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welcome to happiness marine surgery with
Doc's knives practical tools to improve
your mood and quality of life we're
going to continue with our segments on
the causes of depression depressive
symptoms and ways to address them in
this segment we're going to talk about
the causes consequences and possible
interventions for agitation and
restlessness now a lot of times when
you're depressed you're not thinking
about agitation and restlessness but
there are many many people who have
these symptoms when they are depressed
they can't sit still they're a jeté
today they feel like they need to stay
moving all the time they're depressed
they're not getting pleasure from most
things they're having difficulty
sleeping they meet other criteria for
depression but they've also got this
other symptom going on so we're going to
take a look at that agitation and
restlessness is often but not always
accompanied by worry sometimes people
worry a lot when you worry and worry and
worry eventually you just start running
out of gas and you start feeling
hopeless and helpless because you're not
able to make that worry go away which is
when the depression starts kicking in
but there's also people who are
depressed or even when they're depressed
that have agitation and restlessness and
it's not even associated with worry
really
they just can't sit still and they don't
that they're trying to find something to
do that's going to make them happy and
nothing seems to work
norepinephrine is your get-up-and-go
neurotransmitter too much of it or too
little serotonin can cause feelings of
agitation so you know whether you don't
have enough serotonin or you've got too
much norepinephrine you need to look at
what's going on either way you're going
to feel agitated when your body
perceives stress for too long it'll
determine it may be an unwinnable and
may reduce norepinephrine and dopamine
turning down that threat response system
that we've talked about leading to
fatigue and apathy at a certain point
your brain just goes you know what
there's nothing we can do about this I
surrender I give up I'm going to save
energy for when it's really important
for when I really need to fight or flee
unfortunately when your body tries to
save energy and it reduces you know its
response you don't feel pleasure either
you need norepinephrine to feel pleasure
in addition to feel stress it's your get
up and go whether it's get up and go and
woohoo or get up and go and fight or
flee so agitation busters is what we're
going to call them in this segment
exercise exercise helps release
serotonin they've done many many studies
they found that exercise can help with
depressive symptoms that's great it
doesn't mean you've got to get into the
gym and get into target heart rate range
and all this kind of other stuff
especially if you haven't been
exercising or if you don't even like
exercising exercise means get your body
moving get up off the couch and move
ideally walking around the walking
around the neighborhood playing with
your dog doing something a little bit
active but anything is better than
nothing
you don't necessarily have to get what
we typically think of as exercise put on
your headphones and dance around your
house like a maniac maybe even while
cleaning it will help release serotonin
it also uses if you want to use that
term excess nervous energy I find when
I'm really stressed out and I'm agitated
especially if it's maybe I've got a job
interview coming up or some sort of
other thing coming up that I'm a little
nervous about I'm not you know
persistently worried but I'm a little
stressed I may have more nervous energy
and if I get up and I put that energy to
use for something that I'm not dwelling
on whatever it is that I'm kind of
worried about and I'm also getting the
benefit of getting something positive
done cut down is not out stimulants
remember if you've been using caffeine
for a long time and you just cut it out
cold turkey you're going to likely get
headaches and stuff anytime you switch
anything in your diet start an exercise
program talk to your doctor but be aware
that switching to decaf can help or hey
even water water
is even better but I'm being realistic
here some things to be careful of and
I've noticed even more since I've quit
using caffeine after like 10:30 11
o'clock in the morning it's a lot of
fast-food restaurants that you go to
don't have an option for anything
caffeine free that is also sugar-free so
since I don't drink sugar either I
usually end up with water water is great
for you don't get me wrong that's
wonderful but do be aware that is not
just coffee that has caffeine caffeine
is found in root beer sprite ginger or
I'm sorry
caffeine is found in Coke Pepsi Dr
Pepper Mountain Dew and other drinks
like tea root beer sprite ginger ale 7up
decaf sodas and Powerade type drinks
generally don't have caffeine in them I
put the links down here for actually I
didn't for caffeine you can google what
has caffeine in it just google things
like soft drinks and caffeine amounts
and there are lots of different websites
that have charts that will show you how
much caffeine is in various different
