Totally Human Emdash User

This article, and thus the discussion was not intended to belittle anyone who finds exercise does not help them.

However, people making the claim that they are too depressed to exercise are being belittled. For example, to quote another comment:

I’m not sure that “too depressed to exercise” is a medically recognized state short of being bedridden and comatose, so unless one is unable to get out of the bed to go to the bathroom saying “i’m too depressed to exercise” is just words being used to justify not going for a walk

You are denying the existence of clinical depression?

Yes, but I think that my point still stands that if one is too depressed to exercise, then exercise is not the solution to the depression. You yourself have just said that you had to use other techniques first to get to the point where you were able to exercise.

Also, very importantly, I really think you need to reject the thinking of “the only one stopping you is you”, both in yourself and in the advise you give to others, because makes it seem like the problem is a lack of willpower, and I think that telling people that they just need to try harder to fight their brain will just cause them to dig in. Furthermore, since you have been practicing mindfulness, you know that there is no “self” at the core but just a collection of mental processes, and that thinking of there being a “self” at the core actually causes harm by creating a false narrative about the way that the mind works which makes it harder to guide it in a better direction. Telling people that there is a “you” that is the one stopping things from happening reinforces this misconception. The better thing to do is just to speak from your own personal experience of watching your mind and seeing how many of the things that were holding you back were just appearances, and once you came to appreciate that, their hold on you was loosened.

Finally, a lot of people have (very roughly speaking) brain chemistry issues, and all the therapy and mindfulness in the world can only help so much with that.

My general advice would be to be very wary of projecting your personal experiences onto others, even when you are sincerely trying to help (which I believe that you are!)

Or… maybe not everyone’s brain works the same way?

Not just casual walking, I was speed walking. My hear rate was pretty high while walking.

So it sounds like, by definition, you were not too depressed to try exercising because you did it. Go you?

Also, a lot of people simply do not get anything out of exercising, unfortunately; it never stops being uncomfortable tedium that brings no improvement in their mood.

It’s funny how people can be so different.

I personally love the feeling of exercising, so unless I am experiencing severe anhedonia—which has happened in the past when I was on a lower dosage of antidepressant—then it always bursts my mood while I am doing it, which provides significant motivation. However, exercise does nothing for my wife except to make her feel sweaty and unpleasant, so she feels no motivation to do it, and even though I understand this intellectually I still have trouble “getting” it.

Right, they are too depressed to try exercising, so they have not tried exercising.  That is practically a tautology, so I am not sure what your point is.