Exercise Help People with Mental Health Issues

Exercise help people with mental health issues. The reason why I mention this is because it can be helpful for people with mental health issues, It can increase positive emotions, and give them a distraction kind of like “busy-work” to the brain. It causes their brain to focus on the exercise they are doing rather than focus to on the negative side effects of their mental illness they are going through. Also its like a release because they are keeping their brain active not dwelling on what’s going on, and it helps them fight the illness first hand rather then sit and deal with it, It teaches control over their illness that they may have.

A. Specific Details: I’ve actually met people in my life that has mental issues they have mentioned to me that they have been doing exercise for a while, and for them it is like “busy-work” to keep their brains from wandering too much, that can happen when you have a mental illness because things can be more negative then positive.

B. Even though we see exercise as a regular thing people who have mental issues feel like it’s not a chore that we have to do everyday you can start, and stop whenever you choose to and have control over what exercises you do. Also when you’ve reached your limit people with mental issues people feel like they have no control over their disorder and exercise can teach them control and how they can push through the obstacles that their disorder throws at them.

C. Exercise can do much more than help people with mental health issues, it can improve mood, better memory, help you sleep better at night, and also increase self esteem and confidence in yourself. If you have high levels of stress you can do a few exercises to reduce it such as walking, jogging, or running it can help you burn calories to, since your mind and body are connected exercise can help you relax and be able to have a clear mind and take be able to do things at a more positive approach.

Now that I’ve touched on how exercise is good for people who have mental illnesses, I wanted to talk about which type of illnesses can benefit from exercising. Different illnesses can affect people differently, but it all leads to something positive rather then negative and that they don’t have to take anything to reduce the symptoms.

A. How exercise helps people with PTSD and trauma

The way exercise can help people who’ve been through traumatic incidents in their life is that it helps them focus on certain parts of their body such as joints and muscles exercise that involves arms and legs such as walking, running, swimming or dancing are the best choices for this type of illness or trauma. Theirs also activities they can do to help them have more relaxation which is hiking, sailing, mountain biking, rock climbing and whitewater rafting.

B. How exercise helps with people who have depression Studies have shown that exercising helps people with depression and the good news is it doesn’t have any side effects it can relieve a lot of the symptoms that depression gives such as loss of interest in activities, suicidal thoughts, or not being able to be happy. Having a schedule of the exercises and activities they do can prevent them from reverting back to what they were doing before they started exercising, it also helps people dealing with depression fight through the symptoms because it prevents you from letting your mind wonder in the negative and look more into the positive. It can promote growth a ton of changes in the brain such as, reduced inflammation, and since they are starting something they are not familiar with and not harmful to their health it can promote positive feelings such as calmness and well-being it can give them an distraction from what they face on a day to day basis and be free from negative thoughts.

C. Now anxiety is more of a complicated mental illness considering that some days can be good or worse than others, but all anxiety is mostly is fear but sometimes that fear can get out of control that’s when exercising comes to play. It relieves tension, and stress in the body and makes more room for positive energy, which also releases endorphins because you’re constantly moving and any type of movement can help, cause it will stop you from being stuck in fear, zoning out and daydreaming, Because when you exercise you are distracting yourself from thinking about what you fear the most.

I’ve addressed the illnesses that can benefit from exercise now I can talk about how it helps people reduce the risk for a lot of the diseases, we have today that can be reduced just from exercising. Specific details

A. It’s been proven that exercising and being more active can reduce the risk of developing stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, exercising can also help you lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure.

B. Certain types of exercises which is “weight-bearing” exercises can promote strength in your bones and form muscle growth which can reduce developing osteoporosis If you are overweight exercising can help decrease body fat, and you’re fitness will improve.

C. There is also social benefits from working out you can make friends, go to events or even make a lot of connections and have lots of fun because your friends, will also be there to make sure you meet your goals and also push you to your limits and help you achieve bigger goals you wish to take on.

The reason, why I say that exercising and mental health are very alike even if you are trying your hardest to beat something rather it’s a punching bag or trying to learn small steps to being positive it takes determination, and it’s a challenge I do think exercising can help people not only just people who suffer from mental health issue but for people who wants to lose weight, or better themselves as a more positive human being and be able to knock out all those negative thoughts using small steps and tools to help them. That’s why I think exercising helps mental health it challenges you and makes you want to do better.

Works Cited

1. American Psychological Association. (2018). Exercise fuels the brain's stress buffers.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Physical Activity and Mental Health.
3. Craft, L. L., & Perna, F. M. (2004). The benefits of exercise for the clinically depressed. The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 6(3), 104-111.
4. Harvard Health Publishing. (2018). Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110
5. John Hopkins Medicine. (2021). Exercise and Mental Health.
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7. Mayo Clinic. (2021). Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
8. Mikkelsen, K., Stojanovska, L., Polenakovic, M., Bosevski, M., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Maturitas, 106, 48-56.
9. National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Exercise and Mental Health. https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Treatments/Complementary-Therapies/Exercise
10. United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition.