Exercise for Depression, Stress and Anxiety

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The holidays can be an especially stressful and depressing time for a lot of people. There are lots of expectations and things that have to be done. On top of that, there is the underlying stress and anxiety of daily life in our culture. What most people don’t realize is that a little exercise not only helps us physically, but also emotionally. There are a lot of reasons for this and this article by the Mayo Clinic lists some of them as well as some strategies for exercising when you really don’t want to. One of the problems with depression and stress is that we tend to think that exercise is the last thing we want to do when it should be one of the first. This is an excellent article and can probably help you and someone you know.

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Exercise has long been touted as a way to maintain physical fitness and help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. A growing volume of research shows that exercise can also help improve symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety. Exercise may also help prevent a relapse after treatment for depression or anxiety.

Exercise has many psychological and emotional benefits when you have depression or anxiety. These include:

• Confidence. Being physically active gives you a sense of accomplishment. Meeting goals or challenges, no matter how small, can boost self-confidence at times when you need it most. Exercise can also make you feel better about your appearance and your self-worth.
• Distraction. When you have depression or anxiety, it’s easy to dwell on how badly you feel. But dwelling interferes with your ability to problem solve and cope in a healthy way. Dwelling can also make depression more severe and longer lasting. Exercise can shift the focus away from unpleasant thoughts to something more pleasant, such as your surroundings or the music you enjoy listening to while you exercise.
• Interactions. Depression and anxiety can lead to isolation. That, in turn, can worsen your condition. Exercise may give you the chance to meet or socialize with others, even if it’s just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood.
• Healthy coping. Doing something positive to manage depression or anxiety is a healthy coping strategy. Trying to feel better by drinking alcohol excessively, dwelling on how badly you feel, or hoping depression and anxiety will go away on their own aren’t helpful coping strategies.

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So get out there and do something! You will feel a lot better- physically and mentally.