things the other stimulant that a lot of
people use is nicotine again in an ideal
world we would cut it out
if you're not ready willing or able to
do that you may want to consider cutting
back on nicotine there are smokeless
tobacco products as well as cigarettes
that have much lower levels of nicotine
than other brands so if you're trying to
gradually cut back down you can look at
these different websites find something
that has less nicotine than what you're
currently using again also you can talk
to your doctor about nicotine
replacement therapy and things like that
but there are options I guess is my
point to you you're not going to stick
to something if you feel miserable so
figuring out what's realistic for you is
going to be really important in busting
that agitation because if when you get
stressed out you tend to reach for a
cigarette or you know some other sort of
Nick
eighteen product if you cut that out
then we start getting stressed whether
you reach for so there needs to be
something in there to help you bridge
that gap into until you develop new
habits and you want to make sure that
you're not going to get so stressed out
about quitting the nicotine that it
makes your agitation even worse
nutrition eat foods high in taurine
mackerel eggs and brewers yeast you can
do a internet search to find other
things if none of those sound really
good to you but taurine can help your
brain produce gaba gaba is one of your
calming neurotransmitters drink enough
water and don't let your blood sugar get
too low when your body systems get out
of whack you know think about your car
and how you have to check all the fluids
all the time and make sure that you've
got the right kind of gas same thing for
your body and most of us and I'm not
saying everybody but most of us when our
blood sugar gets too low we get hangry
which is a cross between hungry and
angry we want food and we want it now
some people also get shaky which adds to
their agitation and irritability get
focused too many irons the fire could
keep you on edge if you've got 14
different projects going and you feel
like you're being pulled in 14 different
directions yeah you're probably going to
be agitated and stressed because you're
trying to juggle too many balls so see
how many you can pare it down to and do
it in a succession so maybe get three
goals accomplished and then add three
more and then work on it like that
instead of trying to do 15 at once
make sure when you're getting focused
and you're prioritizing those goals
you're focusing on those goals that are
going to help you move toward those
people things and goals that are most
important to you because that will
increase your motivation and reduce your
agitation because you're going to feel
good about what you're doing
stay busy if you're agitating is just
you know I'm trying to do something to
feel better there's sitting still I
don't feel good moving I don't feel good
it's helpful just to stay busy pick up a
hobby like crocheting or reading or
doing crossword puzzles you can go down
the Pinterest rabbit hole I know my
daughter does that and reaches there
basis will be sitting there in the
evening and all of a sudden I won't hear
anything from her for like an hour and
she's just down that Pinterest rabbit
hole but it is occupied her for that
hour you can clean if worse comes to
worse clean that's when I was in college
that what used to be my go-to people
could always tell when I was a little
bit stressed or agitated because I would
be cleaning the baseboards that was my
thing I've always been a freak about
floors and baseboards mindfulness
identify your vulnerabilities and I have
other presentations other podcasts that
I've already done on understanding
vulnerabilities being mindful of what
you need in order to be less vulnerable
to getting upset so think about it if
you wake up and you're feeling rested
you're well nourished you're hydrated
it's a sunny day outside you know you've
got good friends you feel loved you know
you are really buffered against stress
as opposed to the days that you wake up
and you're not feeling well you're
running late for work
you didn't get enough sleep yadda yadda
yadda and you kind of wake up and you're
in a bad state those days you probably
react more strongly to anything negative
that comes your way then the days you
get up and you know you've got that good
buffer going so identify your
vulnerabilities and work with them you
know ideally you want to prevent as many
as possible and try to work on making
sure that you're taking care of yourself
but sometimes like last night we had
thunderstorms all night long and y'all
know I let my dogs sleep in the bedroom
and one of my dogs is terrified of
thunder so every couple of hours when a
thunderstorm would come through he would
get up jump off the bed and start pacing
around like an expectant little father
just waiting for the thunderstorm to go
away so I didn't sleep well last night
knowing that coming into work today I
knew I was going to be less productive
and I just accepted that
accepted the fact that I'm going to be
not on my a-game instead of beating
myself up and trying to do everything
