalance theory to bed. We should continue our efforts to understand the nature of depression while we keep searching for better treatments.”
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the deceptively neat explanation of depression that explains it as a chemical imbalance, or mainly due to low serotonin levels, or any other completely biological-based theory, just isn’t backed up by evidence. Our brains are complex, and so are the reasons for depression – and so finding the right treatment is also going to be complex, unfortunately. But if you’re living with depression, keep working with a professional who can help you find what works for you, whether that includes medication or not.
There’s a lot we know about exercise. We know about its benefits, like its ability to improve heart health or relieve depression, and we know how great strength training can be for strengthening bones and burning fat. We also know approximately how much exercise we should be getting to see these benefits…and the list goes on. But there’s also a lot we know about humans, one important thing being that we’re super busy and are prone to skipping our daily workouts.
We also have good intentions, though! And, because we do want to get the benefits of working out (and we don’t want to feel guilty) many of us become “weekend workout warriors,” meaning we cram all of our workout sessions into the two days of the week that we’re not so busy, stressed, and tired. If that sounds like you, and you’ve been beating yourself up about not working out all week, you’ll be very interested to hear about a study that suggests you might actually be getting the same benefits as someone who spreads their workouts out throughout the week.
150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week – This means something that gets your heart rate up and makes you break a sweat (you should be able to talk, but not belt out a tune). These 150 minutes can include things like brisk walking, riding your bike, or even heavy chores like pushing a lawn mower or gardening – OR
75 minutes of vigorous activity – This type of activity should raise your heart rate quite a bit, and make you breathe hard and fast (you shouldn’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath). To get these 75 minutes in, you can try things like running/jogging, swimming laps, riding your bike fast on a hilly route, dancing, etc. – OR
An equivalent mix of the two types of activity – PLUS
2 days a week (or more) of muscle-strengthening activities – You can use weights, resistance bands, or do bodyweight activities, but make sure to work all the major muscle groups: legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms.
So those are the minimum recommendations laid out by the CDC, and agreed upon by a lot of other medical experts. But here’s the thing: they don’t actually say that it’s better to break up those 150/75 minutes into equal chunks spread out over the whole week, and there is not really a whole lot of evidence to suggest that’s the only way to get your exercise in. And now there’s proof that you can fit working out into your busy life, and still reap the benefits.
The Study: Good News for Weekend Warriors
A new international study has found that working out on the weekends is just as effective for your health as working out daily is – but the key is that you need to be doing the same amount of exercise as you would if you were to workout every day. The study, led by Mauricio dos Santos, MS.c., an exercise physiology researcher from the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil, analyzed public health data for over 350,000 people in the US collected through the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) between 1997 and 2013. They investigated the question, “Does performing the recommended levels of weekly physical activity in 1 to 2 sessions (weekend warrior) vs 3 or more sessions (regularly active) influence mortality?”
This is basically the first time that scientists have really determined if cramming all of your physical activity into 1 or 2 sessions a week (or being a weekend warrior) is comparable to spreading out your recommended dose of movement in terms of health benefits (mortality), and guess what? They found very little difference between weekend warriors and regular exercisers in terms of reduced mortality risk from all causes, and specifically from illnesses like cancer or cardiovascular disease.
In fact, the researchers concluded that “individuals who engage in active patterns of physical activity, whether weekend warrior or regularly active, experience lower all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates than inactive individuals.” And “individuals who engage in the recommended levels of physical activity may experience the same benefit whether the sessions are performed throughout the week or concentrated into fewer days.”
Sounds like good news for all of us who are busy on the weekdays, but like to get in a good, long workout on our days off – because, remember, you’ve still got to get in your recommended amount of exercise, no matter when you do it or how you spread it out.
But what if that doesn’t work for you? Are there other, just as effective, ways to work your workout into your week?
Another Option for Fitting In Your Recommended Dose of Exercise
The above study is not the only one that suggests you don’t need to be so regimented with the timing of your workouts. There is another study that found that you can still get the health benefits of exercise, even if you can only cram in 10 minutes or so at a time.
