Regular exercise has a massive amount of physical benefits; it reduces a person’s likelihood of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and high blood pressure, as well as many other conditions caused by obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle. However, there is also many psychological benefits to exercise, particularly in terms of mental health. Deslandes et al (2009) found that regular exercise can decrease the severity of many mental health disorders, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, and stress. They also identified physical activity as being linked to an increased self-esteem, confidence levels, and body image. Barlow (2007) discovered that many of their participants found exercise as a mental ‘time out’, which is to say that exercising temporarily relived them of their stressors, many of which finding solutions to their stressful situations during this time period. Hughes (1984) suggested that the control found when exercising helps increase a person’s stress management; when exercising you control your body in order to become stronger and fitter, and these levels of control can be translated into stress management techniques, just simply identifying this aspect of life that is controlled can help the understanding that most areas of life can be controlled too, even stress.
Exercise is evidently extremely important to maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle, however Ebben et al 2008 suggest that one of the main reasons people tend not to exercise is because
While the research of Blumenthal et al. (2007) focused on exercise being effective in reducing self-reported depressive symptoms, Diaz and Motta (2008) and Motta, Kuligowski, and Marino (2010) looked at the positive effects of exercise on depression, anxiety and PTSD. The theory of exercise’s positive effect on mental health has heavily been focused on
During childhood our body and mind changes very fast. I believe that nowadays parents focus more on the brain developement of their children than their physical activity. When I was a little girl - over 20 years ago - we spent most of our time outside playing, running and enjoying fresh air and being in movement. Physical activity of children can secure them health and well being in their adulthood as well as teach them a lot of very importants aspects like social relations and behaviors in different situations.
Regular exercise has many benefits Exercise also helps to protect against depression, and helps you better manage stress.
Thirdly, physical exercise itself could re-shape our body, make body stronger and looks healthier. It hence can improve individual’s attractiveness and confidence and hence can enable a positive life attitude. Fourthly, since the physical exercise normally would enable individual to interact with others, socialising with participants and friends in a such low-stress way might meet human’s belonging needs. It therefore could make people have a good mood and recharge themselves to fight against stress (Elizabeth, 2011).
Since 1990s, many scientists agree that exercise has positive impacts on people’s physical health and mental health (SIME WE, 1987). From Morgan and O’Connor’s research, people can reduce stress and state anxiety by doing physical activities; also gain emotional pleasure from the process (Morgan and O’Connor, 1988). Later in 1997, Landers states that physical activities can reduce people depression after weeks of regular and routine exercise. In addition, people can benefit from more
Physical activity helps reduce stress and can help prevent some cases of depression. Studies show that people who exercise regularly experience longer, deeper, more restful sleep. Exercise also reduces anxiety, and consistent activity provides more relief for those with
Critically Analyse the Research Findings on the Acute and Chronic Effects of Exercise on Anxiety and Depression
Exercise has been established to have significant psychological effects on an individual’s self-esteem, primarily those with depression. Self-esteem is related to body image compared to any other characteristics of self. According to Doyne, Ossip-Klein, Bowman, Osborn, McDougall and Neimey (1987), as individuals exercise regularly, they are most likely to acquire increased physical benefits such as weight loss, muscle strength, and increased respiratory fitness. Such improvements in the physical features of an individual lead to positive personal perceptions and a boost in self-esteem. In a study conducted to establish the effects of exercise on adolescents with depression, Carter, Guo, Turner, Morres, Khalil, Brighton and Callaghan (2015) found that after completion of the study using aerobic exercises, the mood of 26 participants dropped and they showed signs of sadness. The reasons for the changed emotions
General recommendations are now widely accepted as to the general advantages of exercise in terms of physical health, such as its ability to prevent weight gain, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and osteoporosis.14 It appears that health promotion schemes have shied away from extolling exercise’s psychological benefits. After all, there is no government campaign, no public policy initiative, which pontificates exercise on account of a concern for mental wellbeing. Although many people would identify that exercise has a positive influence on mood state, it appears that, generally speaking, this is regarded as a positive correlation, rather than a causal relationship. The ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ concept is thus, for many, a heuristic utopia, rather than a scientifically proven
Throughout my time on placement in primary schools over the past four years, I have witnessed a variety of teaching strategies to get students motivated and ready for school in the morning. One approach I have seen in several schools is ‘huff n’ puff’, a morning activity in which students engage in some form of physical exercise, which may include running or active games outside. I believed this to be an effective strategy to release some energy and get the students settled down to learn. However, having a psychology background, I am interested to ascertain whether this morning physical activity has an influence on student mental wellbeing during the school day. I have noted mixed reactions to ‘huff n’ puff’ amongst students at my placement schools and I have wondered whether physical activity could positively or negatively impact student mental wellbeing due to confidence and self-esteem. According to the results of the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, mental health disorders are prevalent amongst Australian children (13.9%) (Lawrence et al. 2016). With mental wellbeing being a potential issue in the classroom, I am, therefore, interested to discover whether exercise has an influence on student mental wellbeing. Problems with mental wellbeing may have a
According to Dr. Claudia Walther, a doctor from the Heart Centre of the University of Leipzig, “People today have different lifestyles than in the past...they’re less active…” Currently, exercise is portrayed as too hard and people have become lazy. They don't want to have to work and spend time exercising.
Why people exercise I. Introduction A. Background B. Thesis Statement : Most people have three main reasons that they aim are to be good healthy, to reduce the risk of many diseases, and help sleep better. II. The first reason is most people want to be good healthy. (First subtopic) A. Most people want to be fit and firm. (First Point) 1.
There are a wide array of benefits aligned with physical activity and exercise. Exercising can impact a person’s mood and psychological personality as well as improve their immune system and overall wellbeing. Throughout the essay, the psychological benefits of exercise, the benefits of exercise on the human body and the recommended level of physical activity for an average sized adult will be investigated and explained. Exercise is a vital aspect of a person’s daily regime and should be included within all lifestyles.
Exercise is one of the most important factors in a persons’ life. Physical activity, or the lack of it, can result in a person having a healthy life or cause them to have diabetes. The benefits of exercise are countless. The positive health results, the improvement in attitude, even better academic performance are all factors which make not exercising inexcusable.
Exercise may be one of the most important influences on your overall health to date. While the only benefits that are mainly focused on are the physical benefits, significant psychological impacts can also be linked to exercise. Although some of these benefits aren’t viewed with much enthusiasm, studies have proven that exercise can actually improve one’s quality of life greatly by increasing not only their physical health but their mental health as well. It is because of this that exercise is a