Post Thru-Hiking Depression: 6 Practices to Help You Fight It
Woo, you completed your thru-hike! You walked for hours each and every day over mountains, across rivers, through thigh-deep mud or snow; fighting off frozen fingers, mischievous wildlife, and the occasional rouge tree root; and you made it! You accomplished something most people only dream about!
Now what?
The adventure is over and “real life” is knocking at your door. It’s no surprise depression often choses this moment to rear its ugly head.
Think about it. You just spent months outside, sleeping under the stars, pushing your body past its limits, and forging deep meaningful relationships. Transitioning back into “normal” life can often prove more difficult than the hike itself.
Things like exercise, diet, sunlight, fresh air, and connection all contribute to the positive emotions associated with long distance trekking. Although it is impossible to replicate the experience—without embarking on another thru-hike—there are steps you can take to help avoid depression and ease the transition.
1. Exercise
Your couch called. It said that your seat is waiting for you and Netflix came out with several new binge worthy shows just for the occasion. Go ahead! Answer the call and take some time off. Your body has definitely earned a break.
But what happens when your exercise hiatus turns into a daily habit?
Sadly, all the benefits you gained during your hike, begin decreasing. It’s common knowledge that exercise improves circulation, respiratory health, and muscle endurance, but did you know it also strengthens grey matter?
Grey matter is the darker material that composes your brain and spinal cord. It is involved in muscle control, sensory perception, and aids in stress resistance. Oh, stress. That pesky contributor to stress and anxiety, just the thing everyone wants to deal with.
Dropping from the ultimate daily workout to nothing in a matter of days can have a serious impact on your mood. Which is why exercising regularly post-hike is so important.
For some people this is a simple task. Many hikers take up other high calorie killing exercise like marathon training, bike packing, or mountaineering. But if that is a bit extreme for you, consider joining a gym, exploring fitness classes in your community, or maybe signing up for a hiking club.
You can ALWAYS find ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life, even if you have a hectic work schedule.
Jog or bike to work, walk on your breaks, take the stairs, do toe raises in the queue at the grocery store. Stop worrying about what others think of your quirky exercise habits. I can guarantee your sour hiker stench garnered more judgement than doing a few squats between meetings at the office.
Even if you can only bring yourself to walk 15 minutes a day, that little stroll will increase blood flow and give you a little endorphin boost to fight off the blues.
2. Get Outside
Going from twenty-four hours a day of wide-open spaces, to an almost exclusively indoor lifestyle is one of the most difficult transitions to undertake. The sounds are artificial, the smells suffocating, even your bed may feel alien compared to your sleeping bag and the soft rustle of your tent in the breeze.
Although some people are fortunate enough to have a job that exposes them to the great outdoors, most are stuck in a city, under florescent lights, and with minimal access to nature.
So, what do you do?
Make outdoor time a priority. Add a short walk to your morning or evening routine. Pop your head outside on breaks or during lunch. Bike or walk to work if possible—huh, this sounds familiar. Park your car at the end of the car park rather than close to the entrance (even if it’s raining—I’m sure you had at least one day of rain on your hike—you can handle it).
Drive with the windows rolled down. Open up your home and office to let in natural light and fresh air. Make your gym workouts green, like yoga or HIIT classes at the park. Set aside time each weekend to do something outside—gardening and reading in a hammock totally count.
Depending on where you live, not all these suggestions are plausible. And nothing will fully mimic the experience of living in the bush. The good news is it only takes ten to thirty minutes of sun a day to boost our Vitamin D levels and help prevent depression.
3. Eat Healthy
I will never forget my dinner on the day I finished hiking the North Island of New Zealand. I had a five-dollar Domino’s pizza, an order of cheesy garlic bread, two beers, a bar of chocolate, and half a bag of Sour Patch Kids, and I was still hungry. If you were anything like me, you did not fuss over what you were eating as much as what would satiate your crazy hiker hunger.
Unfortunately, once you have ceased hiking 8-12 hours daily, it takes a while for your body to realize you no longer require five meals a day to survive. Not to mention the easy access to temptations like frozen meals, fast food, fresh baked goods, ice cream, alcohol, and other fatty foods.
Giving in to these urges, although pleasant in the moment, can have a large impact on your mental health.
Although there are many key players in a healthy diet, these three consistently appear in studies regarding mental health: Omega-3, folate, and blood sugar.
