Depression-proofing

Clinical depression is a serious disease that can't be shrugged off with a spirited game of handball (or even a fantastic roll in the hay). While we're going to leave actual treatment to the professionals, we can point you toward activities and habits that are shown to reduce depression risk—all of which are readily carried out in our great metropolis. Heed our advice and hopefully you'll avoid heavy doldrums in the first place.

1. Exercise
You know that satisfied, semieuphoric feeling you get after a long jaunt through Central Park? This sensation, sometimes called “runner’s high,” is caused by endorphins—mood-enhancing neurotransmitters that are released during prolonged physical activity. That's why the Mayo Clinic recommends regular exercise—about 30 minutes, three to five times a week—as a supplement to other depression treatments, or as a general anxiety reducer. Other benefits, according to the public health gurus, include greater confidence and focus, better social interaction and healthier coping with setbacks.
The TONY Rx: Read our recent fitness issue, which has every strategy you could possibly want for working up a sweat in the city.

2. Sex
People who have more sex tend to be happier. Doesn't seem like we need a lot of rigorous research to tell us that, right? Nonetheless, Dartmouth professor David Blanchflower reported, in a paper titled "Money, Sex, and Happiness: An Empirical Study," that lots of sex is a greater predictor of happiness than even immense wealth. We're sold.
The TONY Rx: This is New York. Is a little missionary a couple nights a week really going to uplift you? Add a little kink to your coitus with our fetish megachart.

3. Pets
Dogs aren’t called “man’s best friend” for nothing. Research by Karen Allen, Ph.D., published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, shows that people cope better with a stressful task when their pets are around. What's more, a pet seems to be a greater comfort in these situations than a friend or spouse. Also, Rakesh Jain, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Harvard Medical School, has found that companionship from dogs can ward off feelings of social withdrawal that often accompany the onset of depression.
The TONY Rx: Adopt a furry pal and feel good about yourself for doing it when you pick up an animal from one of the city's shelters.

4. Eating right
Consuming healthy foods will help you stay trim and thus feel better. A link between obesity and depression, which has been noted in varying degrees in several studies, has been found to be especially acute in middle-aged women, according to a 2008 report in General Hospital Psychiatry. Additionally, in Gary Null’s book The Food-Mood-Body Connection, researcher Abram Hoffer says vitamin B and zinc deficiencies resulting from eating processed foods can contribute to depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
The TONY Rx: Fortunately, the green cuisine movement, emphasizing organic, locally sourced ingredients, is enjoying a golden age right now in the city. You can eat gleefully at any number of healthful establishments.

5. Meditation
According to University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson, meditation is like exercise for your mind. In particular, Davidson has found that meditation exercises the left prefrontal cortex, an area just behind the left of the forehead, which also controls “feel-good” mental states and positive thought. Thus, Davidson believes that meditation is likely to be a mood booster as well. Another study, conducted at Boston University School of Medicine, showed that yoga and meditation could increase the gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels in your brain, mimicking the mechanism by which many antidepressants work. While it's not known how strong an effect these activities might have, it's hard to see the downside.
The TONY Rx: Assuming that your mental gymnastics don't quite rival Buddha's right now, the New York Insight Meditation Center is a good place to learn the discipline's basics.