Exercise and mood(mental benefits)
Exercise can have an enormous impact on your mood. In fact, it is thought that exercise can be just as effective as anti-depressants in treating mild-to-moderate depression.
Not only can exercise help in treating depression, it can also prevent people from becoming depressed again. So it's important to keep up an exercise regimen after people get better.
We don't yet understand exercise and mood enough to know exactly which type of exercise is best - or how much - but what we do know is that it definitely has a positive effect.
Exercise can:
increase your energy levels
help you get a good night's sleep
distract you from your worries and get you out of a cycle of negative thoughts that can feed anxiety and depression
help you get out and be with people if you're feeling lonely; even a smile as you pass someone on the street can boost your mood
help you feel more in control, and improve your self-esteem, because you are taking an active role in your own treatment
increase your confidence as you meet challenges and reach goals, no matter how small, as well as helping you to feel good about your body
help you to avoid less helpful approaches, such as drinking alcohol or dwelling on how you feel.
The positive link between exercise and mood
We don't understand exactly why exercise is so good for improving mood conditions yet, but we do know that it works.
This may be due to a combination of reasons, including:
Exercise helps chronic depression by increasing serotonin (which helps your brain regulate mood, sleep and appetite) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (which helps neurons to grow).
Exercise reduces immune system chemicals that can make depression worse.
Exercise increases your level of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters.
Exercise helps by getting your sleep patterns back to normal. We know getting enough sleep can protect the brain from damage.
Exercise gives you a focused activity that can help you feel a sense of accomplishment.
Exercise limits the effect of stress on your brain.
What we know about exercise and mood
Many studies have been done to understand the link between exercise and mood.
What we do know is:
people who exercise regularly have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who don't
moderate intensity exercise can be an effective treatment on its own for mild-to-moderate depression
16 weeks of regular exercise is just as effective as anti-depressant medication in treating older people who were not exercising previously
exercise can help treat people with depression who have partially responded to anti-depressants; that is, it can help them get ever better
both aerobic exercise (such as walking, cycling or running) and strength training (such as weight lifting) can help treat depression.