People with depression, bipolar syndrome, and other mental disorders show lower levels of omega-3 and folate in their system. In addition, people with irregular or high blood sugar (for example those with diabetes) have increased chances of depression.
Making sure that you practice a healthy diet with foods that moderate blood sugar levels and are rich in Omega-3 and folate, will help decrease the severity of your mood recession. Not to mention the other benefits of healthy eating such as lower cholesterol, increased heart health, and weight maintenance.
Did you know:
Your hiker diet was contributing to positive mental health. (Domino’s pizza not withstanding). Turns out that nuts—trail mix and bars—and seeds—such as chia and flax seed, common in cold soaking breakfasts—are bursting with healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Those tuna sachets also provide an excellent source of omega-3. While beans, such as dried lentils, are packed with folate and help regulate blood sugar levels. Even oatmeal—which you might have grown to hate—is full of fiber and has a positive effect on blood sugar.
Other foods that promote mental health include fish, poultry, vegetables (especially leafy greens), fruit, and whole grains.
4. Stay Connected
It is difficult for friends and family to understand exactly what transpires during a long-distance hike: the unique relationships, the physical trials, the emotional and mental hurdles, the agonizing injuries, and the overwhelming peace of accomplishment.
They might empathize, “Oh that sounds so difficult,” “Wow, I can’t believe you hiked that far,” but only fellow hikers truly “GET IT.”
On trail you have an immediate commonality with almost everyone you meet—you’re all long-distance hikers. It is the ultimate ice breaker:
Are you SOBO or NOBO? How many blisters have you had? Have you met so-and-so? What’s your base weight?
The sudden removal from an environment where you are surrounded by people who automatically empathize, can be quite jarring. Back in the “real world,” the ice feels a bit thicker.
The loss of these fluid interactions, the loss of your trail family, can lead to feelings of alienation, depression, and loneliness. Studies have shown people who feel connected and secure in their relationships exhibit lower levels of depression and anxiety.
Which is why it is SOOOOO important to maintain the friendships you forged on trail. You can become pen pals, check in with each other via social media, schedule Zoom dates, or plan trips to visit each other.
If that doesn’t feel like enough, then start to explore new relationships with local avid-hikers by joining a hiking club, or volunteering to assist with a trail foundation. Not only will you be fulfilling your need for connection, but you’ll be exercising AND getting outside. You might even be exposed to novel activities that you never considered trying before.
5. Start Your Next Adventure
Hobbies have a positive impact on mental health. For the past several months you have been living a hobby every single day, and before that you were most likely planning, thinking about, or training for said hobby. Congratulations, you just accomplished an incredible fete!
What now?
It is so easy to live in the past, focusing on all those amazing and awe-inspiring moments that are burned into your heart and memory. Reminiscing is totally acceptable, and in my opinion encouraged. But take care that your joyful reminiscing does go so far as to result in depressed wallowing.
One way to prevent this is to find something new to get excited about.
Maybe you have become addicted and want to start planning your next long-distance hike. Or you could expand into other outdoor activities like kayaking, rock climbing, or snow shoeing. You could push your boundaries in a different way and travel. Or if you feel like staying close to home for a while, you can explore something more mellow like painting, dance classes, or honing your cooking skills.
Selecting an activity that introduces you to new people, will also help with those feelings of connectedness.
Whatever you decide to do, having a new adventure will redirect your thoughts from dwelling on the past and help you realize that the journey of life continues, even if the hike has ended.
6. Write
There is no way to fully describe the essence of your thru hike, however there is often an ingraine desire to express what we experienced.
For years, writing has been utilized as therapy for a wide range of mental, emotional, and physical ailments, including postpartum mothers, recovering military, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) victims, MS patients, and even university students. It is an outlet that aides in organizing chaotic thoughts, releasing emotion, and achieving clarity.
At times we might not even understand why we feel depressed after hiking. Writing is one way to explore the root of those emotions and process them effectively.
It is difficult to let go of something that was such a huge part of your life. So, don’t!
Allow your experiences to live on. Create something to memorialize what you have accomplished. Writing is only one option. Some hikers prefer to use art, music, and other creative outlets—such as video compilations or photo books—to reflect upon their journey.
Allow this to be part of the ritual of transitioning into the next chapter of your life.
You changed during your hike. Now your life must change to accommodate the new you.
You’ve got this!
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