The Magical Benefit of Exercise on Mental Health Issues

At a time when the world is succumbing to the coronavirus, people tend to neglect the mental health issues that are eating them up. The internet, television, and other forms of media are constantly coming up with tips and tricks to take care of your health to beat the virus. Exercises, home remedies, yoga, and daily activities are all on the list. However, what the list lacks is mental health!  

Mental health issues are real and the stigma around them is slowly lifting as we progress through the ages. Almost every third person deals with stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, you name it.

The year 2020 has made such issues more prominent. But the solution? Exercise! Although it may seem ridiculous, exercising is linked to our mental health and we are here to explain how. This article brings to you the benefits of exercise on different mental health issues. 

The benefit of Exercise on Anxiety 

Exercise is a natural antidote for tackling anxiety issues. It helps relieve stress, relax the tense muscles, boost both mental and physical energy, and enhances one's well being. All these are done as exercise releases endorphins in the body that helps regulate the above-mentioned processes.

Anything that helps the body moving or doing something helps in easing anxiety. The core point, however, should be to focus on what you're doing and not aimlessly go about practicing what you are. For example, try to feel the sensation of the hands lifting something, or your breaths rapidly changing as you push your pace forward.

This helps your brain focus on stimuli and thus, the anxiety and tension in the body get a distraction. As a result, you end up feeling fresher, refreshed, and stronger too!  

Benefits of Exercise on Depression 

Mild to moderate depression can be effectively controlled through exercise, as per studies. It can act as an antidote or antidepressant in treating mild or moderate depression symptoms. And what's more, this antidepressant does not have any side effects!

It has been effectively stated by studies that walking for an hour or going on a short 15-minute run can reduce one getting affected by major depression, by a whopping twenty six percent. Studies have also found out that more than reducing depressive tendencies, regular exercise, and moving the body helps one from relapsing again as well.

Why exercise is a natural antidepressant is because it helps in neural growth, reducing areas of inflammation in the brain, and also helps the brain develop new activity patterns which in turn helps in being calm and peaceful. Exercise also releases a ton of chemicals that energize the spirit within you and helps keep you going. 

Benefits of Exercise on ADHD 

ADHD, or attention deficit disorder is a disease that is very common throughout the world. A person diagnosed with ADHD faces attention difficulties, impulsiveness, and episodes of hyperactivity. Exercise again comes to the rescue. It is a very widely known fact that exercising helps one increase their levels of concentration as exercising disciplines the brain and improves attention span.

It also helps in improving memory and provides more motivation for the body to get up and keep moving. Exercise is effective in lightening one's mood and the endorphins released take away the stress. Also, any kind of physical activity enhances the brain's norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine levels. All of these categories deal with issues regarding focus and concentration.

In fact, the benefits of exercise for ADHD have been compared to actual drugs that are used to treat the disease, like Adderall and Ritalin. 

Benefits of exercise on PTSD and Trauma 

There is hardcore evidence that proves to focus on the movements involved in exercise actually helps get the nerves in the brain "unstuck". As a result, it helps these nerves to move on and delete experiences that are traumatic and troubling. It helps immobilize the response to stress in our brain, a category that leads to PTSD and Trauma.

As is similar to anxiety, the trick to helping the benefits of exercise cure your internalized struggles with PTSD and Trauma, is to really pay strong attention to the stimuli involved as the activity progresses. The best choices for exercises that can help with PTSD and Trauma are the ones that involve the movement of both the limbs in the body.