Backpacking & Thru-Hiking,  Backpacking Tips & How To's,  Health,  Mental & Physical Health,  Post-Trail Depression

22 Tips for Thru-Hikers to Overcome Post-Trail Depression

March 20, 2022 / 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I posted about my own experience with Post-Trail Depression, and two weeks ago I posted about the how’s and why’s of this common phenomenon that thru-hikers experience after they finish.

From the data I’ve gathered since beginning my PCT preparation journey a few years ago, it seems unlikely that a hiker will avoid some level of PTD. Pretty much everyone has a hard time transitioning back to real life. 

But here’s some advice I’ve found (maybe a little too late for me this time but hopefully in time to help you out) about avoiding and overcoming PTD.

Before Getting on Trail

  • Here’s some information people have shared about life before the trail that helped them with their PTD after they finished:

1. Plan Decompression Time: Don’t expect to just jump back into work or school post-trail. Have a few weeks or months set aside to decompress, relax, figure yourself out, and get yourself back on your feet and ready to be a “real” person again.4

2. Be Prepared for PTD: Although it’s possible you’ll be one of the lucky few that isn’t affected by PTD, assume the worst going in and prepare yourself. Don’t have super high expectations that you’ll be unaffected. The trail will change you and how you view the world, for better or for worse, so returning to the real world afterwards is going to be a difficult transition.4

3. Have a Post-Trail Goal Lined Up: Before you get on trail, have a goal prepared for after you get off trail. This will mean that you can switch from your only goal being to “Get to Canada/Mexico,” to whatever your new goal is. Maybe have a job lined up, or your applications to a new school ready, or something else entirely.3

4. Purposeful Job: People who believe that the job they have should be purposeful, who also believe that their job has a purpose, often find it easier to return to work after the trail.1

While You're on Trail

While on the trail, here are some things that helped people recover more quickly after they got off:

5. Cultivate Tramily: While on trail, form as many strong bonds with as many other hikers and trail angels as you can. Make sure you get their contact information, so that after the trail you have a good support group to help you through PTD. Also, I imagine that you helping them through their own PTD could help you even more, by giving you something purposeful to do after the trail.7

6. Hike with your SO: Some hikers recommend hiking with a significant other, because this can help have some stability between on and off trail life, as well as helping bring tramily and community home with you.1

7. Self-Identify with Off-Trail Things: While its important to live in the moment, one of the recommendations for elite athletes that want a quick recovery after retirement, is to self-identify as more than an athlete, so that you won’t feel completely lost when you stop being that athlete.8

8. Create Something: While you’re hiking, create something like a journal, blog, vlog, photo album, etc that you can look back on and edit after the trail. This might help give you purpose afterwards, while also helping you reminisce about good times while still being productive.3

After Getting Off Trail

After the trail, here are some things that people do to help themselves have a more successful transition back to every day life:

9. Give Yourself Time: Nyamora, psychologist and sports therapist mentioned above, says “It may take several months to readjust. Give yourself time.”3

10. Connect with your Feelings: Baker, the licensed therapist that we spoke about above, recommends acknowledging and nurturing the grief that you experience after you get off trail, so that you can heal from it. She says it’s counterproductive to try to drown out and ignore the grief.1 Maybe talking to a therapist will help?2

11. Be in Nature: Go outside and get some Vitamin D. Soak in the sights and the smells and the feelings that the natural world has to give. Be barefoot in the dirt (it’s really good for you!). After so long outdoors with only the slow, quietness of nature, returning home can be an overwhelming sensory experience, with car horns and blasting music, crying babies and shouting neighbors, you need a break.

12. Be Yourself: Baker’s study participants who retained their sense of self from trail (those who continued to be the person they were on trail that was open and loving and friendly, etc) in their “normal” life afterwards, were able to struggle less with their transition. She says that, other than your worries about how you will be judged or perceived, there isn’t anything stopping you from being who you were on trail. She also says that acting and behaving in real life like that person you were on trail will help others surrounding you also be more like those real, genuine, vulnerable trail people that mean so much to you, because we give what we receive.1

13. Exercise: Continue exercising as much as possible to keep those endorphins coming and to help reduce weight gain since you’re probably still eating like you did on trail.2

14. Solitude: Find time for solitude like you had on trail. You spent a LOT of time in your own head on trail and you might need a break from people once in awhile now that you’re off trail and surrounded by friends and family that missed you. Maybe take up meditation.2

15. Stay Connected with Tramily: With the disconnect you might be feeling from your friends, family, job, etc, you might be feeling very isolated. Meet up with or contact your tramily. They helped you make it through the trail, so they can probably also help you make it through PTD. Also, they know what you’re going through because they’re also going through it.2, 3