In a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, participants ages six and older were asked to wear an accelerometer (an instrument that measures vibration and acceleration) for seven days from 2003 to 2006. Researchers then used data from 4,850 participants that were 40 to 85 years old and followed up in 2015 to determine their self-reported health status.
And, while the researchers were actually just looking to determine if exercise increased longevity, they had some interesting findings about the amount of exercise needed to boost health. They found that, yes, exercise reduces mortality – and were surprised by how little at a time could make a difference. The study estimated that approximately 110,000 deaths per year could be prevented if adults aged 40 to 85 increased their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity intensity (MVPA) by as little as just 10 minutes per day. In fact, increasing MVPA by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13%, and 16.9% decrease in deaths per year, respectively.
So what does that mean for you if you’re not a weekend warrior or someone who gets in a consistent daily workout? Well, even fitting in 10 minutes at a time can make a difference to your health! And if you can do that 3 times a day on some days, or more or less on other days, you can meet your recommended amount of physical activity, or maybe even sneakily get some extra exercise in.
For example, if you take a brisk walk while talking on the phone for 10 minutes, have a 10-minute dance party with your kids after school, and do a mini HIIT workout while watching TV for 10 minutes in the evening, you’ll have hit the 30-minute mark without even realizing it!
The bottom line is: exercising is the right thing to do for your health, so don’t let time constraints keep you from doing something that could extend your life. Stop worrying about finding time for a workout at the same time, for the same amount of time, every day, and just get moving whenever you can! Studies are actually proving that you don’t need to be an “all or nothing” exerciser – “all or something” is just as good, and could keep you healthier, for longer. And we want you around for a long, long time!
We want to hear from you: are you a weekend warrior when it comes to exercise? Or are you all about spreading the love when it comes to working out? Are you getting in your recommended amount – or will these studies motivate you, knowing that even a little at a time, or a longer weekend workout can help?
Admit it: do you get a little bit annoyed when you see those workouts aimed at seniors? You know the ones: smiling older adults seated comfortably in chairs, sloooowly raising up one arm at a time, or stretching ever-so-gently from side to side? If those snails-pace workouts aren’t your cup of tea, and you prefer to get your heart pumping while you exercise with things like high-intensity interval training (HIIT), you’re in luck!
You might actually be doing more good for yourself than you thought, since a recent study shows that high-intensity exercise is not just good for your body, but also good for your brain. In fact, it looks like HIIT has some serious benefits for boosting memory, even if you’re already older. So if you want results now, both in terms of body and memory, you might want to give HIIT a try. Find out exactly why, and if it might be right for you.
What is HIIT?
In case you’re not up on the exercise lingo, here’s a refresher on what high-intensity interval training, or HIIT is. It’s pretty simple, really: HIIT involves switching between periods of high effort and recovery. These periods of work and rest are what set HIIT apart from other types of workouts, like circuit workouts (where you complete reps of a series of exercises) or steady-state cardio (like jogging). With those types of workouts, it’s more about completing the exercise, whereas with HIIT it’s also about the effort you’re putting in for a set amount of time.
When it comes to the actual movements involved in HIIT, they can vary based on what’s right for you and your abilities. It doesn’t have to be the stereotypical things like burpees and tuck jumps, especially for older adults who might not be so comfortable with jumping. You can even do HIIT on a stationary bike or treadmill, you would just need to do a burst of high speed for, say, 30 seconds, then recover with a slower pace for a minute or so.
To make sure you’re working at higher and lower intensities, you could try thinking about intensity as a 10-point scale, with zero being no effort, and 10 being all-out effort. If you’re a beginner, you can warm up at 1, then speed up to an effort of 3 for a few minutes, then slow down to a 2 for a few minutes. Eventually, though, as you get more fit, you’ll want to reach a high of 8, with recovery periods around a 4.
So why do HIIT? There are some definite benefits to this type of workout, if you’re able to do it. Studies suggest that doing HIIT can:
Improve heart health in a shorter time than other forms of exercise, since it improves the maximum volume of oxygen your body use (VO2), which in turn improves how well your heart pumps blood
Increase muscle strength
Improve cholesterol
Lower blood sugar and improve insulin resistance
Boost metabolism
Increase ability to do exercise that involves pushing your heart rate
Lower blood pressure
Help with weight loss
And now, a study done in the last few years has found that there’s another big benefit to HIIT workouts, that is especially beneficial for seniors: a big boost in cognitive function.