that I had anticipated getting done so
identify your vulnerabilities prevent as
many as possible but when there are some
you know you wake up and you're sick or
something
give yourself some compassion and go you
know what I just got to kind of roll
with a hand that I got dealt this
morning identify your strengths figure
out what you're good at that will help
you know delay some agitation because
you've got good qualities you've got
something to bring to every situation
and identify thoughts you're having
which are triggering your agitation if
you're having some distress intolerant
thoughts like I can't stand this or I
have to get this why do you have to get
it is the world going to end you want to
look for cognitive distortions and
unhelpful thoughts that are triggering
anxiety and triggering your inability to
feel grounded and content meditation or
yoga can help you focus on your breath
and if you're focusing on your breath
you're not focusing on everything out
here you're really focusing on paying
attention to inhale and exhale maybe
listening to your heartbeat whatever it
is that you do in your practice get a
physical if your hormones your thyroid
hormones your sex hormones are out of
whack you may feel more agitated or on
the other side you may feel lack of
motivation and apathetic so it's
important to rule that it will not any
of the easy things as we age all of that
stuff gets a little bit wonky so it's
important to work with your doctor and
it may not be taking pharmaceuticals it
may be a matter of getting more exercise
or taking additional vitamin supplements
to help you maintain the energy levels
and stuff that you had when you were 20
oxytocin is a great agitation Buster
that is our bonding chemical we find
that a hug that lasts about 20 seconds
or more can help release oxytocin and
help people
feel calmer and less agitated now we
can't necessarily when we're at work
walk up to somebody go I need a hug and
you may not have an animal at your
office place either if you can't get a
hug petting an animal it has also been
shown to do similar things so if you can
get an animal that is conducive to that
my my cat mojo love the little guy but
he is the greatest therapy cat and I
know you think cats aren't therapy
animals but he is he can tell when I'm
stressed and he whenever I am he gets on
my stomach
and will pat on my chest for a little
while and then he'll just lay down and
get all comfy and he knows that I'm not
going to move as long as he's
comfortable so we both end up kind of
calming down or he calms me down
whatever you want to say but when I'm
not stressed he would rather not be in
my lap so it's definitely a direct
correlation between my agitation levels
and you know he helps me feel calmer and
more grounded so animals are great
examine your environment if you are an
extrovert and you're not getting enough
stimulation you could be getting
restless which could cause agitation
you're pacing around kind of like a
caged animal going I got to talk to
somebody I got to be around somebody
because I feel like I'm just rattling
around in this in-between these walls
knowing that you can take steps find
meetups online sometimes online chat
rooms are helpful but for a lot of
extroverts you really actually need the
human face-to-face interaction
perceivers on the other hand with too
much structure may feel like a caged
animal so perceivers are the ones that
tend to like spontaneity they don't like
too much structure and if you're doing
the same thing day after day after day
you wake up you eat breakfast you go to
work you come home you eat dinner you go
to sleep get up go to bed get up and
repeat perceivers are going to get very
agitated and very restless with that
kind of structure so it's important that
they figure out ways to integrate
spontaneity and some fun into their
lives so they don't
get resentful and agitated agitation and
restlessness are caused by
neurotransmitter and/or hormone
imbalances which can be caused by
worrying about things you know it's kind
of the obvious one physical causes and
it can be just aging it doesn't have to
be anything you know life-threatening or
overwhelming it can be just you're
getting older or environmental causes so
paying attention to what lifestyle
factors may be contributing to your
agitation and inability to sit still if
agitation is due to anxiety then it's
important to address whatever threats
are causing you to feel like you need to
fight or flee so you know you can work
on that with a therapist you can make a
list of the things that you're thinking
about and identify which of them are
worth your time to address and which of
them you just kind of need to let go and
then figure out how to do that
if agitation is due to something else
then minimizing vulnerabilities getting
enough sleep eating well having good
social support and aiding your body and
rebalancing will be imperative
so sometimes agitation is caused by like
I said aging so you want to do your best
to give your body as much energy as it
needs to rebalance so you can feel
really good and that will help you feel
better and probably reduce some of your
agitation
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