Depression, Cycling & the Road to Recovery by Roger Dunbar

As part of our campaign supporting Mental Health Awareness Week we’ve been looking at how the relationships that sport can provide, could help us to deal with mental health issues, loneliness and depression.

Below is Roger’s story…

My route to depression was probably quite typical for modern life.  The stress and expectation of succeeding in education followed by a singular, intense focus on career with very little else in the mix. The stress was typically dealt with by what I now know to be called self-medication. This self-medication, a mix of alcohol, smoking and eating of junk food, led to a downward spiral with the loss of health, fitness and wellbeing serving only to make matters worse!

By the time I reached my early 30s I was at the height of my depression and my health and fitness was seriously compromised. Even the lightest exercise had me out of breath, I was over 18 stone and very, very depressed and in despair. The Doctors did what they could, but it always involved the use of antidepressants which only seemed to have a marginal effect.

I decided to make a change. The alcohol and cigarettes were first to go, followed quickly by a diet and increased exercise, first walking and swimming. All these changes immediately started to have a positive impact on my depression along with obvious benefits to my health and fitness.

Following the ever increasing publicity cycling was receiving in the earlier 2000s, I decided to buy a road bike. This decision was definitely harking back to my earlier years when I had loved the freedom a bicycle gave you. It was initially a solo activity, but nonetheless it became a routine for me to map out routes and head off on evenings and weekends to enjoy the fresh air - I had something else in my life to focus on other than work.

As most people who have had depression will know, depression makes you become very insular and reclusive. You don’t want to see friends or go out. Cycling had started to change this for me but the real change came when joining my local cycling club.

More than any other sport I have come across, cycling is a social experience. Right from the first time I went to a club meeting I was made to feel welcome and part of something. Weekend and evening riding was no longer a lonely solo activity, it was all about being in a group, looking out for one another, enjoying a chat, a coffee and the odd slice of cake - well you deserve something nice after all that cycling!

Cycling as a whole, and especially when part of a club, gives you something that has sadly gone missing in our modern-day lives, a sense of community, some might even say family. The impact on me has been profound. People in the cycling community, even outside of my own club, looking out for one another, helping through the hard times - it makes a huge difference to keeping me stable and in a good place both mentally and physically.

Cycling has most definitely been my Road to Recovery, I’ve made lifelong friends who I can always rely on and I will be forever grateful!

Why not give cycling a go? Whether you’re a total beginner, looking to ride more regularly, or want to ride socially, Welsh Cycling have loads of ways to help you get cycling. Find your local cycling club; join a Breeze Bike Ride or ride socially with friends.