Salmon, P. (2001). Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress: A unifying theory.Clinical Psychology Review, 21(1), 33–61. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.library.esc.edu
Finally, the types of exercise that enhance psychological functioning the most have not been determined. This is because most research relating exercise to mental health has been done with aerobic activities (i.e.- running, walking, biking, and swimming).
staff, Mayo. "Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
Even though stress isn’t always a major issue as everyone gets stressed out every once in a while, stress does have a long-term effect on peoples physical and mental health. In this study, 15 people completed a 6-week aerobic exercise program, another 15 people completed a weight training program the same amount of time and then there was a control group, who didn’t do any training program. This study shows that the 15 people who completed the aerobic program had the greatest reductions in stress and recovery in response to it. Most exercise is good for relieving stress of any kind but according to this study, aerobic exercise has the most
Exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. It gives you a chance to unwind, by just enjoying the outdoors or simply engaging in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting via a dance class or playing on a basketball team. This coming together could be a reason why exercise is known to fight depression. Physical activity fights depression by stimulating various brain chemicals that leave you feeling happier and more relaxed (Mayo Clinic Staff). You may also end up feeling better about your appearance and yourself in general when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. As stated in the last paragraph, regular exercise makes your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, as your heart and lungs improve you will have more energy to complete tasks which can also boost your confidence and self-esteem as well as leaving you more content with the amount of work you can get done without getting tired (Mayo Clinic Staff). Regular exercise also helps you burn the energy you do not need. Allowing you to fall asleep faster and deeper during your limited period of sleep. Feeling happy and relaxed along with being able to get sufficient sleep is crucial in maintaining mental health while facing the daily stresses in
Exercise can act as a very efficient way to help prevent age-related diseases. Bradley says that many recent studies focusing on the correlation between physical activity and mental health, clinical evidence have shown that exercise can have a positive effect on the outcome of treating mental illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and Parkinson’s disease (Bradley). Physical Therapy improves the patient's’ quality of life and lessens the pain of the disease itself. “Some authors state that the influence of exercise on brain functioning might be related to the human evolutionary process, since physical activity is associated with survival. It has been suggested that individuals who exercise might show a biological advantage over sedentary individuals”(Bradley). So considering that exercise is very much related to improving the mental health of the elderly, we should consider adding physical therapy into the everyday life schedule of residents in nursing homes, where they will have the one-on-one contact and encouragement they
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder which is developed in an extremely stressful event and life-altering events. PTSD can drastically change the lives of sufferers and it is particularly common in veterans. In the Article Exercise and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military Veterans: A Systematic Review by James W Whitworth, He observes an experiment on veterans were most consistent result was reported for vigorous physical activity. In which, those who reported engagement in vigorous physical activity were significantly reduced odds of PTSD symptoms and those who cannot physically unable to do vigorous physical activity had significantly higher odds of PTSD symptoms (Whitworth 3). Thus, involving physical activity can significantly reduction in the PTSD. In the article Exercise Augmentation of Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Rationale and Pilot Efficacy Data. A researcher has an experiment on 10 participants who suffered from PTSD. Half of the patients were assigned to do Physical Exercise and Exposure and remaining half were assigned to do Exposure therapy only. After a while, In the result, patients who were doing both exercise and therapy has a significant reduction in PTSD than another patient who was only assigned to do exposure therapy (Powers et al 2). This experiment has shown that the doing exercise is very important for the PTSD patient to cure it. A lot of psychiatrist also suggest
A study conducted by Dimeo et al (2001), which evaluated the short-term effects of a training programme on patients with moderate to severe major depression, where twelve patients, with a mean age of 49, five men, seven women, with a major depressive episode according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Society of Psychiatry criteria participated. The mean duration of their depressive episodes were 35 weeks (range12–96). Training consisted of walking on a treadmill following an interval training pattern and was carried out for 30 minutes a day for 10 days. At the end of the training programme, there was a clinically relevant and statistically significant reduction in depression scores (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression: before, 19.5 (3.3); after, 13 (5.5); p = 0.002. Self-assessed intensity of symptoms: before, 23.2 (7); after, 17.7 (8.1); p = 0.006. Values are mean (SD)). Subjective and objective changes in depression scores correlated strongly (r = 0.66, p = 0.01). Proving even within the short time of 10 days, aerobic exercise can produce substantial improvement in mood in patients with depressive disorders. (Dimeo et al,
Although exercise is often prescribed as a form of stress management, it is clear that too much exercise can be detrimental. However, a moderate amount of exercise usually can be energizing. While extending and intense exercise does not increase energy, but at least not right afterward. It can use up a lot of energy and leave anybody feeling exhausted. As for an example of excessive exercise comes from the overtraining of athletes which can result not only in various physical disabilities but in mood disorders or general fatigue. Being able to determine what is the appropriate amount of physical exercise, is a key to coping with stress. Whatever is appropriate is specific to the individual and depends on individual goals and energy level. The fact that physical activity creates feelings of pleasure makes sense when you realize that energy increases with exercise, especially moderate
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.
Whether or not this "runner's high" physically exists is a topic of heated debate in the scientific community. Scientists have seen many instances in which exercise has benefited the mental health of people. For one thing, physical activity can greatly improve one's self-esteem. Studies conducted on both children and clinically depressed patients show marked improvement in self-esteem, following aerobic and anaerobic exercise training. (Biddle and Mutrie 1991) Exercise does this because it creates a situation in which the participant learns to master a task, thus achieving a feeling of control over their life. Thus, exercise helps to do undo depression, which according to the "learned helplessness" theory of depression, is caused by recurring instances in which patients have no sense of control over the outcome.
IDEA Fitness Journal. Exercise Decreases Risk of Depression in Kids. October 2004. April 4th, 2005. < http://pdfserve.galegroup.com/pdfserve/get_item/1/Scdbf1ew6
Lutz, R. S., Stults-Kolehmainen, M. A., & Bartholomew, J. B. (2010). Exercise caution when stressed: Stages of change and the stress- exercise participation relationship. Psycology of Sport and Exercise, 11, 560-567.
As mentioned before, physical activity reduces depression symptoms. It can also delay, and in some cases avoid the presence of Alzheimer’s disease at an older age (McKinney, 135). Since 2007, the American Medical Association and the American College of Sports are trying to implement the Exercise is Medicine initiative to encourage healthcare providers to prescribe nature-based activities as a treatment for their patients with mental illness (Maier and Jette, 796). Maier and Jetter explain how this initiative can improve the mental health of people with mental illnesses by adding moderate physical activity such as hikes, horseback rides, or walks in the countryside to their daily routines (Maier and Jette ,796). They explain how different factors such as race, social status, sexual tendencies, etc. can add stress, as a consequence to develop mental problems (Maier and Jette, 796). Some people who have participated in this program have shown improvement in their mood, sleep and also in the way they interact with others (Maier and Jette,
Throughout research it is said that active people are less stressed and that with the bare minimum of five minutes of exercise people will be positively affected, their mood will begin to change for the better. The moods of people do indeed increase as endorphins spread all throughout the bodies of people when they exercise. People that exercise are also frequently less depressed. Stress hormones are said to decrease while people exercise, it is also true that some exercises slow down heart rates and blood pressures, all things that would rise in a stressful situation. Exercise is very beneficial some ways less noticeably but in others very noticeable, especially in the emotional factor.