The Study
Seniors who do more intense, HIIT-style workouts performed 30% better on tests that tap into the “newborn” neurons in the brain.
It turns out that there are actually a lot of lifestyle factors that go into cognitive health. According to Jennifer Heisz, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University and lead author of the study we’re going to look at, “There is urgent need for interventions that reduce dementia risk in healthy older adults. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the role that lifestyle plays, and the greatest modifying risk factor of all is physical activity.
And it also turns out that not all physical activity is created equal when it comes to boosting memory in older adults. The study, published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, suggests that intensity is critical. Seniors who exercised using short bursts of activity saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while participants who worked out moderately saw no improvement, on average.
That’s huge! So what did the study look like? For the study, researchers recruited dozens of sedentary, but otherwise healthy older adults, between the ages of 60 and 88 who participated in three exercise sessions per week over a 12-week period. Some performed high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), while a separate control group engaged in stretching only.
Those doing HIIT did four sets of high-intensity exercise on a treadmill for four minutes, pushing their heart rate to up to 90-95% for those short bursts, then followed that with a recovery period. The participants doing MICT did one set of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for nearly 50 minutes, only pushing their hearts to 70-75% of their max.
The participants then took tests that tap into the “newborn” neurons in the brain generated by physical activity; these neurons are great for forming new connections and memories – perfect for seniors who might struggle with that. According to Heisz, “The test looks at the ability to remember the details of new memories without mixing things up. For example, if you meet two new people today, it is important to not mix up their names or personal information, or to remember that you took your medicine yesterday rather than today.”
The fact that participants doing the more intense, HIIT-style workouts performed 30% better should make us all sit up and take notice. Maybe it’s time to get a little sweatier and more out of breath!
Some HIIT Options for Older Adults
First things first: if you’re interested in getting the benefits of a HIIT-style exercise regime, please talk to your doctor and get clearance before you start! It’s important to note that all the participants in the above study, while sedentary, were healthy, and were cleared by their doctors to do HIIT. So if you get the go ahead, where should you start?
Well, Heisz says, “I always recommend that people do what they love because that means they will be more likely to do it! It’s never too late to get the brain health benefits of being physically active, but if you are starting late and want to see results fast, our research suggests you may need to increase the intensity of your exercise.”
To do that, consider these starting steps to get yourself into higher-intensity workouts:
Always warm up before your workout
To make your workout more efficient, plan it out ahead of time – you can follow along with a written workout, audio workout, or a video (check out YouTube for some great ideas)
Make sure you keep good form
Drink water to stay hydrated throughout your workout
Start with a familiar exercise for you, like walking, cycling, or bodyweight exercises
Use a timer to keep track of your high intensity and recovery intervals
Start slow and increase your effort gradually
Don’t overdo it: start with just 1-2 HIIT sessions per week, and don’t do it more than 3 times a week
You don’t have to do a crazy exercise, walking for a long period of time can help boost your memory too.
And remember, HIIT doesn’t have to mean crazy, unfamiliar exercises that require you to jump up onto things. You can get a great HIIT workout by alternating between short periods of higher intensity and longer periods of recovery while:
Walking
Cycling (stationary or outdoors)
Swimming
Using an elliptical machine
Boxing (throw as many punches as you can during your work interval, then walk/jog it out during your recovery)
Low-impact bodyweight HIIT cardio, or low-impact HIIT with light weights (head to YouTube for some ideas, or some videos to follow along to)
Concerns about memory are very real, and can be very distressing as we age. But, while we can’t change our genetics, we are learning that there are things we can do to keep our brains healthy, while simultaneously benefiting our bodies. It sounds like HIIT might just be one of the best of the best when it comes to boosting your memory and keeping you lean and mean, so if it’s something you feel like you can do, and want to do, talk to your doctor about it ASAP. It could help you stay sharper for longer than you even hoped!
