Regular exercise is known to improve your mood, help you sleep better, and deal with stress, depression, and anxiety. These are clear signs of improved overall wellbeing and will translate positivity that will affect all spheres of your life. Studies have shown that just a bit of regular exercise will significantly impact your wellbeing and lifestyle. Here are some ways that exercise can help you deal with some mental health issues.
Trauma and PTSD
These are two conditions that can be the root cause of anxiety and fear and cause you to act or react irrationally in certain situations. But there is evidence from studies to suggest that focusing on your body and its movements during exercise can enable your nervous system to kick on from the “freeze” response usually associated with the stress that accompanies trauma and PTSD. Simple exercises that help with PTSD treatment involve the movement of all the limbs, including dancing, walking in the sand, swimming, and running. Other outdoor activities that may help are skiing, white water rafting, hiking, sailing, and mountain biking.
Depression
Exercise has proved to be an effective antidote to depression as it stimulates changes in the brain. Exercise triggers neural growth, reduces inflammation, and promotes the release of endorphins during exercise, which makes you feel good afterward. A recent study conducted by the T.H. Chan School of Public Health of Harvard noted that just walking for an hour or running for fifteen minutes can reduce the risk of major depression by about 26%. Exercise can also serve as a distraction to keep your thoughts away from the issues that weigh you down.
Anxiety
Exercise relieves stress and tension, making it a natural and effective treatment for anxiety. Exercise also boosts your mental and physical energy through the release of endorphins. Just concentrate on the movements of your limbs during exercise and focus on what you are doing.
Stress
When you experience stress, pay attention to the way your body reacts. You will notice that your muscles tense up, especially around your face, neck, and shoulders. This often leads to neck or back pain or even headaches. Other things you may notice include passing urine frequently, heartburn, insomnia, and stomach ache. All these can lead to even more stress and further complicate your situation.
To relieve yourself from all these discomforting scenarios, you can perform some exercises to break the stress cycle between your body and mind. Physical activity reduces your focus on stress, and as soon as endorphins are released into the brain, you will begin to feel much better. The muscles will automatically relax, and your body will quickly return to its natural state.
ADHD
This is a disorder associated with lapses in concentration and the inability to focus on tasks. Engaging in exercise is one way to reduce the effects of ADHD. It can also help with improving memory, concentration, mood, and motivation. The levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the brain, which impact attention and focus, are instantly increased through physical activity. This exercise is as effective as any medication such as Adderall and Ritalin used to treat ADHD.
