The repetitive rhythm and sustained exertion of slow long-distance running appear to tire the conscious mind. Many anxieties, tensions, worries, feelings of guilt, anger, and depression lift. The easily distracted, constantly nervous and shifting focus of everyday consciousness gives way to a sense of integration, of being one with yourself and the activity of running. O chestnut tree, great rooted blossomer, Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole? O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? W. B. Yeats, _Among School Children_ The therapeutic use of running appears to offer the following benefits: * increases mental energy, acuity, and concentration * strengthens self-confidence and a sense of personal worth * increases a capacity for work so that you feel less tired at the end of the day * diminishes smoking, drinking, and other unhealthy habits * helps those with eating disorders--who either are overweight or dangerously underweight--change their eating habits * lessens or lifts depression * improves relationships that were destructive or motivates people to separate * reduces or eliminates confused and irrational thought processes in some schizophrenic patients _Treating Depression_ In particular, running as described here appears to be especially effective in treating depression: "... it's hard to run and {209} feel sorry for yourself at the same time."[1] Running tends to increase your sense of independence and self-confidence, which have been weakened if you have been depressed. Psychotherapy and drug therapy, in contrast, may encourage _dependency_ on the therapist or psychiatrist. [1] James Fixx, _The Complete Book of Running_ (New York: Random House, 1977), p. 16. Dr. Kostrubala has noticed that long-distance running often greatly reduces or even eliminates the typical early morning awakening and insomnia of the chronically depressed person. This particularly painful symptom involves jarring awake to a new day to be faced--a day of anxiety, fears, and hopelessness to be combated. If you have experienced this, you are probably familiar with waking up too early, at what the Swedes call "the hour of the wolf," lying in bed, exhausting yourself with crushing worries, despair, and tears, and beginning the day in a state of emotional exhaustion. Kostrubala has found that as depressed people cultivate the habit of long-distance running, these early morning ordeals often gradually subside and disappear. A British medical group led by Dr. Malcolm Carruthers discovered that individuals who exercise vigorously produce increased levels of the hormone epinephrine, which counteracts depression. Apparently, strong exercise for even ten minutes doubles the normal level of epinephrine; the effects of the heightened level of the hormone can be fairly long-lasting.