Anxiety, Depression, Asthma, and Walking.
Recently, I started walking again.
- 1 hour minimum a day.
- 1 hour and 30 minutes preferably.
- 2 hours max.
Why only recently? Well...
Around the start of 2023 I was living with my parents for just under two years after moving out of a house that didn't do much for me outside of fuel my anxiety and depression. My girlfriend (almost wife now ;3) moved in maybe a little over a year after I came back. We shared the same living space and got use to living with one another.
The year before I finally got back into writing/game development and put out a new visual novel after years of nothing. After that release I was beginning to plan my biggest project all throughout 2023 beginning to write the script.
With a new spark of inspiration and finally caring for myself, I began to walk again for my own personal health. I was starting to build up confidence I didn't have in my previous household. I felt I was doing great and was thinking things were going to turn around.
Unfortunately at the start of 2023, I ended up getting Covid-19 for the first time. At first it didn't seem to affect me that much as my wife and I were isolated in our living space for just over a week, and soon after my test came back negative I went back to work.
It wasn't until some weeks after I started to form a really really bad cough. At first I just thought it was a small after effect of having Covid-19, at first it was annoying, but I began to have nights where I would be restless because I was coughing for several hours each night. They were bad enough that my girlfriend (a certified medical worker) considered taking me to the hospital.
This continued for some time. Whatever confidence I had built up from the past few years since moving back had vanished, then after a while I was diagnosed with asthma. I had to rely on rescue inhalers to keep myself from getting coughing fits that formed into possible asthma attacks that had the risk of killing me.
I tried walking again to help relieve this stress, but my breathing was so bad I couldn't even walk for 30 minutes without having a coughing fit and feeling like I was going to pass out. Having asthma was a part of my life now and it changed how I had to go about my day.
To say this fueled my depression and anxiety was an understatement. Most days I would do nothing more than go to work and go home, no physical activity whatsoever and I started to slowly gain weight. I began game development for my next long-term project, but development was going at a snails pace.
Even with the rescue inhalers I was prescribed, I still had coughing fits that continued at night and it wasn't until going on a different inhaler some months later. This involved having my medical worker girlfriend advocate for my health which included arguing with my doctor.
My breathing started to get better overtime, I no longer had coughing fits at night that would concern her, but I was reliant on inhalers to keep me alive. In some countries this wouldn't be a problem, but in the US without insurance my 30 doses a day would cost me just under $700.
Fortunately I have a job with health insurance that helps reduce this to $50 for a 30 a day dosage, but I had to be reliant on this job possibly for the rest of my life to help pay for my medication. I considered finding better work, but a better job wouldn't include health insurance likely.
A combination of... - having asthma. - being stressed over health condition that could kill me if not treated. - not being able to walk long distance without risking an asthma attack. - and relying on a shitty job for healthcare...
Needless to say, it did nothing good for my anxiety and depression. This begun a downward spiral all throughout the years that became worse overtime and I ended up gaining a massive amount of weight up until recently. Before 2020 I was around 190lbs, and in 2025 I was going above 250lbs.
It was only until this year or so my breathing with my current medication finally became... normal? Mostly.
So, I decided to take the risk and walk again after a little over two years of stopping. Small steps at a time, day 1 walking for 30 minutes, day 2 going for 45 minutes, then day 3 I realized I can finally walk for an hour and not lose my breath. It was good to finally walk again, but I wanted to make this a daily activity so I began to listen to audiobooks for the first time and I was immediately hooked.
My neurodivergent brain could never find the focus to listen podcasts and audiobooks, but putting those together with walking? Suddenly I wanted to go on walks just so I could finish a book or catch up with the newest episode of a podcast. Since then, I have been walking daily outside of days I don't feel well or am sick.
My anxiety, depression, and asthma was something I wanted to write about for the past year. Going on my walks finally pushed me to share my personal experience with... everything. I felt I needed to share these last few years of my life about how changes to my health affected me, and how I did my best to adapt to these new changes.
Daily walking has only become a recent inclusion in my life. There are times while walking my breathing can become irregular and I have to cut things short, but I hope sharing my experiences helps encourage me to keep up with it daily for the rest of this year and all of next year.
Everyone's experiences are different when it comes to their own physical and mental health. This is just my own personal experience, but I hope sharing my story gives perspective. Maybe encouragement as well?
— Froey