The Role Of Physical Exercise In Mental Health

Some hypothesize that moderate levels of exercise will decrease the symptoms of mental health conditions (Blumenthal et al., 2007; Diaz & Motta, 2008; Motta, Kuligowski, & Marino, 2010; Rosenbaum, Nguyen, Lenehan, Tiedemann, van der Ploeg, & Sherrington, 2011) and therefore be used as an alternative or complimentary treatment option for mental health (Libby, Pilver, & Desai, 2012).

Many mental disorders and diseases can be treated overtime or minimised through physical activity and exercise in studies confirmed by Norway scientists; highlighting that through a four-year study depression, anxiety cardiovascular diseases are decreased in adults that engage in regular exercise (Zshuckle, Gaudiltz and Ströhle, 2013). As research shows us, the relationship between PTSD and poor physical health is predominant in the case of fear; restricting the patient in partaking in physical

One of the studies showed that a combination of exercise and counseling was more effective than counseling alone (Rueter et al. 1982). Martinsen et al (1985) divided a group of 23 participants with clinical depression into two groups – (i) a control group of 14 patients and (ii) a exercise group of 9 patients who were given TCAs (Tricyclic antidepressants) to augment treatment. It was seen that both the group showed similar improvement in depressive symptoms. This does show that exercise has an impact that is as good as medication to lower depressive

Regular exercise has many benefits Exercise also helps to protect against depression, and helps you better manage stress.

A growing epidemic in America is depression. Physicians are able to prescribe drugs to help with the symptoms of depression, but other therapeutic methods have been studied and show great results in recovery. Therapeutic Physical Fitness has shown to reduce depression and anxiety. Ihas been confirmed through experiments that physical exercise can be as effective as antidepressant drugs and some cases suggest that it better prevents symptom recurrence.

Heladóttír, Hallgren, Ekblom, Forsell (2016) sought to find an optimal dosage of exercise to elicit positive responses in those diagnosed with depression using three varying intensities. With frequency and duration kept consistent, 620 participants, including ages 18 to 67, were randomly assigned different treatment groups. These included (1) continuing their usual treatment, (2) light exercise like yoga, (3) moderate aerobic exercise, and (4) vigorous aerobic exercise. The training program lasted for 12 weeks, requiring subjects to exercise 55 minutes 3 times a week. The researchers measured depression severity at baseline and post-treatment while monitoring heart rate during every session using a monitor. Following the conclusion of the study, the results indicated that depression severity decreased in al exercise groups. However, the optimal dosage for exercise prescription remains uncertain. These findings suggest that light exercise, such as yoga, were more beneficial than the other intensities

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

In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.

Critically Analyse the Research Findings on the Acute and Chronic Effects of Exercise on Anxiety and Depression

This was a cross-sectional study that took place in the early 70’s, with the connection between physical activity and helping combat depression in the elderly demographic. The value of exercise is widely known for a plethora of reasons, but in regard to depression it has been an invaluable outlet for many; “increased feelings of self-efficacy, self- perceptions of control and mastery, reduced physiologic responses to stress, and beneficial effects on neurotransmitters such as increased serotonin and endorphins” (Kritz-Silverstein, Barrett-Connor, & Corbeau, 2001, p. 596).

Physical activity can be vital for maintaining a good mental health. It is a very good stress reliever. It can also reduce fatigue, improve alertness, and cognitive function. Stress can affect the brain. When your brain gets affected it can also affect the rest of your body as well because the brain is connected to it. If you can get your body to feel better then your mind will start to feel better too. Physical activity produces endorphins which are chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers. Endorphins can improve your ability to sleep, which can also reduce stress, which then will make your brain feel better. There are many things that can help your brain release these endorphins, some things you can do are meditate, acupuncture, massage therapy, even breathing deeply. In your brain your have chemicals called neurotransmitters. Nerve impulses cause the release of chemicals from one nerve cell to the next which allows cells to communicate with one another. If your brain produces too much or too little of these it may contribute to depression. Physical activity might be a very effective non-pharmacological treatment for depression.

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

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.

They found that an exercise training programme could be an alternative treatment for MDD. Although antidepressants had a more rapid response than exercise, after 16 weeks of exercise the effectiveness in reducing depression was equal to the anti-depressants. A study also found that a single bout of exercise could result in substantial improvements in mood, which shows that it’s not just duration and frequency. However, it may be that the improvement in mood is only temporary (Dimeo et al., 2001). Lawler and Hopker (2001) stated that effectiveness of exercise on depression couldn’t be determined due to lack of quality research based on clinical populations. They also wrote that the explanations of the results may have been that depressed patients who did regular exercise could have got positive feedback from other people and a sense of self worth, which may act as a diversion from negative thoughts. Physical activity was found to be linked with less coexisting depression, which remains the same after controlling for gender, age, and race. The results of the study showed that physical activity is helpful with medical problems, life stressors and quality of sleep (Harris et al., 2006).

The goal of this paper was to show the benefits of exercise on emotional health and to show how it can effectively be used to help people with mental issues. Through various studies data was collected and while the results may have varied slightly they all told the same general story: exercise is good for your emotional health. This paper explored the impact of exercise on people with various physical issues that had negative consequences on patients mental health. This made for a great analysis of the various ways that exercise can help improve your quality of life. Not only was the impact of exercise examined but the proper amount was also investigated in order to provide as much information as possible to help make the process as easy as possible for the people that are trying to use physical activity to help them.