16. Give Back to the Trail: Go spend some time hiking or trail running on the trail you just spent so much time on. Maybe go be a Trail Angel, donate money to the org that upkeeps the trail, or donate time to helping clear out blowdowns.2

17. Get a Hobby: Find something to fill your downtime like a hobby you used to love, or try something new. This might be a productive distraction.2

18. Don’t Live Vicariously: Don’t spend all your time scrolling through hiking Reels on Instagram or reading posts on the thruhiker groups on Facebook, or going down the rabbithole on r/Ultralight. All that thinking about something you don’t have anymore might do more harm than good.3

19. Look Back at What You Did: Look through the photos you snapped or the journal entries you wrote or the videos you took and just take a moment to remember and reflect on your experience.6

 

My almost 7,000 photo album on google for my PCT 2021 trip

20. Cultivate Gratitude: Take some time every day to be grateful. Be grateful that you were able to do the trail, able to finish it, that you didn’t get injured, that you’ll be able to do another trail soon, for your tramily. Or be grateful for the life off-trail that you have, the friends and family who are supporting you after your return, the job that gives you enough money to save for retirement. Gratitude goes a long way to help positive outlook on life.6 I would also like to state that I don’t mean be grateful that you don’t have it worse. Some people will say get over it, there’s people way worse off than you. I say fuck them. Just because you’re not worse off doesn’t mean that what you’re going through isn’t difficult or painful. This isn’t a contest, people.7

21. Prioritize Sleep & Nutrition: You’re not used to fluorescent lighting and blue-light screens anymore, so your circadian rhythms are going to be thrown out of whack and normal sleep might be difficult. You also weren’t eating healthily on trail so you’re probably eating bad-habit foods at home too. Take care of your body and mind and they will take care of you.6

22. Set a Goal or Milestone: Set a new goal for yourself, like another big hike, an impressive run like an ultra marathon, or something else that might be comparable to tackling the thru you just did so you have a new focus.2

Smiley and I getting PCT 2022 permits for some tramily

Suicide & Depression Hotlines

If you were hit a lot harder by PTD, or are having some other problems, I’d like to provide some resources for you to contact. Please find someone like a trusted friend, family member or therapist to help you through these tough times. But if they aren’t enough, call one of these hotlines: 

  • Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
  • For deaf or hard of hearing folks, see this website: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/for-deaf-hard-of-hearing/
  • Para la Línea Nacional de la Prevención del Suicidio en Español, llame: 1-888-628-9454
  • For the Crisis Text Line,  Text HOME to 741-741

For other resources that might be more specific to your demographic and include 24-hour hotlines, see the list below:

If you live in another country, I’m not sure how effective some of these hotlines will be, but please look up your country’s options and get the help you need.

Coming Up

I’ll be posting soon to wrap up my 2021 PCT experience. Just give me a bit to regain my bearings.

Subscribe below or on the right column of the page!

Sources

  1. https://thetrek.co/post-trail-depression-not-think/
  2. https://appalachiantrail.org/official-blog/post-trail-depression-what-its-like-how-it-happens-how-to-get-over-it/
  3. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/hiking-and-backpacking/post-trail-depression-coping-thru-hiking/
  4. https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/what-happens-when-you-dedicate-6-months-of-your-life-to-hiking-then-stop-cold-rurkey-9a9f58316c59
  5. https://nomadhiker.com/ptd-post-trail-depression/
  6. https://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com/blogs/ultralight/the-other-kind-of-thru-hiker-funk-adapting-to-life-after-the-trail
  7. http://www.eathomas.com/dealing-post-hike-depression/
  8. https://believeperform.com/life-after-sport-depression-in-retired-athletes/
  9. https://www.rei.com/blog/hike/life-after-the-pct-post-hike-depression
  10. https://www.wayfaringkiwi.com/post-trail-depression/

Discover more from Just a Girl and a Backpack

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Kirsten is an enthusiastic, bilingual naturalist with 11+ years of experience as a non-formal environmental educator, 6+ years as an outdoor recreation guide, 6+ years as a content writer, and 13+ years as an eco-friendly horticulturist and landscaper. She has designed and maintained 2 websites dedicated to public-facing environmental and outdoor education information for community consumption. Successfully taught 5 online, multi-week zoom workshop series to 5-10 regular participants on an international scale.

You May Also Like

PCT 2021: Wading through Post-Trail Depression

February 20, 2022

PCT 2022: Cabezon to Big Bear Lake

May 15, 2022

PCT 2022: Mount Laguna to Julian

April 26, 2022

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A note to our visitors

This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with changes to European Union data protection law, for all members globally. We’ve also updated our Privacy Policy to give you more information about your rights and responsibilities with respect to your privacy and personal information. Please read this to review the updates about which cookies we use and what information we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated privacy policy.

Discover more from Just a Girl and a Backpack

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading